9 of 10
Personal
Bias Alert: dislikes traditional horror,
didn’t watch “Doctor Who”, loved Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck
Coming
off a strong showing at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival,
“Oculus” had built some buzz as an intelligent horror film. I like a scary story, but I’m so turned off
by the traditional conceits of the horror genre (you know, where characters do incredibly dumb things) that I rarely
watch them without reassurances that I won’t roll my eyes throughout. Even then, I’m often led astray. Last year’s “You’re Next” and “The Conjuring”
disappointed, so I entered “Oculus” with a fair amount of trepidation. After a slow start, the film nailed the
ending and reminded me why I keep giving this genre so many chances.
The
story revolves around siblings Tim (Brenton Thwaites) and Kaylie (Karen
Gillan), whose family has been destroyed by a haunted mirror. When they were children, the mirror killed
their parents and got Tim framed for his father’s murder. Now in their twenties, Tim is released from
the mental institution that was treating what they consider his haunted mirror
delusion. When Kaylie picks him up, she
reveals that she’s ready to carry out their childhood promise: to prove the mirror’s haunted and destroy it.
We
know the nuts and bolts of the kid’s story from the beginning, but instead of
giving us the full-on kill scene at the start, the movie weaves the tale of the
family’s destruction into the present day story. It’s an effective method, giving us time to
get invested in the siblings and making the payoff of both stories that much
better. There’s a narrative reason for
this that I won’t reveal, simply because I had way too much fun with that
aspect of the story. Suffice it to say,
it’s the twist that makes the character’s actions reasonable enough to go along
with. Plus, it gives us a two-for-one climax.
The
obvious danger of this split storyline is the reliance on the dreaded child
actors. One kid hamming it up would ruin
the entire thing, but Annalise Basso (young Kaylie) and Garrett Ryan (young
Tim) are competent actors on par with their adult counterparts. I say competent not because of any fault in
their performances, but because not much is expected of them. Deliver a few portentous lines, then run
around screaming and clinging to each other, and you’re good. The same can be said for the adult actors,
who seem cast more for their physical demeanor than anything else. While I’m predisposed to like Katee Sackhoff,
I do think she’s well cast here as the children’s mother; she’s a believable
housewife, but has a presence large enough to be menacing.
One
of the joys of the horror genre is the unabashed production style. The lighting, set design, and music get a
free pass to be over the top fun, and all are played up here. There’s lots of well used visual flair, my
favorite being the motif of the female character’s red hair. Sackhoff, Gillan, and Basso all sport the
fiery locks, and watching it swish around is like a promise of the blood you
know is coming.
The
film’s structure makes the beginning feel long and not particularly scary,
which may turn off some horror fans. Stick
with it, because once it unravels things get truly freaky. It goes for psychological horror over gore,
which I always find far more effective.
Watching characters hide in a closet from an axe man or ghost is scary,
but “Oculus” understands that there could be far worse things behind that door.
Other Notes:
Ø Director/cowriter
Mike Flanagan previously made a short film that seems pretty similar to this
one. I’m assuming the two stories are
related in some way, but I can’t find anything to confirm it.
Ø I
was so freaked out that my hand literally went to my face at one point. I rarely have physical reactions to films.
Ø I
like that the actors weren’t very well known.
Sackhoff and Gillan are recognizable to “Battlestar Galactica” and
“Doctor Who” fans, but many people won’t even know them.
Ø I
had to look up what the hell oculus means.
The title makes sense now that I know the definition.
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