Go See Oculus

You say you're a horror fan. You have encyclopedic knowledge of movies. You have a DVD library of all the classics and near classics. You can speak more or less eloquently about movies and books. Cool.

If you really are a fan, you should get out and see Oculus. I saw it this afternoon, and while I won't sit here and claim that it is a classic, it is very well done. The performances are uniformly good, the script won't make you cringe, and the story is clever. Perhaps it isn't the most original idea in the genre, but Oculus is a fresh approach.

Best of all, Oculus keeps you on your toes. It's not a paint-by-numbers story, and it does not rely on cheap gore and jump scares. Writer-director Mike Flanagan does not try to overwhelm you with headache-inducing visuals, or gut-churning, disgusting situations. Nor, thankfully, is it another story of walking dead people hungry for flesh. He aims to scare you by stimulating your brain. And he mostly succeeds.

You have pissed and moaned about remakes and sequels. Well, when an original horror movie comes along, you ought to make the effort to see it. In the theater.

I guess if one wanted to be totally anal, it could be argued that Oculus is a remake of the short movie of the same name, by the same director.

Yeah, sure, but for all practical purposes, Oculus is an original feature film. And it's a damned good one.

I won't go into plot details here. The trailer alone, as usual, gives away too much as it is. Suffice to say that Oculus is a mind-fuck story that plays with shifting events in time, and its dizzying plot stretches the very fabric of reality. The movie it most reminds me of in that regard is Nacho Cerdà's bizarre The Abandoned.

But wait. You say that movies cost too much. You're weary of paying fifty, seventy-five, or even more dollars seeing them. Well, I say that you don't have to do that. Eat before, or after the movie. If you, like me, see it with a date, grab some food after and discuss it while the two of you eat. See a morning show, when it is much cheaper. I, and my date, got in for a total of twelve dollars.

We all love the horror genre, and we all wish to see more original movies being produced. That is why it is so absolutely crucial to get out and see the ones that do get released. The guys who pull the money strings of potential productions look at the box office results of similar projects more than anything else. We blame the kids for making the remakes so successful. Let's all do our parts to make movies like Oculus profitable.

Oculus is already a modest success. It earned its modest five million dollar budget back on opening weekend, and it will hopefully continue to bring in revenue. I love it how these small pictures so often outdo the bigger spectacles that are produced. These little ones are often more effective, too. At least I think so.

Will you like Oculus? I think so. No movie will please all fans. That much is for sure. It might be too subtle for some fans, or too confusing for others. Others still simply won't like it. For the most part, though, fans seem to be responding positively.

We need more movies like this, so again, please go out and vote with your dollars and see Oculus.