It is rare that a horror movie release of any kind is at least decent nowadays, but Oculus provides a story that sinks its teeth into you along with enough jump scares to keep everyone on their toes.

There is a fine line between having horror effects appear entirely silly or somewhat believable. Oculus pulls off the glowy-eyed “villain” with the tattered clothes and generally dark aura effectively without it being over-the-top fake, a la “Mama,” which is definitely one of the worst horror movie releases of last year for that reason.

While there are definite holes in the story, such as the name of the main ghost-like creature being revealed without any actual background information, it does pave the way to possible prequels or sequels.

The acting in the movie is good overall. The characters are believable in their roles with the exception of the male lead Brenton Thwaites. He was a bit over the top in the same kind of way that Keanu Reeves is in any of his roles. He could have done a lot more with his character and really brought the movie to another level.

Oculus is definitely the best horror movie to be released this year thus far. If it does eventually turn into a franchise I would hope the storyline is delved into deeper.