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Add Mike Flanagan's "Oculus" to the horror subgenre of supernatural item movies. This time it's not a haunted doll or magical box but a deadly mirror with the power to compel people to commit violent acts. A man will think that he is trying to rip a Band-Aid from his finger only to realize that he's pulling his fingernail off instead. And that's nothing compared to what happens to teeth. The mirror has destroyed dozens of lives over the years, such as the time a mother thought she was tucking her children into bed but was drowning them in a cistern. "You see what it wants you to see", as the tagline goes. While the narrative freedom inherent in that premise allows for some truly strong visuals at times—the focus on star Karen Gillan 's bouncing red pony tail down a hall or a bloody hand hidden behind a doorframe—"Oculus" eventually becomes little more than a series of ghostly figures and twisted visions on its way to a cop-out of an ending that you'll see coming an hour away. Solid performances and a few memorable images save it from disaster but Flanagan's film left me longing for the movie it could have been instead of what it actually is.

When "Oculus" opens, Tim Russell ( Brenton Thwaites ) is being released from years of intensive therapy. Much like Daniel Lutz (whose life story became " The Amityville Horror "), Tim believed for most of his time in a padded cell that his father was forced to commit horrendous violence because of a supernatural force. His doctors, including Miguel Sandoval in a prologue cameo, reworked those memories to lead him to believe that dad was just a really bad guy and there was no supernatural mojo at work. And so Tim hesitantly leaves the hospital to reenter society. Maybe having lunch with his sister wasn't the best idea.

Not having the "benefit" of therapy, Tim's sis Kaylie (Karen Gillan of "Doctor Who") wastes almost no time pulling her brother back into the world that he has spent years trying to repress. Kaylie, who works at an auction house, has found the mirror. She steals the haunted antique, setting it up in the family home as the focus of a fantastic array of cameras, alarm clocks, temperature gauges, and even a giant swinging blade designed to finally destroy it. Before Kaylie is willing to put an end to the mirror's unholy reign, she wants to document and prove its power. Another bad idea.

For the entirety of "Oculus," the narrative cuts back and forth from the adult pair's efforts to ghostbust the mirror with what happened to them years earlier. Young Tim (Garret Ryan) and young Kaylie ( Annalise Basso ) moved into a lovely home with their father Alan ( Rory Cochrane ), a software designer, and their supportive mother Marie ( Katee Sackhoff ). And then Dad went antique shopping. With far too little set-up, pop goes off the mental rails and mom is left an inevitable victim. The flashbacks in "Oculus" have a depressing fatalism because we're told who will live and who will die early on, turning these scenes into an exercise in inevitable gore. The lack of suspense is more disheartening when one realizes that the hole hasn't been filled by any sort of social context at all. Films like " The Shining " and "The Amityville Horror" also trafficked in the inevitable but grounded their narratives in cautionary tales of how familial stress and other external factors like alcoholism can destroy a patriarch.

The "present day" material in "Oculus" is much more effective, thanks largely to a game performance from Gillan. She renders Kaylie as a driven woman on the edge of sanity herself. When she growls at the mirror, "You must be hungry," one can see the B-movie glory that "Oculus" could have been. Her younger brother got the treatment he needed but Kaylie was left to fight for the day she could get vengeance on the mirror that wrecked her life. Gillan sells that hair-trigger intensity in the film's best moments, and when Flanagan and co-writer Jeff Howard open the door to the however-brief possibility that Kaylie may actually be crazy, "Oculus" is at its most interesting.

Sadly, they can't maintain that intrigue past the second act. As so many of these ventures do, the final act of "Oculus" becomes an increasingly random series of scenes designed to push buttons instead of anything inherent to character or narrative. If there are no rules or relatable subtext within the world of a horror film, the images have no power. Both overly foreshadowed climactic acts of "Oculus"—they tell us over and over again that dad is going to go homicidal and that they're going to try to destroy the mirror—feel like genre faits accomplis and so their inevitability becomes little more than a shallow reflection of superior works.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

Oculus (2014)

Rated R for terror, violence, some disturbing images and brief language

105 minutes

Karen Gillan as Kaylie Russell

Brenton Thwaites as Tim Russell

Katee Sackhoff as Marie Russell

Rory Cochrane as Alan Russell

Annalise Basso as Young Karen

Garretty Ryan as Young Tim

Miguel Sandoval as Dr. Shawn Graham

• Mike Flanagan
• Jeff Howard

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Review: Why ‘Oculus’ Is One of the Scariest American Horror Movies In Years

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“Oculus” is an exception. Appropriately being co-released by microbudget fear factory Blumhouse Production — its founder, Jason Blum , helped turn the scrappy productions “Paranormal Activity” and “The Purge” into profitable franchises — much of the new movie’s chilly atmosphere involves the experiences of two characters in a room with one very ominous mirror. As the haunted object plays tricks on its two would-be victims’ minds, the audience falls prey to the ruse as well. Director Mike Flanagan turns the fragile nature of consciousness into a better fear tactic than any visceral shocks could possibly achieve.

“Oculus” certainly relies on a familiar toolbox, including the occasional clichéd moment when something scary materializes right behind an unsuspecting character. But the specifics of the scenario engender a fundamental state of dread that grows heavier with each murky twist. Flanagan’s script, co-written by Jeff Howard and based on an earlier short film, nimbly moves between events that transpired 11 years ago and their ramifications in the present: In the opening scenes, 21-year-old Tim (Brenton Thwaites) is released from a psychotherapy ward after years on lockdown and reunited with his sister, Kaylie ( Karen Gillan ). With a steely resolve, she announces that the pair must return to the childhood home and “kill it” — a declaration that immediately establishes a menacing supernatural presence that remains hard to define throughout the movie.

But Flanagan quickly fills in a few more pertinent details: The siblings’ youth was disrupted with the arrival of the mirror into the claustrophobic study where their father (Rory Cochrane) worked alone; at some point, maybe because of his own lapsing sanity or maybe because the mirror drove him mad, their ill-fated father murdered their mother (Katee Sackhoff), at which point young Tim shot him dead. Kaylie has been waiting for her brother to reemerge into society so the two of them can confront the bizarre ancient menace, which is apparently responsible for 48 deaths in 400 years. As soon as he’s free, she snatches up the mirror at a local auction and brings him back to the scene of the crime, with camcorders set up to capture their every move over the course of one isolated, dreary night. In short order, plenty of things go bump in the night, but it’s gradually clear that nothing happening can be taken for granted, including Kaylie and Tim’s own behaviors. At its best, “Oculus” is a tightly enacted chamber drama that just happens to include supernatural phenomena. The mirror is messing with them at every turn — and, by extension, it’s messing with us.

The first sign that “Oculus” has more on its mind arrives as the adult Tim attempts to shrug off his sister’s recollections of supernatural occurrences with the “fuzzy trace” theory of human psychology — essentially, false memories derived from inaccurate associations: In Tim’s view, their dad was an unfaithful lunatic — hence the cryptic presence of another woman in his study after hours — and eventually went ballistic on his wife as a result of their marital tensions. His kids’ convictions about the nature of these events, the thinking goes, suggest a history of mental illness in the family.

And who’s to say whether Tim has it right? As the duo creep around the house, evading passing shadows and lashing out blindly in the wrong directions, it’s never entirely clear if any given point of view holds ground. “Oculus” keeps digging further into their frightened state, thickening the dreary atmosphere at every turn, so that even while the outcome of the scenario is fairly predictable early on, it’s continually haunting as it maps out a path to get there. A truly contemporary horror movie, its eeriness stems from manipulated cell phone conversations and recorded data on the ubiquitous cameras that may or may not accurately represent events as they transpire. No matter how much technology they have on their side, nothing in certain.

In recent years, few American genre films have managed the extreme spookiness found in many of their overseas brethren. Even while “Oculus” plays by the book in individual moments, it manages to invent a shrewder context for the events in question. It’s not the scenes that matter so much as the way they do (and don’t) fit together. It uses subjectivity like a weapon. By contrast, last year’s generally well-liked haunted house effort “The Conjuring” capably grappled with issues of faith, but failed to unite its bigger ideas with the rudimentary process for freaking us out.

In “Oculus,” the horror is at once deceptively simple and rooted in a deep, primal uneasiness. Its scariest aspects are universally familiar: By witnessing the two leads fall prey to the ghastly object’s manipulation, we too become its victims. Reflecting the way our greatest fears lie within our own insecurities, the mirror is an ideal metaphor for the horror genre’s lasting potency.

Criticwire Grade : A-

HOW WILL IT PLAY? Relativity opens “Oculus” nationwide this weekend. With little competition, it should find respectable returns among the sizable audience for horror films, although its primary audience lies on VOD, where it should be successful for a long time.

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Oculus Movie Review — A Stylish, Well-Acted Psychological Horror

Though it doesn’t quite reach the potential of its premise,  oculus  packs in enough tension to make it a solid horror movie.

Yet another entry in the psychological horror rooted in childhood emotional trauma genre. Running in two different timelines, Oculus follows a brother and sister as they try to destroy a mirror that contained the ghosts that haunted them in their childhood.

Although it is void of any big scares that would have made it the movie horror fans were looking for, Oculus  targets something far more terrifying. Your mind. Mike Flanagan’s focus on the feeling of dread and underlying darkness will take you, chill you to the bone, and make you reevaluate your own sanity, which is all we can ask for when it comes to the horror of today.

Shortly after his release, he meets with his older sister Kaylie ( Karen Gillan ), who his doctors warn did not have the benefit of therapy following their childhood trauma, which shows. Through her work at an auction house, Kaylie is able to track down the mirror that tormented them in their youth. Almost immediately after her brother’s release (and when I say immediately I mean at lunch on the way home from the hospital) Kaylie reveals her plan to document the mirror’s evil intentions and powers before finally destroying it. Not the best idea ever.

The mirror is able to change your perception of reality. So when a man thinks he is taking off his band-aid with a staple remover, he is actually digging into his flesh. Isn’t it a lovely image? However, it isn’t the gore that is terrifying, it is the idea of not being in control.

The siblings return to their childhood home armed with cameras, timers (reminding them to eat and drink), thermometers, and an enormous anchor designed to destroy the mirror should anything happen to the pair. Kaylie even has her boyfriend Michael ( James Lafferty ) call them every hour to ensure they are still alive, although he does this under the impression that she is fearful of her brother. Nice. It’s clear Kaylie has been planning this for a while. Eventually, the film spirals into a dark pit of disturbing images that make the siblings question their own sanity.

But where the film finally does fail is where countless horror and psychological thrillers fail. Once you are able to forgive the screenwriters, who also must be blamed for some clunky dialogue, for the well-realized yet terribly feigned procession of scenes that build up to the climax, we are let down by an inevitable final act twist that we can see coming a mile away.

In the end, Oculus doesn’t become the film we wanted it to be. Its brilliant first two acts suggest that there may be something new and fresh hidden underneath, but it is never fully realized. Either way, the final product is a beautifully shot and wonderful acted entry in the never-ending pool of niche horror movies looking to shock, scare, and unnerve.

Oculus  is available on Digital HD on Amazon!

Karl Delossantos

Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.

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• Karl Delossantos https://smashcutreviews.com/author/karldelogmail-com/ 2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Director (Is Alfonso Cuarón a Lock to Win?)

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Behind the Scenes of ‘Oculus’ with Writer/Director Mike Flanagan, Producer Trevor Macy, and Executive Producer Jason Blum

Writer/director Mike Flanagan’s Oculus is a horror film about siblings who investigate an antique mirror thought to have caused the death of dozens of people, including their parents. The cast is led by Doctor Who ‘s Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites (soon to be seen playing a prince in Maleficent ) as adult siblings Kaylie and Tim, with Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan handling younger versions of the characters.

Oculus premiered at the Toronto Film Festival where it earned rave reviews along with the People’s Choice Award Midnight Madness First Runner-Up honor, and on its opening day the Rotten Tomatoes meter has it at a higher approval rating than either of the films it’s opening against in theaters: Rio 2 and Draft Day .

The Hotel del Coronado was the obvious choice for hosting the Oculus filmmaking team of writer/director Mike Flanagan, producer Trevor Macy, and executive producer Jason Blum who were on the road promoting the film’s April 11, 2014 theatrical release. The Hotel Del has the reputation of being one of San Diego’s most haunted establishments and it was an appropriate setting for our conversation about horror films and haunted mirrors.

Mike Flanagan, Jason Blum, and Trevor Macy Exclusive Interview

Mike, you actually requested to spend the night in one of the Del’s haunted rooms?

Mike Flanagan: “I did.”

Jason Blum: “He had a ghost experience! Something weird happened.”

Mike Flanagan: “I didn’t see a ghost or anything like that. I set the alarm in the room for 6am, because we had to do press this morning but it went off on its own at 3:30. It freaked me out and made me smash it quiet and almost miss the press this morning. But I want to find out what time Kate Morgan died, because if it was like 3:30, that would be pretty awesome.”

Jason Blum: “We need to find that out.”

Mike Flanagan: “It was cool. I love that stuff. We started our whole junket at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado.”

Jason Blum: “He chases ghosts. He’s like the ghost hunter. I’m not like that, but he is.”

If something strange happens do you usually jump to a supernatural explanation?

Mike Flanagan: “I’ve never seen anything. I’m a natural-born skeptic so I’d love for it to happen.”

Trevor Macy: “You’re a pretty engaged skeptic though.”

Mike Flanagan: “Yeah, I am!”

Jason Blum: “He’s like a ‘bring it’ skeptic.”

Mike Flanagan: “Yeah, it’s like, ‘Bring it on!’ They’re like, ‘This room is so haunted.’ It’s like, ‘Great, let me sleep there. Let me see what happens.'”

Even though it’s a smaller room, you didn’t care.

Mike Flanagan: [ Laughing ] “It is a much smaller room. But I would love it if I would’ve woken up at 4am with someone standing at the foot of the bed looking all crazy. That would be awesome. Just awesome.”

That would’ve validated everything. Do you think that people who deal in the horror genre have to be skeptics?

Mike Flanagan: “No. I know some people who do it because they’re big believers in the paranormal as well. I think both perspectives lend themselves really well to the genre. I think it needs both perspectives. If you’re a skeptic writing a horror movie, you’ve also got to look at it though the lens of somebody who really believes in that stuff because you want it to land and be effective.

If you’re a true believer, you’ve got to think of it skeptically because audience members will and you want to be able to address those questions. I think they’re both completely essential. I try to represent both as often as I can.”

I’m fascinated by the mirror and the design you chose. How did you figure out what it was going to look like?

Mike Flanagan: “We had bought this mirror for the short that looked similar-ish to the one we have in the movie. We took that as kind of the starting point but wanted to do something that was really organic and kind of felt like it was alive in some way. Something that would be beautiful but ominous at the same time, which is a tough line to straddle. Then what they did with it that was so cool was, if you look at the frame it’s comprised entirely of these writhing human figures, but you can’t tell unless you’re like an inch away.”

Trevor Macy: “It creeps you out when you get close.”

I would imagine. Where’s the prop mirror now?

Mike Flanagan: “The mirrors live in a warehouse right now.”

Trevor Macy: [ Laughing ] “In an undisclosed location.”

A location that so far hasn’t burned down or had anything bizarre happen to it?

Trevor Macy: “Nothing weird has happened that we’ve heard yet.”

You’re filming with a mirror so you must have been driving yourself crazy.

Mike Flanagan: “Yeah, it was really hard.”

Trevor Macy: “Mostly the DP.”

Mike Flanagan: “Which is another benefit of having done the short; we knew it was going to be a challenge. The thing that we did when we designed the mirror was we put the glass itself on a gimbal so that it could be angled just a couple of inches to help frame out crew. But what that did for us that was kind of a bonus was every time in the movie that we’re pointing a camera at it, it’s not reflecting exactly what it should. Everything’s a little off, and your mind picks up on that but you can’t put your finger on what’s wrong. That’s a really cool effect.”

That is creepy. Is it the younger actors or the older actors who get more freaked out and jumpy just by being on a horror movie set?

Jason Blum: “Good question.”

Mike Flanagan: “The older actors. The kids have a blast.”

Why is that? Are they more into it?

Trevor Macy: “In all fairness though, this was a really fun set. Everybody was having a really good time and pulling pranks. Mike promotes a very collegial-like fun environment on set and he’s great with collaborating with actors so they all feel pretty good about it. But we also had a particularly skilled cast on this movie so they were all brave enough to come in and out of character. Katee [Sackhoff] could go from, she made a Match.com video in full bloody teeth makeup and all that stuff. She could go straight into a crying-on-demand kind of thing. They’re all like that, honestly, even the kids. We lucked out.”

What I find troubling about the horror genre is that, as a critic, I hardly ever get to see the movies screened in theaters, but they did screen Oculus . However, normally studios don’t screen films of this genre for critics. Do you think that will ever change? Is it fair?

Jason Blum: “I’m the right person to ask about that.”

I thought you would be.

Jason Blum: “I think it’s almost over. I don’t think you can release… Paranormal Activity is an exception and the only reason we don’t screen Paranormal Activity for critics, except for the fourth one, is because the movies really aren’t ready. We start shooting the movie in June and we’re rushing it out every Halloween. Every other movie that we’ve done, except Dark Skies which did not work, and I think this is part of it is because we’ve always screened for critics.

We’re screening this movie like crazy for everybody because I think the day of like, ‘We’re not going to show the movie, I think the audience knows what’s up. I say to the distributors if they say, ‘We’re not going to screen your movie before it opens,’ I’m saying, ‘Guys, then don’t open the movie. You should do a limited release of the movie.’ I really feel like the consumer, the people who go to movies are too smart now and If you’re not proud enough to show the movie before you open it, you should not be opening the movie.”

Moviegoers look on Rotten Tomatoes and if there aren’t any reviews, they wonder why the studio is hiding the film.

Jason Blum: “Of course.”

Trevor Macy: “I was involved with The Strangers which is a movie that actually was very well received but we decided not to screen in advance. The distributors argument at the time was that they wanted everybody to discover this on the Friday. The movie was good, but it was pretty dark not unlike this one.”

Jason Blum: “But it was also even three or four years ago, whenever it was.”

Trevor Macy: “Yes, and I’m saying a lot has changed since then and I think people can smell it. It used to be that the classic argument was there was no upside. Horror fans don’t care what critics say, which I don’t think is true.”

Jason Blum: “I don’t think that’s true either.”

I don’t think it’s true anymore.

Trevor Macy: “This was the argument that was made. I think that’s wrong because I think there’s a lot of great blogs now who are fans and they’re going to favorably review something a mainstream critic might not. Even if, ‘Okay, fine, it’s not Lawrence of Arabia but it’s a really fun movie and you should go see it.’ That is a win.”

Jason Blum: “The only exception I think is this is not to do with Paranormal … Paranormal aside…is a sequel. I think sequels there’s a pent up, but an original scary movie like this, you have to screen it first. We had 50 screenings last night, word of mouth screenings all over the country.”

Mike Flanagan: “I didn’t know that it was that many. That’s amazing.”

Trevor Macy: “Top 40 markets, plus top 10 Latino plus the seven we’ve done ourselves, 57 screenings.”

Jason Blum: “The best tool to sell a good movie, in my mind, is the movie.”

And with social media, you have to get your film out there or they will know it’s being hidden.

Jason Blum: “I couldn’t agree more.”

Trevor Macy: “That’s actually how you get crucified between Friday and Saturday. Everybody comes to the movie like, ‘Really? I see why they didn’t show it.'”

Jason, how do you figure out what you’re involved with now? I would imagine every filmmaker is throwing ideas at you asking you to produce their films.

Jason Blum: “We look for super specific things that these guys made and that I like to feel like are in most of our movies which is a great story, a compelling story, an original story, and really, really good acting. The scares are very much secondary. You feel like it’s the equivalent of a page turner. I guess reading the script would be a page-turner when you’re sitting, like it’s suspenseful and the story is engaging.

There’s a mystery to this movie which I feel like exists in Sinister and exists in Insidious . There’s a suspensefulness to it and also, obviously, we only do low budget movies. If it’s expensive, that gets rid of a lot of them.”

How many filmmakers or producers come to you and ask you to help set up the same type of model, but with a different genre?

Jason Blum: “Yeah, we’ve done it a few times. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not successfully. We have an erotic thriller that we’re doing, that we finished with J-Lo. That one came out well and that one comes out in January. That’ll be a wide release like this movie. We’ve tried two comedies. We did one with a guy who directed Dukes of Hazzard , a guy named Jay Chandrasekhar. A big studio movie, we did it for a very low budget.

I actually like and am proud of both of these movies, but they didn’t get studio releases; they got smaller releases. The comedy we did was called Babymakers and then Joe Carnahan did a movie for us called Stretch , which is like an action-comedy. It’s a really cool movie, but it’s quirky and more independent feeling so it wouldn’t be right for a wide release.”

The mirror in Oculus reflects your fears and insecurities. If you were looking into it, what would you be seeing?

Mike Flanagan: “I don’t think you’re ever going to find anybody as insecure as I’m going to be until Monday.”

It’s getting good reviews.

Jason Blum: [ Laughing ] “That’s what we’ve been telling him. That’s all he should be caring about. Stephen King said he loved the movie. As a filmmaker there’s nothing better than that. No box office could match that.”

Trevor Macy: “Honestly when he was at the Stanley Hotel, I’ve worked with him now for like three years, I’ve never seen him happier. He was like a kid at Christmas.”

And yet you’re still insecure?

Mike Flanagan: “Yeah. I think all filmmakers operate fundamentally from a level of deep insecurity. We can be really, really confident in a piece of work and very proud of it but you’re still like, when you put it in front of an audience for the first time, the stomach’s going to drop out.”

Do you find that to be the case with all the directors you work with?

Trevor Macy: “Yes, even experienced directors. Between Toronto, SXSW, and the aforementioned 57 screenings and some tests, we’ve seen it with audiences but we’re asking people to fork over their hard-earned money and time to see it for the first time. That’s what you do. We’ve lived with this movie since 2011. Even if you’re totally proud of the movie, butts in the seats are the important stuff.”

Jason Blum: “The media loves media. It’s a public industry, so you feel like you’re under the spotlight. Which is fun and also stressful.”

Is it still a thrill to see your film with a regular audience?

Mike Flanagan: “Oh yeah, that’s the best.”

How do you react? Do you watch the audience?

Mike Flanagan: “I watch the audience. Yeah, I watch the audience.”

Jason Blum: “Every time we’re in a screening and we get there to do a Q&A, he goes in the theater. I don’t because I get too nervous, but he goes in.”

Mike Flanagan: “We can be pretty invisible for that. My favorite theater in the world is the ArcLight in Hollywood. I’m going to be there all day [on April 11], just kind of lurking and checking it out. I love watching the audience experience, I love it. When we did Toronto, that was probably the coolest audience experience that I’ve ever, ever had. Standing up, vocal, and how excited they were.”

Trevor Macy: “It was our first public screening too and it was 1,300 people.”

Mike Flanagan: “It was huge. They were applauding throughout the movie and it was awesome.”

Was there a line or a scene in the movie they reacted to more than you expected?

Mike Flanagan: “The thing that got the biggest reaction that I wasn’t expecting is the moment where Annalise [Basso] comes running out into the hallway with the golf club and Marie [Katee Sackhoff] pops out. That got a big ovation. I thought that that was awesome.”

Trevor Macy: “It was the smack. It was great sound design.”

Your older actors are terrific but how did you find the younger members of your cast?

Mike Flanagan: “We got really lucky. Annalise put herself on tape and just sent it in. We were like, ‘How are we going to find the actress who can play a young Karen Gillan, who’s going to look enough like her and do what the movie asks of her?’ which is a lot more than what kids normally have to do in these movies. We were really nervous about what that would be. There was going to be this huge search. This tape just kind of knocked on the door and we watched it and were like, ‘Yep, we can stop. That’s it.'”

As a dog lover, I always get upset when you guys kill the frigging dogs in horror movies.

Mike Flanagan: [ Laughing ] “Everybody does.”

Why do you do that? Could you at least switch it to a cat or a gerbil or something else occasionally?

Trevor Macy: “You should have seen the first draft of the script. I’m a dog lover too.”

Was it worse? Why do you do it?

Mike Flanagan: “I think it’s really interesting.”

Jason Blum: “Next movie we’re killing a cat.”

Mike Flanagan: “I find it fascinating that it’s like, you’ve got a character that you love who is like impaled thought the neck but you’re like, ‘The dog!'”

Jason Blum: “Humans are fair game.”

The dogs are innocent victims.

Mike Flanagan: “Which is why eventually we decided to let ‘dog’ go, let dog escape. With Mason we kind of wanted to leave it like we’re not really sure what happened.”

Trevor Macy: “We know. The mirror got him.”

Mike Flanagan: “I would wager the dog is probably looking at a lot of therapy.”

Trevor Macy: “Mason actually was one of the hero dogs from Marley & Me . He’s died a couple times.”

That’s really sad. That’s really horrible. And to change the subject, I have to ask about Jem .

Jason Blum: “ Jem & the Holograms , are you ready?

Jason Blum: “We’re making Jem & the Holograms .”

And you’re involving the fans in everything.

Jason Blum: “Isn’t that good?”

Yes, it’s awesome.

Jason Blum: “I think that thing they were saying about showing the movie…I’m very not precious. I think it’s really important to involve fans from the start. We share our process. We’re very open about our process. We’re very open about the material and what we’re doing and who we’re casting and all that stuff. We like to let the fans in from early on to see how it happens.”

And Jon M. Chu as the director?

Jason Blum: “Jon Chu is the director. He’s done a couple of Step Up movies and GI Joe ‘s.

Everybody keeps saying, “He’s the Justin Bieber director.”

Jason Blum: “Did you see the Justin Bieber movie?”

No I didn’t because I really am not a fan of Justin Bieber.

Jason Blum: “I can’t stand Justin Bieber either. The movie is awesome. You literally like Justin Bieber by the end of the movie, which is a miracle. Do you ever fly Virgin Airlines?”

No, I have never flown Virgin.

Jason Blum: “They did a new public announcement on Virgin Airlines where they have a musical about fastening your seatbelt and all that stuff. They made it into a musical number that’s choreographed, which he directed. It’s like the coolest two minutes of film you’ve ever seen. He’s a great guy, he’s a great director. We start in a week. I’m psyched.”

Oculus opens in theaters on April 11, 2014 and is rated R for terror, violence, some disturbing images and brief language.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Outstanding horror flick has gore, children in peril.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Though the characters quickly get themselves in to

While the brother and sister characters are well-w

Several very bloody, gory scenes. A man rips off h

Both a married couple and an engaged couple are sh

"S--t" is heard a few times, and "f--k" is used a

Apple computers are shown during a scene featuring

An upset mother drinks glass after glass of wine w

Parents need to know that Oculus is an outstanding horror film about a haunted mirror. Expect several gory scenes that are designed to induce squirms (including photos of grisly deaths and crime scenes, fingernails being ripped off, etc.); there are also some flat-out scary images that aren't meant for the…

Positive Messages

Though the characters quickly get themselves in too deep (and resort to stealing, lying, and violence), Oculus has a very strong, interesting sibling relationship. Yes, they argue, but they also clearly care for each other and try to help and protect each other. But in the flashback sequences, the younger children are in peril, and their situation looks pretty hopeless.

Positive Role Models

While the brother and sister characters are well-written and interact in realistic ways -- working together, fighting, and trying to help each other -- overall, their behavior in the film isn't very admirable. Their plan requires stealing, lying, and resorting to violence and destruction.

Violence & Scariness

Several very bloody, gory scenes. A man rips off his fingernails. A woman accidentally bites into a light bulb (she thinks it's an apple). A woman's scar turns into a bloody, gaping wound. In one scene, a woman shows photographs of grisly deaths and crime scenes. A gun is used. But the main issue here is in the flashbacks, showing two younger children in peril. They're neglected, ignored, tricked, trapped, and eventually attacked -- though viewers do know that they both lived to grow up.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Both a married couple and an engaged couple are shown kissing. A mom wears a sheer nightie around the house.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"S--t" is heard a few times, and "f--k" is used a couple of times. "Damn," "hell," "Jesus," and "oh my God" are also heard a few times.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Apple computers are shown during a scene featuring surveillance equipment.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

An upset mother drinks glass after glass of wine while her kids eat dinner.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Oculus is an outstanding horror film about a haunted mirror. Expect several gory scenes that are designed to induce squirms (including photos of grisly deaths and crime scenes, fingernails being ripped off, etc.); there are also some flat-out scary images that aren't meant for the faint of heart. But while there's plenty of blood in the movie, its real focus is on story and characters (the siblings are interesting, albeit not always admirable). Language is somewhat strong, with a few uses of "s--t" and one possible use of "f--k" (spoken quietly during a noisy scene). There's a scene of heavy drinking, some minor kissing between couples, and some Apple computers shown. The movie is likely to be a must-see for horror buffs, and many teens will want to see it, too. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (7)
• Kids say (23)

Based on 7 parent reviews

Outstanding direction with decent scary scenes

What's the story.

After 11 years, Tim Russell (Brenton Thwaites) -- who killed his father as a boy -- is released from a psychiatric hospital. His sister, Kaylie ( Karen Gillan ), immediately asks him to participate in a ritual: to help destroy the creepy old mirror that she thinks caused all the trouble. At first, it appears as if Kaylie may be crazy, but it soon becomes apparent that the mirror does have the power to make people see things. Before long, the siblings are flashing back to the events of their childhood, when the mirror drove their mother ( Katee Sackhoff ) into hysterics and turned their father (Rory Cochrane) into a homicidal maniac. Will Tim and Kaylie be able to tell reality from nightmare -- and survive?

Is It Any Good?

Creepy mirrors have been featured in horror movies plenty of times before, but none of them have been anything quite like OCULUS. It immediately turns your expectations upside via the character of Tim, a troubled but cured soul with blood on his hands. The question of whether he'll kill again quickly becomes moot as his old bond with his sister re-asserts itself. The characters are strong and interact in vivid ways, and they remain the movie's anchor; they're no horror movie amateurs, and they struggle to stay on top of the scares.

But Oculus ' real weapon is its flashbacks, which aren't specifically used as flashbacks but rather as illusions and nightmares forced upon the characters by the mirror's evil. They fold over into reality as younger and older versions of the same characters regard one another, and it's clear that they shouldn't be taken literally. This is a breakthrough for director Mike Flanagan, and (apologies for the pun) a most reflective horror movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Oculus ' violence and gore. Which scenes were meant to make you squeal and squirm, and which had a more visceral effect? What's the difference between these moments? Do bloody scenes make a movie more frightening?

How scary is Oculus compared to other horror movies you've seen? What's scary about it? How did you feel about the scenes with the young children in peril? Did it make a difference knowing that they were only flashbacks or nightmares and that the children survive to grow up?

What's the relationship between the central brother and sister like? Is it realistic? Is it stereotypical ? If you have siblings, how does it compare to your relationship with them?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 11, 2014
• On DVD or streaming : August 5, 2014
• Cast : Karen Gillan , Katee Sackhoff , Brenton Thwaites
• Director : Mike Flanagan
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Relativity Media
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 105 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : terror, violence, some disturbing images and brief language
• Last updated : March 2, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Orphanage

Best horror movies, scary movies for kids.

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Oculus review – smart and scary supernatural thriller

M ike Flanagan had been an unfamiliar name to me before seeing this film – but this editor-writer-director is clearly a scary movie auteur to be reckoned with. Oculus is a variation on traditional horror themes, perhaps chiefly John Carpenter's Halloween and Robert Hamer's haunted mirror sequence in the 1945 Ealing Studios portmanteau classic, Dead of Night. It is, in fact, a feature-length development of a short Flanagan made in 2006. Nothing very self-consciously new is being done with these horror tropes, and there are no postmodern twists. It's just that Flanagan (with co-writers Jeff Seidman and Jeff Howard) contrives a piercingly unpleasant atmosphere of fear. Karen Gillan stars as Kaylie, whose brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) has just been released from a mental facility, deemed to be sane and safe after a horrific episode in their childhood. Tim believes himself to be cured; Kaylie, on the other hand, has grown up believing that her brother was compelled to violence by a supernaturally malevolent antique mirror in their parents' possession and that they must now "kill" this evil-looking glass. Is she displaying symptoms of post-traumatic delusion? Or is the mirror – gulp! – displaying symptoms of being haunted? Smart, scary stuff. One thing: the script says the mirror was once in Balmoral castle, presumably the property of the royal family. What havoc did it wreak there? Something for Oculus 2: The Queen Mother Connection.

• Horror films
• Karen Gillan

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Most viewed.

Review by Brian Eggert October 22, 2021

In Oculus , director Mike Flanagan reflects the horror of family trauma and dysfunction. So many of the best horror films do, ranging from The Exorcist (1973) to The Babadook (2011) to Ari Aster’s work. Produced in part by Blumhouse, Flanagan’s film contains the usual smattering of jump scares and slinky wraiths to give viewers a case of the willies. But Flanagan’s treatment elevates the material, both in his use of mind games and emotional complexity. Since the release of Oculus in 2013, Flanagan’s name has been synonymous with horror that resonates in its confrontation of family dynamics and relationships. He adapted two Stephen King books into superb features and works of classical haunted house literature into masterful television, earning his reputation as a reliable source of exceptional horror. What makes his films different is the interest he shows in his characters’ psychological dimensions, even while he uses the occasional cliché—including jolts of music and the sudden appearance of something terrifying onscreen. He wields the standard equipment found in the horror filmmaker’s toolbox, but he uses them to craft something rather beautiful and quite devastating in the case of Oculus . 

Flanagan and his co-writer Jeff Howard expanded their original 30-minute short into Oculus , the filmmaker’s second feature following his 2011 debut, Absentia . Their script carefully balances belief and skepticism, memory and experience, past and present. Flanagan weaves these themes into a narrative set mainly in a single location, recalling his structure to Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House (2018). The story follows the 21-year-old Tim (Brenton Thwaites), who has just been released from a mental health facility after years of therapy for killing his father. His sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan), who is two years older, picks him up and quickly announces they must return to their childhood home to “keep our promise and kill it.” Confused, Tim doesn’t remember the promise nor what “it” is. His memories of 11 years earlier have changed, whereas Kaylie’s have only sharpened over time. Kaylie believes that once their family moved into their new house, their father Alan (Rory Cochrane), a temperamental software engineer, and mother Marie (Katee Sackoff) gradually went insane due to an evil mirror. The mirror fed on their parents and turned them against each other, driving Marie insane and Alan to violence. Their father eventually murdered their mother. He would have shot the kids next, except Tim shot him instead. 

Flanagan embraces our inner skeptic with reasonable doubt. Influenced by his years of psychotherapy, Tim explains away Kaylie’s mirror hypothesis through psychology’s “fuzzy trace” theory, which proposes that our minds sometimes create false perceptions or associations to replace blanks or mask troublesome memories. “These problems are nothing to be ashamed of,” says Tim, adopting an after-school special tone. “They run in the family.” Tim remembers a very logical version of their past: his mentally ill dad was the man who tortured and killed their mother after she discovered him having an affair, leaving the boy no choice but to protect his sister. Those rational memories exist alongside what really happened, and Flanagan explores Tim’s mind pulling the curtain back. We see the events leading up to Alan’s death elegantly cross-cut with the events in the present. Oculus unfolds, then, across two timelines that, in their parallel trajectories, begin to overlap in creepy ways. Thanks to some supernatural wizardry, the adult Kaylie and Tim see younger versions of themselves (Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan Ewald) in some manner of memory or ghostly projections. And they’re all headed toward a similarly tragic conclusion.   

Flanagan makes several sharp choices in setting up his mirror concept. For starters, he doesn’t explain the mirror’s origins. The viewer never learns whether Satan carved the ornate Bavarian black cedar frame by hand or if it’s the work of medieval occultists. Not knowing makes it scarier and enhances the division between siblings. Regardless, Kaylie’s camera soon captures the mirror at work—a disturbing sequence that finds them experiencing one thing while something else entirely occurs on video shot by her cameras. The mirror causes them to lose themselves in flashbacks or hallucinations, especially when they try to destroy it or escape its influence. Kaylie’s plan includes regular breaks for food and water, ensuring the siblings will remain energized, which only welcomes the mirror to feed on them, thereby strengthening its projections of ghostly or false imagery. At one point, Kaylie bites into an apple and finds she has bitten into a lightbulb, leaving shards stuck in her mouth—but it’s all a disturbing hallucination. Yet, despite all the screentime devoted to their altered mental states, Oculus never feels like it’s dwelling on the past—there’s a decided forward thrust that builds to dual climaxes involving Tim and Kaylie as both children and adults. 

The proceedings feel like Flanagan’s dry run for his 2019 adaptation of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep , which hit bookshelves in 2013, the same year Oculus debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. Doctor Sleep found a traumatized Danny Torrence confronting his ghostly past by returning to the haunted Overlook Hotel, much like Kaylie and Tim’s return to the place of their childhood trauma. The scenes from their childhood, inside a house filled with an abusive and solitary father who has a secret relationship with evil spirits, vaguely recall those with Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980)—or even those in Doctor Sleep ’s recreated scenes featuring Henry Thomas as Jack. Cochrane even looks like those Jacks, especially after Alan becomes short-tempered and committed to appeasing the succubus who draws energy from him like a vampire. When Kaylie and Tim hide behind a bathroom door, on the other side of which one of their parents bangs their fists, we almost expect the possessed to announce, “Heeeere’s Johnny!” But they do not. And while Flanagan may have drawn from The Shining   for inspiration, he mercifully avoids making direct references to those King works, regardless of their similarities.  

Although it’s another of Blumhouse’s low-budget productions, Oculus , which earned upwards of $44 million on a reported $5 million budget, features convincing performances from the small cast—the child actors and parents, in particular. It’s also a handsome production with thoughtfully considered lighting and textures in an otherwise limited space. Flanagan and his regular cinematographer, Michael Fimognari, know how to shoot darkness without sacrificing visibility; the director is almost unparalleled in this respect, next to David Fincher or Gordon Willis. He also creates memorable spirits with subtle touches of makeup and lighting, such as the glowing eyes of victims consumed by the mirror (he used a similar trick to great effect on his 2021 miniseries, Midnight Mass ). Most of all, Oculus doesn’t feel like another supernatural cheapie designed to earn a buck. Instead, it’s rooted in character, and it uses a persistent menace instead of shocks to unnerve the viewer. Not only does it signal the excellent work from Flanagan to come, but it remains among his best and scariest films.

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2013 Directed by Mike Flanagan

You see what it wants you to see

A woman tries to exonerate her brother's murder conviction by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

Karen Gillan Brenton Thwaites Katee Sackhoff Rory Cochrane Annalise Basso Garrett Ryan James Lafferty Miguel Sandoval Kate Siegel Scott Graham Justin Gordon Dave Levine Stephanie Minter Skye L. Johnson Courtney Bell Allison Boyd Jamie Flanagan Alexandra Beer Marc D. Evans Toni White Katie Parker Ginger McNamara

Director Director

Mike Flanagan

Producers Producers

Marc D. Evans Trevor Macy Morgan Peter Brown Justin Gordon Jason Poh Joe Wicker

Writers Writers

Mike Flanagan Jeff Howard

Casting Casting

Anne McCarthy Kellie Roy

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Michael Fimognari

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Ryan Kavanaugh Tucker Tooley Peter Schlessel D. Scott Lumpkin Jason Blum Michael J. Luisi Michael Ilitch Jr. Dale Armin Johnson Julie B. May Glenn Murray Anil Kurian

Lighting Lighting

Joshua Anderson Richard P. Ulivella

Camera Operators Camera Operators

Rachael Levine David Pierson

Production Design Production Design

Russell Barnes

Art Direction Art Direction

Elizabeth Boller

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Michelle Marchand II

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Matt Daly Bret Culp

Stunts Stunts

Chuck Borden Laurie Singer

Composers Composers

Andrew Grush Taylor Stewart

Sound Sound

Chris M. Jacobson Stephen Hunter Flick Marti D. Humphrey Gary Marullo

Costume Design Costume Design

Lynn Falconer

Makeup Makeup

MICA Entertainment Intrepid Pictures Blumhouse Productions WWE Studios Lasser Productions

Releases by Date

12 sep 2014, theatrical limited, 08 sep 2013, 03 apr 2014, 10 apr 2014, 16 apr 2014, 17 apr 2014, 23 apr 2014, 24 apr 2014, 30 apr 2014, 12 jun 2014, 13 jun 2014, 19 jun 2014, 03 jul 2014, 27 aug 2014, 13 sep 2014, 03 jun 2015, 23 oct 2014, 15 apr 2015, releases by country.

• Theatrical MA15+
• Theatrical 16
• Theatrical limited Toronto International Film Festival
• Physical 12
• Theatrical 16 Fantasy Filmfest
• Theatrical Κ-18
• Physical DVD
• Theatrical VM14
• Theatrical B-15

Netherlands

• Premiere M/16 MOTELX - Lisbon International Horror Film Festival
• Theatrical M/16

Russian Federation

• Theatrical 16+
• Theatrical NC-16
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical R

104 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by aliyah ★★★★½ 4

imagine you get released from the psych ward and the first thing your sister says is that she wants to revisit your childhood trauma

Review by ˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ ★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

i would’ve just bought myself a nice new ikea mirror rip to them but i’m different

Review by 👽 Zara 👽 ★★★½ 2

i’d go crazy too if i had that ugly thing hanging in my house

Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★ 7

I want to say that this movie was a pleasant surprise, but it wasn't... not because it was bad, but because I was expecting something great, and that's exactly what I got. If you're familiar with director Mike Flanagan, it's probably because you were lucky enough to stumble across his 2011 film Absentia, which is in my opinion one of the finest low-budget horror films to come out in the last ten years or so (check it out on Netflix if you've yet to see it; there are some flaws in the performances, but every other aspect of the film is astounding). As soon as I finished watching Absentia - this was about a year ago - I looked up…

Review by Jack ★★★★ 2

just close your eyes bro lmaoooo

Review by matt lynch ★★★½

A lot of the individual beats here are sort of generic on their own (scary ghost lady especially) but the tricky structure and the story's internal logic recode them into something really precarious and fun.

Review by Matt! ★★★½ 4

“Mike Flanagan is not a one-trick pony!” – Mike Flanagan, professional one-trick pony.   A narratively creative story of familial dread and past trauma told through looming atmosphere, drawn-out dialogue, and snippets of parallel timelines where an unexplained supernaturally-endowed object may or may not be the cause of everyone’s problems—no, it’s not The Haunting of Hill House or Doctor Sleep or The Haunting of Bly Manor or [insert somber Flanagan dread piece], because THIS  time there’s a giant ugly mirror involved. Duh.   He might only have one schtick, but idk, that schtick just continues to work for me, man. The writing is strong and flows naturally, the acting is on point (especially for all three redheads, Gillan, Sackhoff, and Basso),…

Review by Bunny🐰🪓 ★★★★★ 11

Mike's audition for Hill House.🪞🎥⚓

So the other day I was talking to "Sin" about how good Flanagan is at maintaining originality even when he is adapting a story from an existing source material which makes the entire experience memorable and feels like a breath of fresh air. Then I started thinking about Kate Siegel and how stunning she looks, which further reminded me of that childhood friend of my GF who has a similar facial structure as Kate. While my GF was sitting next to me looking at some pictures of her friends, a thought occurred "I think I should break up with her and focus on her friend"...... Well... After a minute-long stare, I guess she read my…

Review by Arlo McLean ★★★★ 2

why was she so concerned when she ate a lightbulb? lightbulbs are my favourite low-calorie snack!

Review by tawni─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─ ★★★★

why would anyone want that hideous mirror

Review by darren ★★½

You know you are watching a horror film or miniseries directed and written by Mike Flanagan if it has:

- Characters traumatized by an event in their childhood.

- Those characters have issues with their parents.

- And most importantly features Kate Siegel.

Review by esther ★★★½

i would be able to tell the difference between reality and hallucination basically without even trying

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Oculus (2013)

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Oculus Parent Guide

Can murder be an act of ghosts and mirrors.

Release date April 11, 2014

Kaylie Russell (Karen Gillan) believes her brother (Brenton Thwaites) isn't guilty when his is accused of murder. But her theory that the real killer is a supernatural being doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of being accepted.

Run Time: 104 minutes

Oculus Rating & Content Info

Why is Oculus rated R? Oculus is rated R by the MPAA for terror, violence, some disturbing images and brief language.

This additional information about the movie’s content is taken from the notes of various Canadian Film Classification boards:

- Frequent explicit violence.

- Violent acts shown in a realistic manner with detail, blood and tissue damage.

- Several frightening scenes depicting supernatural beings.

- Depictions of beating, choking, shooting, stabbing and impalement.

- Frequent peril to characters, including children, with some blood and detail shown.

- Frequent nightmarish images and disturbing scenes.

- Gory and grotesque images.

Sexual Content:

- Embracing and kissing.

- Mild sexual innuendo.

- Infrequent use of the sexual expletive in a non-sexual context.

- Frequent cursing and scatological slang.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

News About "Oculus"

Cast and crew.

Oculus is directed by Mike Flanagan and stars Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, Brenton Thwaites, James Lafferty.

The most recent home video release of Oculus movie is August 5, 2014. Here are some details…

Oculus releases to home video on August 5, 2014.

Related home video titles:

This movie was created by the same team behind Paranormal Activity and Insidious . Supernatural scares can also be found in these PG-13 rated titles: The Others and The Sixth Sense .

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Frequently asked questions (faqs) about oculus.

In this Oculus film, Karen Gillian , Katee Sackhoff played the primary leads.

The Oculus was released in theaters on 11 Apr 2014.

The Oculus was directed by Mike Flanagan

Movies like Kung Fu Panda 4 , Oppenheimer , Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and others in a similar vein had the same genre but quite different stories.

The soundtracks and background music were composed by The Newton Brothers for the movie Oculus.

The movie Oculus belonged to the Horror, genre.

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