ThiefHott
Too much of everything
Seraherrera
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Oculus: Chapter 3 - The Man with the Plan" is a half-hour short film from almost 10 years ago. The writer and director is Mike Flanagan and he also made a feature film based on this one here. The whole thing is basically about a man's desperate attempts to prove that an old mirror (in a very sterile environment) is haunted. It's basically a one-man show for the lead actor here and I guess he does a fine job all in all. The random rambling gets repetitive and annoying, but that's not his fault, but the script's. Still, the material is simply not good enough for 30 minutes here and I really hope Flanagan managed to step it up with the full feature. As for this film here, I was never scared and I was rarely entertained. The good thing is that the end is probably the biggest strength of the film after 25 minutes of boredom though, so that was not a big achievement exactly. All in all, a fairly forgettable film and I cannot say this got me curious at all about the director's other works. Not recommended.
frederuco
One of my friends (zablalbaz) saw this at DragonCon and was raving about it. He managed to get it to show some of his friends. From all the hype he was giving it, I figured it was good, but did not believe it could have been *that* good. Some people say the alarms were too loud, but I think they were perfect. Amazing how a simple alarm clock can make you jump like that. I did notice how the video monitors have different things going on in them. Very freaky and scary, but not on a blood and gore scale. Very freaky on the paranoia and sanity of the mind spectrum. I was amazed at how well this film was at keeping my attention. Very tough to do for a 1 man star in a film. I cannot wait to see the full length feature films for this once completed. My wife was not very impressed by this film, she just thought the guy was insane and out of his head. But, you should watch it and decide for yourself.....insane, paranoid, or is the legacy true...
L5RDM
I recently saw this movie at a friends house and it proves the old adage "Small things come in little packages". The stark set, brilliant use lighting and sound make this a movie that keeps building until the final moments then leaves you wanting more.Alone the entire time, Scott Graham has no one to play off of, to react to, or to use as crutch through the film. Further more he had no elaborate set to take the eyes off him putting him even further in the spotlight. He did a superb job carrying the movie by himself and I hope to see him in more things in the future.This movie is not for the slasher/gore-fest crowd, but anyone that loves a well written, directed, and acted thriller will love this short film.
hypnotiq0066
I saw this movie at the Dragon*Con 2006 Independent Film Festival. It was awarded 2 awards at that festival and rightfully so. This is probably the best short horror film I've ever seen. The simplicity of camera usage really works.The main character is brilliant. His acting is quite good and is believable. The 3 cameras in the room with Tim Russel make his insanity that much more believable. I love it. I have talked with Mike and he says that they are in the process of making a feature film compassing the first three chapters together. I can't wait. I will be first in line for that film. The effects of the "mirror" creatures are used so well. You don't see them for very long so it scares the pants off of you when you do. I recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a good horror movie for once. Best 32 minutes of spine tingling horror I've ever seen. Thanks Mike.
