Oculus DVD Review

Tim Russel (Scott Graham) prepares a stark white room with video cameras, monitors, phones and alarms, before taking delivery of a large mirror, which is set on an easel and covered with a white cloth. Tim has obsessively traced the terrible history of the mirror, which became known as the "Lasser glass". For the last 250 years or so, the many owners of the mirror have met with grizzly deaths, and Tim is positive that the glass is to blame. In 1980, the mirror ends up in the office of his father, who had been involved in an awful crime and committed suicide, but Tim is convinced that his father is innocent and the mirror was somehow guilty. Now alone with the mirror, he is determined to finally get the proof he needs that the glass is responsible for the deaths... that's if he doesn't lose his mind in the process.

Every now and again a film will come along and completely catch me by surprise. Having sat through an awful lot of indie films over the years, more often than not I know what to expect. Sometimes they look like they were shot in their mother's living room, with family and friends as actors (and often that is the case), but they may still show great potential. Sometimes they have fantastic ideas, but haven't got the funds/experience to realise them. Very occasionally I come across a film which blows away all preconceptions, and Oculus is one such film. Director and co-writer Mike Flanagan has managed to put one man in a white room, with a mirror and a couple of cameras, and create a gripping and unnerving work of some considerable class.

Playing a huge part in the success of Oculus is Scott Graham, who, for the vast majority of the film's 32 minutes, is left alone in the room to tell the story with just a few simple props. Having worked in the theatre myself, I'm used to seeing this kind of display on the stage, but certainly not in an independent film, Scott’s assiduous performance captivated me from the very first moments. Mike Flanagan has cleverly made a very uncomplicated environment extremely disconcerting, dragging the viewer into Russel's increasingly disorientating situation. Oculus is an accomplished short film and bodes very well for the director and actors’ future work. Excellent. S.J.T.

Oculus 2006

Directed by Mike Flanagan

Official Site