As a Doctor Who fan I just kept waiting for Rory to walk around the corner… He never came.
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“Oculus” is a bit of a twist on the horror genre, telling the story a brother and sister dealing with a mirror that seems to have created both the trauma of their past and the danger of their present. Karen Gillan, or “Amy Pond” as us Who fans know her, steps center stage as the sister trying to help her brother through it all. You know, it takes a lot for me to enjoy a horror movie. And the best way to accomplish that feat, well, don’t make a horror movie. OK, OK, Oculus with it’s occasional gore and jump scares is still firmly planted in the genre but really it feels grounded more in suspense than the modern gross outs..
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And I think that’s to the film’s benefit. Though it’s true I would in no way say I loved this movie, in fact, I really could take it or leave it, I have a lot of respect for the way it presented itself. Conceptually I felt like it was a truly fresh take on the typical “haunted object” tale. I loved that the characters come into the plot straight from the beginning knowing what they are up against and with a plan to take it down. It gives the plot a sense of purpose and momentum that many horror movies miss because their tortured souls are accidental innocent participants who didn’t know what they were getting into. Here our protagonist knows exactly what she’s up against and is ready to take a stand. That structure was easily my favorite thing about it. I also thought the way the movie used “flashbacks” was pretty smart as well, toying with our sense of memory and illusion. Not to mention the kids that played the brother and sister at the center of it all in the flashbacks were pretty solid actors.
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In fact, better than most of the adults. I mean, there were some moments of bad acting in this movie that actually made my snicker out loud. It’s not that way all the way through, but at times I felt like I was watching the pre shooting staging walk through where people just read their lines while doing the motions. And I love Karen Gillan, but her attempted American accent in this was completely inconsistent. You could just hear the Scottish brogue trying to escape. And honestly the worst thing was just that the story seemed to move too slowly. I felt like this was one of those concepts that would be more suited for an episode of the twilight zone rather than a full feature length film or more, if the ending is any indication.
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When it’s over, Oculus is a smartly conceived and decently executed suspense flick. It’s only because some of the acting is atrocious and it could have used a tighter edit that it hovers at a C
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? I’ll put up links to the other reviews this week, rio 2, raid 2, and Draft Day. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best movie ever featuring a brother and sister”. Mine features a magic harmonica and may have the benefit of some deep nostalgia on my part. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and please subscribe!