Two Jews On Oculus

The moral of this film: Don’t buy a mirror that’s more than a year old…or just make sure, it’s not one that houses a malevolent spirit that will infect your mind, body and soul.

‘Oculus’, directed by Mike Flanagan, is based on a short film of the same name, that he wrote and directed in 2005. The film was made for just under $1500 and shot in four days.

This ‘Oculus’ written by Flanagan and his writing partner, Jeff Howard, is definitely an expanded version of his the original idea.
The film is the story of the Russell family…and takes us traveling back and forth into their past and present.

When the movie opens. we meet Tim (Brenton Thwaites) who is about to be released from a mental hospital. He’s deemed cured by the doctors and the dude does look like he could be the poster boy for mental health.

Waiting to greet Tim and help him start his new life, is his sister Kaylie (the wonderfully intense Karen Gillan). After exchanging hugs, she reminds her brother of the promise he made her years ago.

FLASHBACK. We meet the young Kaylie ( Annalise Basso) playing with her younger brother Timbo (Garrett Ryan) as their parents, Alan (Rory Cochrane) and Marie (Katee Sackhoff) unpack boxes and arrange the furniture in the new sprawling house they just moved into.

On top of that, daddy has just started a new in home business. Wow, this guy definitely has a lot on his plate…But despite that, he’s managed to do some antique shopping and one of his purchases is an….

ANTIQUE MIRROR…aka A REALLY SUPER EVIL ANTIQUE MIRROR.

It doesn’t take long, before we discover just how evil this mirror is…

And the grownup Kaylie, is determined to destroy it and she’s equally determined to get her brother to keep his promise….To help her kill the mirror.

‘Oculus’ which opens in theatres Friday, April 11, 2014, is a scary, intense, eerie film that will have you, at times, sitting on the edge of your seat. I even popped out of my seat a few times and for that reason, I gave the film 3 1/2 bagels out of 5.

Check out the Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts and let me know what you think.

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Joan and John Schwartz

Joan and John Schwartz are ex New Yorkers, living in Los Angeles. They are married and see a lot of films. They usually disagree but always tell it like it is. John is most famous for creating the cult classic films Faces of Death. He has also written for various prime time series and has written movies for both Showtime and HBO. In the world of reality television John has produced, written and directed over 450 segments for various magazine shows He has also written and Executive Produced several Prime-Time Specials. Joan has appeared on the New York Stage on and off Broadway…and has been in several Los Angeles theater productions as well.. Joan has been in several low budget films and at present she is busy writing screenplays with her husband, John.

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