A review by Brooks Rich
Later this year the film Doctor Sleep will be released. The sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep is directed by Mike Flanagan who is a director quickly making a name for himself in horror. He might be best known for directing the adaptation of Gerald's Game and also directing every episode of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. I was planning to do Hush, a film he also directed for Netflix, which is a terrifying home invasion film. But instead I'm going with the psychological horror film, Oculus.
Oculus is about a sister and a brother who believe their parents came into possession of a haunted mirror. The film takes place in two time periods – when the siblings are children and years later, after the brother gets out of a psych ward. The sister has kept the mirror and wants them to confront it and learn the truth about the death of their parents.
Oculus did fairly well at the box office, making $44 million off a $5 million dollar budget – but that's pretty standard for a production company like Blumhouse, which has had monster hits with films like Paranormal Activity and Insidious. Those films seem to be known by critics and moviegoers alike, I feel like Oculus has been unfairly regulated to forgotten status. I wonder if that’s because WWE Studios is the other production company – perhaps leading people to thinkt this film might not be good.
This film feels like an old episode of the Twilight Zone. The mirror supposedly alters reality, driving people insane as they question everything around them. And the film sort of does the same thing. At the end of the film, you're not quite sure if the mirror really was evil or if the siblings just believed hard enough to make it so.
Give this one a shot if you're looking for a more psychological approach to horror. The film does a great job of creating a sense of paranoia and making both the characters and audience question everything around them. Good stuff.
Later this year the film Doctor Sleep will be released. The sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep is directed by Mike Flanagan who is a director quickly making a name for himself in horror. He might be best known for directing the adaptation of Gerald's Game and also directing every episode of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. I was planning to do Hush, a film he also directed for Netflix, which is a terrifying home invasion film. But instead I'm going with the psychological horror film, Oculus.
Oculus is about a sister and a brother who believe their parents came into possession of a haunted mirror. The film takes place in two time periods – when the siblings are children and years later, after the brother gets out of a psych ward. The sister has kept the mirror and wants them to confront it and learn the truth about the death of their parents.
Oculus did fairly well at the box office, making $44 million off a $5 million dollar budget – but that's pretty standard for a production company like Blumhouse, which has had monster hits with films like Paranormal Activity and Insidious. Those films seem to be known by critics and moviegoers alike, I feel like Oculus has been unfairly regulated to forgotten status. I wonder if that’s because WWE Studios is the other production company – perhaps leading people to thinkt this film might not be good.
This film feels like an old episode of the Twilight Zone. The mirror supposedly alters reality, driving people insane as they question everything around them. And the film sort of does the same thing. At the end of the film, you're not quite sure if the mirror really was evil or if the siblings just believed hard enough to make it so.
Give this one a shot if you're looking for a more psychological approach to horror. The film does a great job of creating a sense of paranoia and making both the characters and audience question everything around them. Good stuff.
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