Ghostly New Thriller Tells A Scary Tale

The film "Oculus," which opened in theaters everywhere this past Friday, is not what it seems. Kaylie (Karen Gillan) tries to set her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) free from the burden he has been carrying around for 10 years after killing his father and watching him go crazy while torturing their mother. Kaylie's goal is to reveal that the crimes that were committed in their old home were done by a supernatural phenomenon that lived beneath an old-timey mirror they once owned.

Kaylie digs back into this 'Lasser Glass' history and finds out that cruel deaths were associated with the owners of this mirror. When Tim is released from psychiatric therapy, she brings back the mirror and sets up a room with cameras to prove that the Lasser Glass is the cause for odd and crazy behaviors in its owners.

"Oculus" is the first highest grossing and highest-rated film made by WWE Production Studios and was a genuinely scary horror film and psychological thriller. "Oculus" is more interested in playing tricks with perception and bending reality rather than relying on a protagonist ghost or being. The real horror of this film is deeply rooted within human fears and follies and how they can become entwined.

"Oculus'" real weapon is its flashbacks, which aren't specifically used as flashbacks but rather as illusions and nightmares forced upon the characters by the mirror's evil," according to Jeffery M. Anderson from Common Sense Media.

The only thing that "Oculus" could've done differently was to either rid completely of the ghosts that are brought on by the mirror or delve deeper into the ghosts' stories and how they torture humans and change their perception of reality. However,  "Oculus" didn't need the use of ghosts to capture this scary story.

For horror movie fanatics, this film is highly recommended. Viewers should be ready to interpret and think about the events that are happening in the film, as well as preparing to be mind-blown by the confusion that the perception of this Lasser Glass mirror brings.

While the last scene of the film isn't cinematically satisfying, the ending is definitely left wide open for a possible sequel.

dcookson@ramapo.edu