Oculus

A malevolent killer mirror runs amok in suburbanites’ psyches in writer-director Mike Flanagan’s very silly but really quite effective horror. Karen Gillan, in a twitchily unconvincing if enjoyably doolally performance, and the more solid Brenton Thwaites play siblings Kaylie and Tim, struggling with the legacy of their mother’s (Katee Sackhoff) death at the hands of their father (Rory Cochrane) ten years previously. At the opening, Tim is just being released from a mental institute, seemingly having overcome his inner demons, but Kaylie – now an outwardly balanced and successful auction house administrator – seeks revenge against the actual tangible evil forces she believes to have driven Pops to murder.

Dual timeframes are utilised smartly; the unravelling of Cochrane’s seemingly benign software engineer and young Kaylie and Tim’s (Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan) increasing concern intercut with the now grown kid’s attempts to document their gaudy looking glass’s power to bend minds, and ultimately destroy it. As the mirror gets a hold of the older Tim and Kaylie’s heads like it was always going to no matter what their precautions, the two periods smartly bleed into each other with disorientating, creepy results. Flanagan appears fonder of atmosphere than cheap shocks – though there are a few of them, too – and Oculus works well when deconstructing/nodding towards haunted house/possession lore of the past 40 years. This savviness, coupled with some really uncomfortable sequences – Dad’s prolonged, quiet psychosis and Mum’s complete disintegration are very well played – and a refreshingly ballsy denouement produce an overall inventive and fun B movie.