Oculus - Blu-ray

Film: For eleven years, Tim (Brenton Thwaites) was in a mental institution after the violent death of his parents. Now, on his 21st birthday, he can finally start a new life in freedom. His sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan) seems to have already accomplished that. But shortly after their reunion, it becomes clear that the past will catch up with the siblings one last time. Because they are convinced that a mysterious mirror is responsible for the death of their parents. And it is this mirror that Kaylie has now tracked down. They have only two days until the cursed thing is shipped to its new owner. Two days in which they will try everything possible to destroy the mirror and break the dark curse. But evil is not so easily put in its place...

Oculus is based on a short film that director Mike Flanagan had directed in 2006. From the basic idea, he crafted a decent scary story that has some effective moments to offer, especially in the first half. The story consists of two levels of action: While Kaylie and Tim are in the present trying to destroy the evil in the mirror, flashbacks tell how they moved into a new house as children with their parents (Katee Sakhoff, Rory Cochrane), where that mirror soon causes a significant disturbance in the family peace. To build a creepy atmosphere here, Flanagan uses very conventional devices. Still, some of them are extremely effective, so that a decent level of suspense is achieved.

The film is able to maintain this until the end. Admittedly, there are slight lengths every now and then and scenes that try a little too hard for a goosebump effect. But all in all a quite positive overall impression dominates, which should appeal to lovers of more discreet, unbloody horror. Acting-wise, the whole thing is on a decent level, though none of the actors stand out. Karen Gillan, known from the series Doctor Who, for example, tries very hard to portray Kaylie, who is possessed by the mirror, in a believable way. However, the script simply lacks the depth for her to ultimately achieve this. But extremely wooden performances, as you find very often in the horror genre, fortunately do not interfere with the viewing pleasure here.

Through the successful blending of the two time levels and some neat creepy effects, Oculus is therefore a successful contribution to the creepy genre until its satisfying end, which has earned a very clear worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The technical realization of the scary movie has turned out pleasantly atmospheric. The picture is absolutely clean and can also score in the numerous darker scenes with a decent detail representation. The coloration is very harmonious and the well-tuned black levels also contribute to the fact that the mood of the film can unfold well in the home theater. The DTS-HD 5.1 mix also contributes to this, perfectly showcasing the film's good sound design, which is responsible for many a goosebump moment. Other than that, the dialogue, music and various smaller sound effects are all well-matched, creating an all-around positive overall impression.

Extras: In addition to a making of (approx. 9:34 min.) and cut scenes (approx. 9:50 min.), the disc still has the short film by Mike Flanagan (approx. 32:11 min.) to offer, which served as a template for Oculus. Worth seeing - despite the lack of subtitle options.

Conclusion: Oculus is an atmospheric creepy thriller, which does without the very big shock moments, but can still please with some successful moments of tension and effective goosebumps scenes. The Blu-ray presents the film in good picture and sound quality and also has interesting bonus material such as the original Oculus short film to offer. So for lovers of the more understated scares, this disc is definitely: recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp