Oculus - Competent little horror

‘Oculus’ is actually pretty entertaining as far as horror movies go... for the most part.  But then if a modern horror movie can maintain its status as ‘pretty entertaining’ even for just half the film then it’s probably a cut above most of today’s horror offerings.

The story centres on the same family, but bounces back and forth between two timelines – one when the central brother and sister characters were young and living with their parents and the ‘modern day’ period where they’re now grown up and recounting what they remembered.  Basically, when they were young, their family came into possession of a creepy old antique mirror.  Once the artefact was in their house, their lives promptly fell apart.  Now, the two kids have grown up, they are determined to rid the world of this mirror once and for all.

So why don’t they just smash it?  I hear you say.  Well, they can’t.  It’s apparently beyond just taking a hammer to.  However, the brother and sister spend much of their time debating whether the mirror was truly responsible for all the bad things in their life, or whether they just imagined it through childhood high spirits and an overactive imagination.

And, while that’s happening, everything is pretty good.  It’s not terrifying or bloodthirsty, but then it’s not supposed to be.  It’s designed to make you wonder whether there is a rational explanation for everything that transpired all those years ago, rather than a supernatural one.  And this is where the film’s strength lies.  It’s pretty good at making you doubt the obvious explanation (whether your ‘obvious’ explanation is supernatural or natural – it gives both sides equal credence), plus the characters behave in ways you’d expect, i.e. setting up plenty of cameras to gather evidence of any supernatural doings/threats.

However, it does fall down a bit in the last act, relying on cheap scares and obvious shocks, plus the constant swapping of timelines gets a little hard to follow at times.  But that’s not so bad – there’s still enough here that’s entertaining and there’s some pretty creepy and unsettling imagery to turn your stomach.

In a vast sea of forgettable horror movies, this one may stay with you a little longer than most.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights