Many horror movies have slashers, deformed killers, animals that cannot be mistaken as friendly, ghosts, aliens or paranormal spirits that are insidiously evil, but Oculus has something a little bit different: a mirror. More specifically, an antique mirror which Kaylie Russell (Karen Gillan) believes is responsible for the death of her parents and for her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) being sent to a mental hospital.
That’s the basic premise for Mike Flanagan’s new horror film, which has been earning rave reviews on the festival circuit. After introducing us to the initial set-up, the film picks up 10 years after Kaylie and Tim lost their parents. Tim is released from the hospital and discovers that Kaylie has an experiment going on that will prove to the world that this same antique mirror is possessed by a supernatural phenomenon. Tim, of course, tries to convince Kaylie to give up on it and tells her that he’s moved on and she should, too. Soon enough though, strange events begin to occur and they realize that they must put an end to this evil mirror before it’s too late.
Last week, the Oculus press day was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California. While there, we landed an exclusive interview with Flanagan, Gillan and two of the film’s co-stars, Rory Cochrane and Katee Sackhoff. They discussed what strange objects frightened them as children, the challenges that playing their characters presented, and how tough it was taking a short film and turing it into a feature length production.
Hear what the cast and director of Oculus have to say in the video below, and be sure to catch the film when it hits theatres this Friday!