Oculus (2013)

“I've met my demons and they are many. I've seen the devil, and he is me.”

            I have written before that I am not a big horror movie fan and yet I have watched I have watched a handful. Some of have been classic horror movies like silent ones or from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Some have been cult classics like Amityville Horror (original and remake) and Halloween. Most of them I have liked and really enjoyed. I watched Insidious and almost shit my pants. That movie was insane and it was good because the story was good and things came at you fast. Not all horror movies can be good unfortunately and I think their lack of a good story is what turns me away from really watching them. I feel a lot of “horror” movies today are just slasher porn and their stories are just an excuse to have a mad man running around gruesomely murdering people. I am not against gore. I am not an eighty-year old grandma! To me there are just no good stories to go along with all the killing.

            If I think horror movies today are total crap why on earth did I even bother watching Oculus? Karen Gillan. The movies I will watch for actors and actresses I like.

            Tim Russell has been released from a psychiatric facility that has been living in for years. He has worked on overcoming demons from an event that took place in his family’s home years before. Tim’s sister Kaylie (Gillan) is there to pick him up. She tells him that he can come stay with her and her fiancé but first they are heading back to their old home.

            For some time Kaylie was working for an auction house. With some help from her fiancé she was able to purchase an antique mirror. She brought the mirror back to the old home. After relentlessly researching the mirror’s history Kaylie believes the mirror is the entire reason for what happened in the house years before. She finds that throughout its history its owners have met horrible untimely ends. Their deaths were due to insanity or murder or suicide. Kaylie is convinced that the reason their parents are dead is definitely from the evil powers of the mirror.

            Tim thinks otherwise. When Kaylie shows him her whole system of cameras and clocks and computer monitors to get the proof the mirror is evil, he tells her she is the one who needs help. As their time in the house goes on, brother and sister begin to see and experience things. They see memories from their childhood play out before them in the rooms. They see the progression of their parents spiral into insanity and evilness that was caused by the mirror. Their father started to become angry and mean towards them. Their mother became insecure beyond reason after she had looked into the mirror when the father was not home. All their anger and insecurities lead to the father killing the mother by shooting her.

            Kaylie and Tim had gone to smash the mirror but the thing had a mind of its own and when they got a hold of themselves they had only put holes in the wall. The father came into the office where the mirror was placed. He started to choke Kaylie. Tim got a hold of his father’s gun. The father got down on his knees so Tim could shoot him. Tim was not going to but the father made him pull the trigger.

            The ending actually surprised me so I will not give it away.

            The characters were all boring so I am not going to blame the actors for their performances. Karen Gillan was totally wasted in this movie. At the moment I am going nuts having a good time watching Gillan as Amy Pond on Dr. Who (raging fan girl is how I would really describe my feelings about Amy Pond/Karen Gillan. She is the best companion after Rose Tyler/Billie Piper. DO NOT TRY TO TELL ME OTHERWISE!!). I have seen Gillan in other movies and other shows. The girl is super talented and that makes it a shame how wasted her talent was in the movie. Rory Cohrane and Katee Sackhoff played the parents. I could not get over how odd they appeared together as a couple and as parents. That may possibly be down to the fact that I can never picture them in a role as parents. Their pairing was just weird. I do not know why but I found it humorous that there was no attempt at hiding a tattoo Sackhoff has on her arm.  

            Oculus seemed to have had potential but it just never really took off. There is a superstition and belief that mirrors can hold souls and be haunted. I think that superstition/belief in fascinating. They make us see things we may or may not want to see. That was the whole point of Oculus and that point fell flat. Oculus also seems like it was geared towards a tween/teen audience so unless you are in that age range or you are just a massive Karen Gillan fan do not even bother to see this.