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Movie Review: Oculus

The ghost story has gotten quite a workout in the last few years, largely thanks to the huge financial success of Blumhouse Productions’ Paranormal Activity series and all their imitators. As if that wasn’t enough, they doubled down with successes on new franchises of the nether-realm in Insidious and Sinister. Now, this latest entry into the game picks up the board and shakes it so hard at least some of the pieces fall off. There’s a new ghost in town and it’s, um, a mirror?

Karen Gillan plays Kaylie, a woman obsessed with the past, when her younger brother shot and killed their father, who himself had murdered their mother. Her brother (Brenton Thwaits) is freshly out of the psychiatric institute and “cured,” but here comes Kaylie with an elaborate plan to destroy the evil that came from an old cursed mirror, despite her brother having come to terms with said evil just having been in his imagination.

Spoiler: The mirror isn’t terribly into this whole, being punished for its crimes thing.

The Unusual Suspects have a go at this horror romp that some critics have called “a bracingly original horror flick”. But does that mean it’s good? Beau, Ashley, JC and Chris have a go.