Seven years bad luck? Oh, Hell no. And I do mean “HELL.” This looking glass wants a healthy piece o’ Alice, the Cheshire Cat, and all the playing cards. It’s kinda greedy. I believe we live in the vainest times known to man. Only the current generation could possibly invent the term “selfie.” It was probably about darn time a mirror took some revenge. Oculus is just the mirror for the job.
Oculus is told in two timelines: one in the present day in which the girl surviving to adulthood, Kaylie (Karen Gillan) intends to document the malevolence within the mirror (and then presumably destroy it). The other timeline examines Kaylie’s childhood in which the lives of dad (Rory Cochrane) and mom (Katee Sackhoff) have been manipulated and crushed by the otherwise stationary object. It plays better than it sounds. For one thing, the mirror is body length with a hideous gothic frame. Yeah, I could see evil coming from that. Kaylie starts her documentary by issuing an historical laundry list of the mirror’s victims dating back to the 17th Century. This turns out to be among the best bits of exposition in the few years of film – we learn what the mirror does, its capabilities, its intent and its invulnerability. Without it, there’s just a crazy girl videotaping herself in an empty house.
Speaking of crazy, Kaylie has invited her surviving brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites), as well. Tim survived childhood only in the physical; he’s alive, yes, but has spent the past decade in a mental institution while assuming dad murdered mom. To tell the truth, he seems pretty well adjusted for a guy who spent his formative years in a straightjacket. For that matter, Kaylie holds down gainful employment and has a fiancée. Considering her obsession (she works at the auction house that acquired the mirror), she seems pretty well adjusted, too.
The mirror has a gift for manipulating thoughts. Early on, we see dad pick at a Band-Aid bugging his thumb. After he removes it, 
he peers down and finds it still there on his thumb. He tries vainly to remove it a second time and decides to get out a staple remover for the job. After yanking the Band-Aid off, he looks down at his thumb to discover he’s removed his own thumbnail. The theme of mind/sight manipulation is a constant one. Kaylie has taken precautions against starvation and suicide, but that doesn’t stop her from “accidentally” biting into a lightbulb she mistakes for an apple.
Oculus is the rare good horror film, playing on psychology rather than straight fear. It’s not gonna be for the mindset that needs to run from zombies, vampires or Justin Bieber; this is a film for people smart enough to spook themselves. At some point, you hope the man in the mirror changes his ways. Alas, in horror, he rarely does.
Mirror, mirror in the study
What is with the murders, buddy?
Mirror, mirror showing lies
Why do you feed on human cries?
Mirror, mirror in the hall
Enough of this shit.
Rated R, 104 Minutes
D: Mike Flanagan
W: Mike Flanagan & Jeff Howard
Genre: The devil’s in the details furniture
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Vengeful appliances
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who enjoy tangible villains
