“I’ve met my demons, and they are many. I’ve seen the devil, and he is me.” -Alan Russell, Oculus.

Where to begin with my sweet Oculus? I have seen many horror movies, but this one ranks amongst my favorites (of course, if you’ve subscribed to the Horror Press Mailing List, you already knew that.)

Oculus came out in 2013 and was an early film of Mike Flanagan’s. Since then, he’s made quite the name for himself in horror with titles such as The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, and Midnight Mass under his belt.

This lesser-known film tells the tale of a brother and sister who have reunited as adults, with the brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) just being released from a mental institution for killing his father as a child and his sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan), determined to prove that a mirror, known as The Lasser Glass, is a supernatural force of evil that destroyed their family. The tale that unfolds sees the pair reliving the trauma the mirror afflicted upon them as children while trying not to be corrupted by its influence in the present day.

From start to finish, this film by Mike Flanagan is captivating, intense, and terrifying. The horrific concepts which emerge from the haunted mirror extend beyond otherworldly forces, as true-to-life traumas and slip with reality only scratch the surface.

The Lasser Glass

The idea of a haunted mirror is nothing new, yet still just as mysterious as ever. Although there is no scientific reason why a reflective surface could bring about evil tidings, the concept of a haunted mirror is as old as the objects themselves. There are endless superstitions revolving around mirrors, most of which see mirrors serving as gateways between worlds. Many have explored the intrigue surrounding these objects, and there have been various true stories of mirrors purported to be haunted. Therefore, looking at the film from its most basic horrific concept, a haunted mirror, is off to a great start.

HORROR FUN FACT: Look closely in The Haunting of Hill House, the Lasser Glass can be spotted there.

The Horrors of Everyday Life by Supernatural Means

As we learn more about the Russell family, we see the unraveling which happened, and the terrifying part was how relatable the problems began. A wife begins to suspect her husband is cheating after he becomes withdrawn and easily agitated. The Lasser Glass then intensified their marital issues through apparitions of a woman with glowing silver eyes. The mirror tinkered with their bonds’ insecurities to isolate and manipulate them further, to the point where even trying to call for help resulted in hallucinations that the call was taking place. The children become further isolated and are on the receiving end of the cracks in the family’s foundation.

These children grow up to suffer from childhood wounds, all because of the mirror’s evil. Its influence is subtle, and anyone in turmoil may wonder whether a real-life version of the Lasser Glass may be seeping negative energy into their lives.

A similar theme can be spotted in The Shining, which made Stephen King’s book great. The evils of the Overlook Hotel preyed upon Jack Torrance’s weaknesses, using its power to turn him against his family and into a monster. Alan Russell (Rory Cochrane) was absolutely Jack Torrencian in nature, and it’s far from the only line of influence drawn from Stephen King’s work to Mike Flanagan’s. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Slips with Reality

One of the scariest symptoms of the mirror’s influence was the disconnect with reality, where we would see multiple characters “zoning out” into space as their thoughts or memories took over the main running frame of their brain. One shot showed the mother vacuuming but finding herself frozen, staring into the mirror, but looking out into space. As someone who’s neurodivergent and prone to zoning out, it’s creepy to see in the film, especially when the reason is that losing your mind is to blame.

But that’s precisely where Oculus excels. The movie can combine these mundane parts of ordinary life into a tale of people being driven insane and doing horrendous things.

HORROR FUN FACT: Mike Flanagan’s wife, Kate Siegel, who has played in many other Mike Flanagan productions, has a small part in this film as the woman from the mirror.

Full Blown Insanity

One of the scariest notions of human existence is that our brains could disconnect from our bodies so much that we could do one thing but think we are doing something completely different. One story was particularly haunting as Kaylie gave the backstory behind those affected by the mirror. A mother locked her children in a cistern, killing them, and later claimed she thought she was tucking them in bed.

Twisting a person’s perception of reality is the core framework of how the Lasser glass operates and is undoubtedly the scariest part. It makes its victims the perpetrators of their own worst nightmares.

The Lasser glass knows how to mess with people by making them hear and see things that aren’t there, such as one cringe-inducing scene when Alan Russell begins taking off his fingernail, thinking he was removing a band-aid. It’s a terrifying concept because how do you beat that? From the moment Kaylie and Tim watched a recording of themselves moving cameras with no recollection of doing so, it was clear they were never going to win.

The Way Oculus Ends

Some people may not appreciate the ending of this film as it’s not a happy one. Some people don’t like being hit over the head with melancholy and tragedy and evil triumphing over good. However, I do.

As a last-ditch effort, Tim hits the failsafe kill switch Kaylie had installed in an attempt to destroy the mirror for good. However, as the Oculus tagline claims: You see what it wants you to see.

In this case, it was what it didn’t want you to see, as Tim didn’t see Kaylie standing in front of the mirror when he hit the kill switch. The device swiftly impaled her, killing Kaylie in the mirror’s place.

Then, we are left with Tim being dragged from the house by police, with cut shots to both the present and past versions of himself screaming, “It wasn’t me! It was the mirror!”

This ending highlights the continuous theme we see in every Mike Flanagan production. Mike Flanagan loves to play with time and constantly shows the past overlapping the present. I could go on, but I digress.

Why Oculus Is a Must-Watch Horror Film

The fact that Kaylie and Tim didn’t win makes sense. They were doomed from the start. The mirror is a centuries-old evil that would take much more than recording equipment and a haphazard failsafe to destroy. It could manipulate the childhood trauma it had inflicted on them from years before because it already knew them.

The sullen ending only solidified the formidability of the Lasser Glass as an opponent, making it all the more terrifying.

All in all, the way that the Lasser Glass was able to use its supernatural forces to manipulate the insecurities of its victims, to the point where they were so separated from reality that they were driven insane, makes for an incredible horror movie.

5/5 Stabs. Oculus is fantastic.

Watch Oculus for yourself as it is currently streaming on Pluto TV, Plex, Prime Video, VUDU, Redbox, and Apple Tv.