6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A woman tries to exonerate her brother's murder conviction by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.
Starring: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise BassoHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 33% |
Psychological thriller | 10% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Mundane, everyday objects becoming evil—or at least becoming a portal to evil—have been a horror staple since time immemorial, and the unease generated by seeing a common item in a new, malevolent light has kept people like Stephen King rolling around in piles of cold, hard cash to this very day. Interestingly, the word “oculus” itself actually refers to a portal, the openings at the top of some domes or cupolas that allow a view of the sky. In Oculus, the “portal” issue becomes paramount, though etymologists will also be aware of a more general “ocular” aspect—i.e., eye—playing into the story as well. Co-writer and director Mike Flanagan based this feature film on a 2005 short he did entitled Oculus: Chapter 3 — The Man With the Plan (included on this Blu-ray as a supplement), in what was originally intended to be a nine part aggregation of shorts built around the idea of a possessed mirror. The short is an interesting if somewhat underdeveloped “found footage” saga detailing a researcher’s locked room interaction with the demonic mirror, one documented by a battery of cameras the guy has set up to record what he expects to be nefarious events. While the feature film iteration includes a similar battery of cameras, luckily it shies away from the by now completely rote found footage formula, instead investing in a rather brilliant structural artifice that combines two different timelines as if they were happening simultaneously, a gambit which plays rather artfully into one character’s mental instability and reactions to the deadly reflective device. Oculus has a lot to recommend it, but it’s also a rather slow, talky horror outing, and for that reason may not rise to the visceral level that adrenaline junkies prefer for their fright fests.
Oculus is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa (Plus), Oculus makes full use of the tonal ranges the Arri Alexa is able to easily capture, offering brightly lit outdoor sequences and somewhat murky looking dimly lit interior scenes with equal sharpness, if not quite equal detail. Flanagan utilizes a number of extreme close-ups (visible in some of the screenshots included with this review) where fine detail is at spectacularly sharp levels. Colors are accurate looking, though the film tamps the palette down as things progress and more and more of the film takes place in near darkness. Shadow detail is still quite commendable in many of these darker sequences. There's no really aggressive color grading here, although some dark scenes have just a hint of blue in them. There are no problematic compression artifacts on display here, despite the overabundance of dark scenes.
Oculus' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is an amazingly boisterous piece of work, perhaps due at least in part to the original theatrical exhibition's Auro 11.1 mix. LFE here is almost viscerally palpable from virtually the first moment. In fact the entire film has a really stupendous low end which rumbles through the subwoofer with extreme force at times. Dialogue and effects are very cleanly presented and there is consistent surround activity even in quieter moments. Fidelity is top notch and the track has absolutely no issues of any kind whatsoever.
The structural ingenuity on display in Oculus bodes very well for the future of Flanagan, though he needs to make sure his third act builds on the momentum of the first two, rather than just coasting, as seems to be the case with this film. I personally would have liked Oculus better had there been a bit of ambiguity about whether Tim was bat guano crazy or not, but the simultaneous unfolding of two disparate (and desperate) stories makes this a thrill ride quite a bit of the time. Technical merits here are first rate, and despite some stumbles in the late going, Oculus comes Recommended.
2018
Extended Director's Cut
2018
2014
2016
2014
2019
2013
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2009
2024
Schock / Beyond the Door II
1977
2006
2019
2013
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2001
2011
Unrated Director's Cut
2011
Includes Director's Cut
2019