Sunday, July 6, 2014

FILM -- Oculus


Is this film a supernatural phenomenon?



The film Oculus centers around two siblings, Kaylie and Tim Russell, who as children saw their parents turn completely mad, paranoid and psycho due to a mysterious mirror hanging in their Father’s office. Now, eleven years later, Tim is being released from a mental hospital, while Kaylie has been busy tracking down the mirror that ruined their childhood and is still affecting their lives.

Years ago, they made a promise that they would destroy that mirror. Kaylie is still set on keeping that promise, though Tim is a bit unease about it. Kaylie has spent years doing research of the mirror and the death trail it left. She also came up with a plan to counteract every possible danger the mirror may dish out, so there’s no possible way she or her brother will suffer a terrible fate.



Assured of this, Kaylie and Tim go back to their empty childhood home and put the mirror back in their Father’s office. Strategically situated are three different cameras and bottled water for hydration. Kaylie’s fiance is scheduled to call every hour. Plus, timers go off periodically so they can eat, drink, and reset the weighted anchor tied to the ceiling with the intent of smashing the mirror.

They have to take on these precautions because of the mirror’s ability to shield itself from harm. So, for the whole night, Kaylie and Tim try their best to fight off the hallucinations the mirror is causing. Throughout the film, we jump from the present to the siblings’ past. Unfortunately, I found it extremely tiring after awhile and I just wanted it to be over. Kaylie and Tim’s Father was really losing his mind and whatever was going on in his office was a creepy yet lingering mystery. Kaylie showed her determination to put a stop to the mirror, whereas Tim’s true fear manifested even more than ever. I thought that the storyline was original, awesome and definitely refreshing; and they did that with only four or five locations! Furthermore, the actors and actresses performed well.


Overall, the film is a psychological horror about a haunted mirror. Although it had it’s typical jump scares, drags on a bit and had a BLAH ending, I still think it’s worth a viewing. For me, I noticed that the best horror stories are usually the ones with a dark metaphor for real-life events or experiences, so the whole story line of this film is definitely creepy. This film does have questions that are never answered, as well as things that don’t make sense. As an example, Kaylie plots against an evil mirror for over five years and somehow there are things she didn’t think about. Honestly, I don’t get how that was possible, especially for things that were clear as day.

Though the film was entertaining, I’m really disappointed about the ending, I was expecting a bang but instead it was a boop.



2 1/2 out 5 queen skulls!

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