Oculus (I) (2013)

A woman tries to exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

Director:

Mike Flanagan

Writers:

Mike Flanagan (screenplay), Jeff Howard (screenplay),

Stars:

Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karen Gillan	...	Kaylie Russell
Brenton Thwaites	...	Tim Russell
Katee Sackhoff	...	Marie Russell
Rory Cochrane	...	Alan Russell
Annalise Basso	...	Young Kaylie
Garrett Ryan	...	Young Tim
James Lafferty	...	Michael Dumont
Miguel Sandoval	...	Dr. Shawn Graham
Kate Siegel	...	Marisol Chavez
Scott Graham	...	Warren
Michael J. Fourticq	...	St. Aidan Security Guard
Katie Parker	...	Phone Store Clerk
Justin Gordon	...	Mark (Supervisor)
Bob Gebert	...	Neighbor
Brett Luciana Murray	...	Officer 1

Storyline

The twenty-one year-old Timothy "Tim" Allen Russell is discharged from a mental institution by his psychiatric Dr. Shawn Graham completely healed from a childhood trauma. His sister Kaylie welcomes him in the parking area and brings him home. Then she tells that they need to destroy an ancient mirror that she has just bought in an auction. The reluctant Tim follows his sister and has fragmented recollections from his childhood, when his mother Marie buys a mirror for the home office of his father Alan. Kaylie and Tim see a woman with their father in his office and the behaviors of Alan and Marie change, ending in a family tragedy. Kaylie blames the mirror and now she wants to destroy it with Tim. Will they succeed?

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Plot Keywords:

mirror | home office | trauma | auction | murder | 

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Taglines:

You see what it wants you to see.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 2014 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Göz

Filming Locations:

Mobile, Alabama, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$12,005,402 (USA) (11 April 2014)

Gross:

$27,689,474 (USA) (20 June 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Relativity Media, Intrepid Pictures, MICA Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Auro 11.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in 24 days.

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Goofs

When Kaylie is giving the history of the mirror, she says that it was thought to have been destroyed in Sherman's March to the Sea in 1865. Sherman's march occurred in 1864.

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Quotes

Kaylie Russell: I found it!
Tim Russell: What do you mean?
Kaylie Russell: We only have few days.
Tim Russell: A few days for what?
Kaylie Russell: To keep our promise. And kill it.

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Connections

Spun-off from Oculus: Chapter 3 - The Man with the Plan (2006)

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Soundtracks

Oculus (Remix)
Mixed by Paul Oakenfold
Additional Production and Engineered by Hank Kalleen

User Reviews

Oculus

OCULUS is that movie you hate that tries to be deeply phsycological while trying to juggle the more-complicated-than-it-needs-to-be style of horror movie. About 90% of thee films fail, but OCULUS is a movie that excels in every sense of the way. The twisted, mind-bottling scenarios set up by this evil mirror with a soul crushing oculus are the perfect way to set up suspense while maintaining the psychological aspects necessary for a horror movie. As you see he mirror twist and question reality for the characters, you're right there with them with a constant question of "Is this real?" looming in your mind, which is a great approach to pull off psychedelic suspense. These strategies are well assisted by a great story structure with the technique of switching between time periods to create character development of characters by revealing similarities to themselves in the present to the past, a very very effective story telling technique. The acting is all it needs to be for a horror movie mostly due to the fact acting is not where importance lies. Katee Sackhoff is phenomenal as the emotionally scarred scared-s***-less mother, a strong lead for the movie. The pacing of this film is phenomenal, some of the best I have ever seen in a horror movie. The one downfall it had is some poorly done CGI for things that could have been done using practical effects. Also, I think the ending was off, but only by a couple of beats, not surprising for a horror film though. But overall, Oculus is the best horror movie since The Conjuring, and it certainly will be remembered as one of the best psychologically disturbing films ever made.

GRADE: 94 / A