La La Land Festival, Goa : A unique multi-disciplinary festival that cares about the Arts and the Environment

Oculus, English Hollywood Film Movie Review,Johnson Thomas, 

Rating:*  *  *

<a href="http://www.mrqe.com/"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/"><a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/"><a href="http://www.aasra.info/"><a href="http://www..com/"><a href="http://www.thepioneer.com efilmcritic.com/"><a href="http://www.talkingpix.co.uk/"><a href="http://www.newyorktimes.com/"><a href="http://www.timesofindia /"><a href="http://www.tirbuneindia.com/"><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/"><a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/"></a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a><a href="http://www.internationaltribune.com/"><a href="http://www.efilmcritic.com/"></a></a>

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/"></a>       

                                                                            

English Film Review

Johnson Thomas

Film: Oculus: Plaguing the Mind

Cast: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Rory Cochrane, Katee Sackhoff

Director: Mike Flanagan

Running Time: 105 min.

Rating: *  *  *

Synopsis:Two siblings haunted by a childhood tragedy learn that the source of their horror is a mysterious mirror with a dark history. Tim (Brenton Thwaites) and Kaylie (Karen Gillan) were merely teenagers when both of their parents were brutally butchered. Convicted of the killings and sentenced to protective custody, Tim serves his time while Kaylie drifts into a deep despair. Years later, a newly free Tim does his best to lay the past to rest. Meanwhile, Kaylie is certain that her brother was innocent all along, and that the antique mirror their parents used to own holds the answer to her darkest questions. Upon locating the long-lost looking glass, Kaylie's deepest fears are confirmed -- a menacing force inhabits that mirror, and it has plagued every owner who has come into possession of it. Now, as curious Kaylie reacquires the mirror, the nightmarish cycle of horror returns with a vengeance

 

Mike Flanagan’s latest will haunt you for a long time-not because of it’s scares but mostly because of the sharp, cuts-like-a-knife tension he orchestrates in the telling of this complex horror-thriller. This film is actually an extension of the half-hour fright film ‘The man with the Plan’ he made five years before ‘Absentia.’ The film won rave reviews from horror addicts and that gave him the impetus to expand it into a full-length feature. The result is a complex mind game with a mirror that possesses supernatural powers that unleashes havoc and mayhem into the lives of the families that come into contact with it.

 

When the Russell clan move into their spacious new suburban house little did they know what lay in store for them. The 300 year old antique mirror in the office room unleashes a terror that even time can’t contain. The narrative flashes back and forth in time telling us in bits and pieces about what transpired when the two siblings were just kids and what happens when they turn into teenagers still traumatized by the events that left their parents butchered. It’s kaylie’s efforts to arrive at the truth that leads to more confusion and death. The performances, coupled with the non-linear narrative  lend complexity and high tension to the experience. Of course you never learn the motivations of the ghosts in the mirror  so the believability becomes suspect. The Newton Brother’s pulsating score lends ominous intensity to the engagement. It’s both unsettling and claustrophobic. The scares are minimal though.

Johnsont307@gmail.com