Oculus (2013)★★★★☆

I’ve watched this movie several times (and a couple this year alone!) but haven’t written about it yet because I haven’t quite figured out what I want to say about it. I like it quite a bit, but it’s hard for me to pinpoint why.

Maybe it’s the cast — Katee Sackhoff and Rory Cochrane are great as Alan and Marie, the parents. Kaylie and Tim were great — both past and present versions were believable and the family chemistry worked wonderfully. And it was kind of neat seeing James Lafferty in this, since I’d only ever seen him in One Tree Hill before.

Or maybe it’s just that I like this director. I actually didn’t realize it until writing this post, but he also directed Hush, which you may recall I liked. And also Absentia, which I haven’t written about here but I liked as well. So he’s done pretty well with making scary movies I like, which makes me (not so) cautiously optimistic about the fact that IMDb says he’s announced a movie version of Gerald’s Game, a Stephen King novel I have read (and enjoyed).

This movie is reasonably well paced and the story is compelling and original. The ending is a bit predictable, especially since there are so many hints leading up to it. And without spoiling the plot too much, those two should have known better. But I liked this movie and would recommend it to most horror fans.