Oculus

                When it comes to feature films, WWE studios seems to be much divided in my opinion. They’ve ranged from making stupid action films featuring their star wrestlers, or making incredibly dumb thrillers and horror films that are more comedic than they are suspenseful. So far, the only good film they’ve had on their track record was “The Rundown,” but that may be due to them having Christopher Walken doing what he does best. This time around, we get to their newest installment, “Oculus.”

                “Oculus” tells of two siblings, Tim and Kaylie, who lost their parents over a decade ago, which Tim was framed for. When Tim’s released, Kaylie takes him back to the house, with the mirror they used to own back in their possession, as she thinks it’s what made them lose their parents to begin with. Tim, however, has no belief in it anymore, but Kaylie still tries to persuade him that the mirror is cursed and that it was what caused their parents’ death. For a horror film released in the spring, I have to say I was impressed by it. Instead of most horror films relying on jump-scares, like the typical found-footage movies, it builds mostly on suspense and atmosphere to do the scaring for us. And for a horror film in this day and age, especially coming from like this studio, that’s saying a lot.

                The best part about this film that comes to mind, for me, is the two main leads. Karen Gillian and Brenton Thwaites as Kaylie and Tim really deliver strong performances and the chemistry between them is so believable, I completely forgot I was watching actors, but rather real people dealing with something of the supernatural. Watching them allows the view to think, was all of the stuff happening really the work of a cursed mirror, or if it was part of some delusion that was going around.

What threw me off for a bit, is that the film jumps between the present and the past, with no indication of it being the two years before, but thankfully it did manage to pick up after a while. The biggest complaint that I had with the film was during the flashbacks, it does indicate that the mirror is cursed, because I liked the possibility of it being a delusion shadowing their minds. I was kind of hoping this would be similar to “The Shining,” where instead of making it obvious that there are ghosts haunting the hotel, Stanley Kubrick made you think if it was ghosts or Jack’s insanity finally getting to him. However, it is the mirror, as it does show in flashbacks with the dad dealing with the mirror’s tricks.

Despite this, the film does showcase some really tense and spooky moments, like the biting of a light bulb, and Katie Sackhoff as the mother being the subject of torment to the father, played by Rory Cochrane from “Argo,” who they themselves give good performances as well.

Overall, “Oculus” is definitely a horror film worth watching. While nothing special, like “The Conjuring” or “Sinister,” it still has some strong moments that are worth viewing, especially when the Halloween time starts to roll around. Even if it wasn’t all that great, it would still be better than all of those lackluster “Paranomral Activity” movies. Screw that crap.

Rating: 7/10