I am a sample, long before I'm measured, long before I'm named. Each piece of me has a message, a nuanced role. When you look beyond the average, when you see where I belong, you see why I behave the way I do. When you start looking at my details, when you include my context, I start telling you the truth. I always had a story. You just needed a way to hear it. Every sample has a story. Learn more at 10xgenomics.com. My name's Renee, and I'm good at plenty of things. For instance, I'm good at yelling at cars while I'm in my car so that they don't hear me instead of honking.
But I'm terrible at watching movies, like really, really bad. That's why my friends have challenged me to watch their favorite movies so I can build up my repertoire and stop looking like an idiot. Sometimes I like the movie and sometimes I don't. But either way, my friend and I are going to talk about it. So for today's show, I have my friend Sarah Zwinglis. She and I took classes together at IO, went through the program together. She is extremely funny. I love her very much. And she's also a huge horror movie fan. So she was one of the first people I thought of whenever I knew that I was going to be talking about scary movies. I knew that Sarah would have a really good one for us to watch.
Sarah suggested that we watch the movie Oculus, the movie that she really wants to talk about. So I honestly had no idea what this movie was going to be about. I tried not to spoil it for myself before I went and saw it, and instead I just wrote a blind judgment of what I thought the movie would be just based on the title alone. So just based on the title alone, I'm thinking Oculus is a biopic about Dr. Henry LASIK, the man who invented LASIK eye surgery.
And the reason that it's scary is because a lot of people don't know this, but he basically harmed a lot of people during those first trials of the LASIK eye surgery. And some people's eyes that were perfectly fine, that just had a little bit of astigmatism or anything, he would just do their surgery and just chop their eyeballs completely off. And then they're blind. And nobody talks about that stuff, but this movie does. It explores it. And the whole LASIK estate really didn't want this movie to come out because it is very harmful to this man's image.
It's all true. Like, they're not saying anything wrong. Like, he's an awful person who created this surgery that supposedly makes people's lives better. But at what cost, guys? At what cost? Oculus.
Okay, let's watch the movie and talk about it with Sarah. And now, the plot of Oculus in under one minute. Yeah, it was the first time that I had that dream where I was the one with the gun. Cool, you're great. You're not crazy anymore. You can go. All right. Hey, what's up, sis? Hey, bro. I got that mirror that fucked up our entire family. Let's go, like, see if we can do anything about it. What are you talking about? Okay, I'll help. Okay. All right, let's go set up all this equipment and stuff and see, oh, nothing's happening. What? Cameras? What? Look, the plants are alive. The dog's alive. You're full of shit. That's not what happened. Plants die. Dog runs out. Oh, wait a second. Flashback, flashback. I'm a dad, and, uh, don't come in here.
Flash forward, flash forward, flash forward. More stuff is happening. Flash back, flash back, flash back. Really, guys, don't come in here and I chain up your mom to the wall. Flash forward, flash forward, flash forward. Ah! Flash back, flash forward. Flash back, flash forward, flash back. What's happening? None of it's real. Let me use the phone. That's not a real person. Dead.
The Waster Glass. Hello, Sarah. Hi. Thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited to talk about this film. Yeah. So, okay. I know that you're a big scary movie fan. What is it about this movie? What is it about Oculus that you like? So this is one of those films. I hate found footage films because I just don't like it. So this one was really interesting the way there was almost two plot lines. So it's like two scary films in one. And I love the way that there's like a backstory. And then they come back and they're trying to get revenge, which is always great. And then, you know, I just loved the characters. I thought they were really well done. I think probably.
Kaylee's character better than the brother but I loved just seeing the kids interact with like the adults and then the way that they just did flashbacks in a way that I haven't seen in a horror film before which I thought was really like exciting yeah something that was really nicely done I like I like that they took their time in like there were little things that they'd show at the beginning that didn't really make a whole lot of sense like right when they walk into the house the brother goes and touches the wall and there's like the groove of where the hinge on the wall used to be where they had chained up his mom and they don't reveal that until like way towards the end of the movie that that's actually what was going on you just You have a general sense of something bad happened here, and you don't find out exactly what until, like, the way end of the movie. So it keeps you on your toes, definitely. It really does. And there's, like, it's so smart. And the way that they do it, they're not, like, offending the audience by saying, just being too obvious about things. And they just really allude to the darkness that's happening. It's just really well done. And it's one of those movies where I'd love to see a part two. And they kind of left it open-ended at the end, like, where it's like, oh, it could totally have, like, a sequel or, like, even a prequel. And it's one of the only times where I'm like, yeah, I'd actually see that and be excited for it. Yeah. I don't know.
So you don't really like horror films. Horror movies scare the shit out of me. And I knew, like, I really wanted this month to just be forcing myself to watch scary movies. Signs is pretty tame, but Oculus, I was dreading watching it just because of the way that horror movies make me feel as I'm watching it. I kept going like, I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like this. But as soon as it's over, it's like, it's just a movie. But when you're watching it, I get so wrapped up in it. Yeah. It's ridiculous. That's definitely true. Yeah. What makes you like horror movies, though? I'd love to know.
used to hate horror films as a kid it would just really scare me and I hated that feeling and then suddenly one day I think I was watching so I watched Chucky when I was like four and it was playing at the airport and my family was just like go hang out by the television and that was the movie that was playing but on the television while my parents were like doing nothing and maybe drinking because that's why i do airports now and so i just assumed like so my brother and i watched it terrified never want to watch movies again and then i watched another film and i don't even know what it was and i just was like it cracked me up i thought they were so funny and it was so ridiculous and everything about it so like grandiose in a weird way which makes it just unbelievable yeah and so that's why i just see films now horror films and I want them to scare me because a lot of horror films just don't and I feel like I'm waiting to find the perfect one the one that's going to like scare me to my core and I'll be scared again like I was as a kid and I would never want to see them again maybe it's like a rush that you're trying like you're trying to catch the next you know yeah big rush of feeling from it right still waiting for that white whale huh Sarah yeah one day one day who knows so this was the one where I finally Oculus was the movie where I was
man it really got me but it is one of those films where after it's done you realize like it's never gonna happen to you right i'm gonna buy an ugly as a mirror yeah all my furniture's from ikea there's no i have no worries right and i can't even afford like a 15 000 yeah okay fuck you guys it must be nice i know i was like why It seemed like out of place, this big mirror in this little office and the rest of the home seemed like pretty modern. They didn't have a whole lot of other antiques. There's just like this one giant mirror and it just fucked up everything. Well, yeah, and it's supposed to be like his. I'm surprised they didn't already like figure out the mirror. They're like, what's out of place? Like something, something. Must be doing something. Must be this ugly mirror. Yeah. Oh, boy. Well, I did. I liked.
I will say I hate horror movies that are really gory and that have, like, a lot of unnecessary violence and just, like, disgusting scenes. But this one was all about just, like, psychological thriller. There wasn't a whole lot of gore, which I appreciate because I'm even more – I'm just grossed out by, like, slasher movies, but I'm genuinely scared by, like, psychological things where it's like, ooh, are they crazy? Are they not? Is somebody messing with them or is this really happening? And that's what's going on. Well, especially, like, there's a couple – sorry, I rewatched it again because I was like, we're going to have to talk about this. And one of the things that I noticed is, like, the fingernail. Like, that was so, like, ugh. It just made me, like – it has enough of the kind of gory.
stuff then it has mostly pop out maybe I think there's like some times where it'll just be something is there and you're like yeah and that's my I love like pop out scary that's like that just gets me yeah rocks off oh uh Pete is also here in the studio and he has something to say hey Pete hey I just want to you said this movie is one that actually got you and scared you yeah I want to know like what your top three horror movies are and what movies you saw that didn't scare you. What freaks you out? Yeah, okay. So I really, oh gosh, what was, this is going to take me a second to think about stuff in my life.
Take your time. It's easier to tell you which ones didn't scare me. So It Follows. Everybody loved that film. And I thought that film was the dumbest. I really hated it. It basically being like, for some reason it bothered me because it had a sense of slut shaming. Like, oh, you're sleeping around? Guess what? You're going to get fucked. Literally. And then physically. And all these other ways. I hate that film. I just didn't like it. I think a lot of people liked it because of the sound, but it also had an 80s vibe to it. And then it was supposed to be modern day, so it really messed up with the timelines. Gotcha. There's this other one called...
Oh, God, it's an Australian film. Oh, Babadook. Yes, Babadook. It's all in the theaters. And I really like that film. That actually scared me. And later on, like, in my, so it didn't scare me afterward. I went home pretty happy with my life. Yeah. Then two weeks later, I heard, like, a knock. Oh, that's the big thing of the movie. And then I heard another knock. And then there was that third knock, and I was just like, oh, no. I feel so funny that there's, like, different types of horror. Yeah. That, like, either you're completely immune to it and you think it's stupid or it really rattles you. Yeah. It's like there's.
psychological horror, there's gore. Sometimes gore just really scares people, which is weird. It doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand why people are getting scared about blood. But then again, I suppose there are people who don't like blood. Sure. It could be a movie where...
people break in and torture me is way more frightening than an alien movie because I think that the first could happen. It's way different for different people. Even on top of that, it's way more likely for you to have a psychological breakdown than for somebody to come and attack you. You know what I mean? It happens to so many people. Mental illness is something that you just don't know. It could happen at any time. The whole murder thing, sure, that could happen to just a random innocent person, but that's way less likely to happen than you just losing your shit and breaking and doing something awful. That's a good point because for me, I was not scared by this movie because it was...
You never knew when something was real. So it was hard to find anything to hold on to as reality. But that could also be what's scary to someone. The thought of not knowing what's real, if that has happened to somebody, that's horrifying. Reliving that thing where you don't know. You did something and you don't remember doing it. But for me, I was just like, I don't know where the stakes are because I never know if what's happening is real or not. Well, that's what I like the most about this is because a lot of it was happening. And you could tell, I mean...
because it's a series of flashbacks and then flashing forward and doing them in a timeline that kind of goes together I felt like that was kind of scary watching what the kids had to go through before and then having to relive it again like do you know how fucked up that would be to Like, have to do something. I don't know. I can't even think about the scariest thing that happened to me and then have to do it again. Yeah. It would just be so traumatizing. Oh, yeah. That's true. It made me feel bad for Tim. I mean, his sister basically pulls him back into this world that he's completely, I mean, you know, according to the movie, has completely gotten over. He's convinced himself that nothing bad, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. And his sister basically forces him back into this world and makes him relive all that stuff. Yeah. And he kills his sister.
He spends 10 years to go through recovery, and he finally feels normal again. And then he finds out, no, it was all real, and you're about to kill another person. And now you also have to go to prison. You're going to jail now. You're done. I think it's totally fucked in this movie. She just left as soon as the sister was like, got the mirror. She's like, oh, no. No thanks, yeah. No thanks. Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. And why did she have to mess around with anything? Why are you doing this? No, you don't need revenge. She knew the thing that pissed me off was that she knew from her research that nothing can destroy the mirror. And then she's like, I'm going to try and destroy the mirror. It's like, well, you know that it doesn't.
Like, what are you doing putting yourself in this situation and thinking everything's going to turn out okay? Right. Like, I don't know. Why don't you just put it somewhere and nobody could find it? Yeah. Well, because nobody's going to find it. But then, okay, so I read this interview by Mike Flanagan because I was like, oh, I want to read about this a little bit more. He read it? Yeah. Well, he was the producer. And he also did, like, a short film that was the precursor for this film. Nice. And so it was very highly rated and everything. Anyway, it doesn't matter. So he was telling a story about...
Okay, guys, I can't remember what I was talking about. Oh, no. Okay, so Mike Flanagan got in his interview that the mirror was actually, they were both weak specimens. The mirror was weak and so was Kaylee. They were both very weak. Because the mirror hasn't had any interactions with human life or with anything living. So at the beginning of the whole film, when it was eating the dog spirit and the plant spirits, that's how it was getting its energy. So that, to me...
If I were her, my original thing would be like, okay, cool. We've got this mirror. We're going to put it on the wall. We've got this anchor. We're going to put it in there. 30 minutes. That whole plan takes 30 minutes. And don't put human life or anything. You just energized it to basically screw you over. You are feeding this mirror.
So if Mike Flanagan could have just wrote that in and said, hey, this mirror uses energy. But she knew that it was using energy. Yeah. She had a death wish going into it, I think. She did. And I think she had something, like she was kind of mad at her brother, too. Yeah. You know, he had it so easy. And that's why she roped him back in. Yeah. They're both, like, I don't normally like movies where I can't, like, find any of the characters likable. And that was tough for me in this movie because I was like, why is the brother here? Why is the sister being an asshole? Why does her hair look like that? I didn't like her hair in the movie.
That was weird. Like, why? She was separate in the middle. Yeah, and her bangs are just, like, swooping around. She looked like she was trying to do Farrah Fawcett, like, of 2012. It was very distracting. It was very odd. Very odd choice. Yeah, and then, like, I mean, the parents, too. They're both, like, you know, you both see them go insane, and they're just not. Usually I root for somebody in a movie like this, and I didn't know who to root for. I wanted that poor guy to get out of there, but then he gets the shit into the deal, too, at the end. The only person I was rooting for in the whole movie was Kaylee, but only when she was a kid.
Yeah. I told Kaylee, I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? But the kid, I'm like, get out of there. You're trying to save everyone. That child's poor thing is getting strangled by her mom. Then her dad shoots her mom while the mom is still on top of her. And then the dad goes back and is like, nope, I'm going to strangle you again. Why do you have to keep on strangling her? Also, I found it weird, maybe you have some insight because you've seen the movie more than once, but I found that moment weird where both of them, both of the parents had a moment of lucidity right before they died, where they kind of looked at their kid and I think the mom was like, honey, and then she died. And then the dad gets the gun.
and points it at his own chest and tells his son to run. And that's like his moment of clarity too, of like run away from this thing that's about to happen. And I was just like, I don't know. I just didn't understand why that was happening. And it was confusing to me. I didn't understand why they chose to do that either. And I also would love to see that revisited in the prequel or sequel. Because I wonder, and that's the other thing, because one of the previous murders are like...
I don't know, killings, was of that woman who put her kids into, like, a casket area or, like, some sort of well. Cistern. Yes. And she was just like, oh, that's because I thought I was putting them to bed. But then again, it's like, hmm, I wonder, it would have been very interesting to see what the point of view of the person that goes insane to see what they're actually seeing and thinking is actually happening. Yeah. Are there any movies like that from, like, the perspective of somebody who's possessed or whatever? Yeah. Well, because even when they did show, like, old Tim with Daddy, like, when he was...
picking at that nail, and he thought it was the band-aid was still on there, and he's like, oh, can I get this off? Like, that was so exciting, because in my mind I'm just like, oh, no! We all know that band-aid's not there anymore. And, like, that's when you feel him going insane. Yes. But then they drop it. They don't bring it back. Yeah, if they could explore that and make that, like, the whole movie, that would be awesome. That would be really cool. They had the little voices. I don't know if you caught this. I have to watch everything with captions on, and in this movie it was good because some of them were really quiet. Yeah. But they had the whisper captions of the mirror saying, whenever he's peeling off his fingernail, saying, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, or something like that. And then, like, everything, at one point, he's hearing a whisper say, like, everything's going to be okay
So that's, like, you know, the influence of whatever demon over him, like, influencing him that everything is okay. And I thought that was interesting. But if they had more of that or showed, like, his interactions with the actual, like, woman or demon that's in the mirror and, yeah, seeing him lose his mind and rationalize every, like, bad thing that he's doing, that would be interesting for sure. No, that's really interesting because they don't really make that very audible because I never listen to or, like, watch a film. captions on but maybe i should do that because i think that that would have been a really nice point to have to actually hear it but it's all like i can hear what like i can hear that there's a whisper yeah but i can't hear what it's actually saying yeah and i think that would have been very helpful because that actually is really creepy and like cool to know that that was actually happening because i knew that he was hearing something but i also thought it was gibberish and i was like yeah renee has had got me to watch stuff with captions on which is funny because People in the house were like, oh, is this movie not in English? No, it is. People like to make fun of me for it, but I need it. There's a lot of stuff that you missed. Yeah. Because I never would have known that either. Every time that there was whispers that was saying things, it was like reassuring, comforting things like, you're fine, you're okay. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt, yeah. That is interesting. So that is interesting. And then that makes me wonder why this whole mirror situation is going on. So the mirror has been taking over these people, right? It's like murdering people. And yet those people are working with the mirror to kill the other people. Wouldn't you want to be like...
Hey, bro, like, I gotta help you out. I gotta let you know. Like, get away from this mirror. Like, none of the ghosts in there are, like... They're all, like, hypnotized. Yeah. That's why their eyes are all weird and all that stuff. I think there's one thing that was missing from the movie. It was, like, what's the motivation of this mirror? Yeah. No...
Okay, we get that it needs to eat souls. Yeah, right. I guess that's enough. I just kind of want to know why. Who made this mirror? Where is it from? Anything. I think the other interesting thing was that at the end, you know, it's always like the person who's kind of possessed who ends up dying and going into the mirror. But Kaylee was, like, not trying to kill her brother at any point during the movie. Like, yeah, they were both going crazy, but they were trying to attack the mirror, and she still somehow ended up dead. Everybody else was, like, got into a weird murderous state. And Tim, I guess him going crazy, accidentally kills his sister. But, like, she wasn't really acting out or doing anything to harm him.
And he wasn't doing it in defense, you know? So what's interesting about this is that you were saying that the mirror or whatever, the possession of the mirror is, like, whispering okay things and, like, everything's going to be cool or, like, whatever. But then at the end, you know, Kaylee goes and sees her mom, like, beautiful, pristine, not the scary mom that was. And that's when the mirror, like, kind of took her in and held her. And maybe that's the point where she's getting, like, I wish it was more whispery. But, like, if it was just, like, you're safe now and then that's when it clicked to, because that would make sense. Like, maybe she was more possessed than her brother. She had been in the house longer than him and had.
been around the mirror longer. So maybe that could possibly make sense. If I want to justify everything, which I will. I'm not even kidding right now. This whole time that we've been recording, I've been thinking that something's going to be behind my head. Even just talking about a scary movie is making me freak out a little bit. It's intense. Do you have a dark past? Don't do that. Dan's looking like there's something behind me. No, I don't have a dark past, but shit still freaks me out. My favorite actor in that movie was the dad. I thought he did a great job of being just like a scary...
possessed man yeah just like an asshole dad like just talk him in the office is when he was like sitting on his desk talking to them about how like your mom is sick and Kaylee asked him two questions and he just completely ignored them and kept talking he'd be like okay so we'd appreciate it if you didn't go bother your mom what's wrong with her I'm going to go ahead and just like completely. He takes a moment to like stop and pick at his fingernail and then he just keeps talking and doesn't respond. Which is also kind of interesting. Was there any whispering during that point? I don't think so. That would have been so cool. The woman's like, don't ask that question. Don't worry. She doesn't need to know. She's too young. She wouldn't understand. The other part that freaked me out that it really got me and I liked it was, you know, they're like trying to call and say like, come help our mom. She's sick. And the person keeps saying, talk to your dad. And then later on in the movie when they're trying to call the police and they're all grown up and the phone again says.
Like, you're going to have to talk to your dad and have him call us in the morning. And then it starts going like, Timber, Terry, call your dad. Freaks me out. It was also scary when she went to go get the neighbor for help. Oh, that was so sad. And then he's just casually talking, but his hand on the inside. Oh, God. You know girls, acting up. See you later. Yeah, anything like that where it's like they're...
They are helpless. They are trapped in that situation. They don't know. Even when they try and get help, they don't know that it's coming. And like there's a good chance that no help is ever going to come. That and even in the first sequence when they're trying to get out of the house and they can't unlock the door and everything, it's just like they are helpless. And that is such a scary feeling, even though it's not in that extreme of a situation. But you can empathize and just feel like, oh, my God, there's absolutely nothing they can do. What would you do in that situation? Because I would just probably poop my pants. I just shit my pants and then just die. You just can't do anything? No. Like no matter what even happened. That's what was so crazy is that like they.
Even when they try to escape, it's like you can't escape. You are just stuck there. And then Tim tries to call his therapist, and he thinks he's outside. And then she's like, what's going on? He's like, how did I get back here? And she's like, you came over here. You sat down at the door. And he's like.
I thought I was outside, yeah. I thought I was outside, and she's like, can you send him the camera? Which is also kind of a dick thing. Yeah. All right. I guess that I kind of forgot about that. We were like, why wouldn't they just leave? Why didn't they leave? But he did. You tried. Yeah, he walked out and was back in the house. I think they should have done that one more time. Because he wasn't trying to escape when that happened. He just went outside to make a phone call and he came to the house. There should have been one time where they're like, let's fucking leave. And they do. And they walk through the trees and they just end up back in the backyard or something. There's no way to leave. You can't.
Yeah, that dog managed to leave just fine, though. Well, so do you think that, yeah, possibly. What if the dog got possessed and had white eyes and was like, bark, bark, bark? What did happen to that dog? They should really have said something. Maybe it'll come up in the next movie. The dog has a hat and a pipe. He's like, I got a mirror for the house, guys. It's his little dog family and then they're possessed dogs. It's like a weird, weird sequel.
Your mom has hard words, so don't bother her. Oh, boy. Well, that movie, that whole thing of just being helpless reminded me of, oh, God, I'm not going to get the title right, but it's a John Cusack scary movie, and it's called Room 237 or 1230, whatever. It's a room number. 1408, yeah. My friend made me go watch that movie the night before I left for a big trip where I wasn't going to see any of my friends for a month or two, and I was so mad at her that she made me go see the fucking scariest movie on the night before my trip. That was scary to me. Yeah, yeah.
Samuel L. Jackson was in that. He was the manager of the hotel or something like that. But the big thing in that movie was kind of like what we're talking about with the whole escape thing. He, like, couldn't get out of the room. And then they kept, like, having these teaser things where they would be like, like, John Cusack would wake up and it's, like, his wife who, you know, he's not in contact with who's like, oh, baby, like, you just were unconscious for a little while. Everything's okay now. And then he's back in the room again and you're just like, oh, my God, when is this going to end? Yeah, it's pretty similar. Yeah, it's just like a room or like a hotel room.
It's an inanimate thing that's just fucking with your life, and you can't do anything to fix it. You just have to ride it out or let it, you know, try not to die. Yeah. It's so scary. It's scary. That was a scary movie. And it also had, like, wasn't that guy's, like, kid? Didn't they just die or something? Yeah, I think his kid died. That was a big thing. And that's how they got the divorce. It's like, why do they always have to have such, why can't there just be one person that was a very, they should have did a movie where everybody is so happy, everything's going, like, so well. And then, like, you know, why do they always have to have, like.
A stark past. It's never like, I just got a brand new job and my wife's pregnant and everything's going great. It's always somebody that's already having a shit life. Demons know to attack the weak souls. I know what you're saying, though. It seems like that's just a thing in horror movies. Either a small child has died, somebody's just been through a weird traumatic event and they're just thrown back into a difficult situation. A marriage is on the rocks. Always. I guess actually in this one...
in Oculus, they don't really say that they're in a bad, like, they're not really in a bad place. They're just having a pretty good job. They probably are pretty happy. I mean, those, like, siblings are getting along. They're, like, playing like laser tag, which is pretty cool. And then, yeah, and then, oh, I guess they do. They really do elude that they're a pretty happy family. I guess that's right. They did it in this movie. That's true. What are we talking about? I guess we should just shut up. Because, yeah, they had a pretty good sex life. Oh, that's one thing about this movie I loved. There was no, like, unnecessary, like, sexualization or, like, female naked tittity. Yeah, tittity.
Nudity. I actually made fun of that when we were watching the movie. Yeah. She's got, like, her C-section scar. Yeah. And she's like, I feel like my scar is more visible than usual. I was like, oh, really? Let me see. And then just, like, they start banging. Yeah. Like, oh, that's quick. That's how you solve that situation. It wasn't really, like, super sexualized. No. Sexualized. Yeah. They didn't even show her boobs or anything, too. She had a robe just over it. Her clothes robe. Her clothes robe. Her clothes robe. I really, so that's one of the things that I was watching, and I was like, yeah, that's right. That's why I like this. I really hate it when they, and horror films just always boobs are everywhere. I'm like, why is it always, this, why doesn't anything ever happen to people that are wearing clothes?
That's my, the fully clothed horror film. Oh, that just reminded me. Sarah, there's this movie that's coming out that I wonder if you've heard anything about. I think it might be something you'd be interested in, but it's called The Final Girls. And it's basically like, it's not a comedy. It's still a horror movie, but they're making fun of the old cliches in movies like Halloween or Jason or anything like that where it's just, it's like this camp where basically...
I would just have to describe what I saw in the trailer. It was like, this girl, it's modern day, and this girl goes to see this movie every year, a horror movie that her mother was in, and her mother has since died. Something happens when they're watching the movie where they all of a sudden get sucked into that world at the camp, and they all of a sudden, like, she and her friends who go and see this movie every year, their mission is to, like, save her mom and to make sure that they're one of the final girls, because in every one of these old horror movies, it's always, like, one girl who's left at the end. So it's just all about, like, oh, well, in the original movie, this guy dies, or, like, we know we're okay when this girl shows up because she saves the whole movie, and then immediately they have this, like, girl ride up, and they're like, we're saved, everything's okay, and she just... like just runs into a tree and dies so it's just they're like well what do we do now it really does look great it's almost like a time travel movie yeah because they get sucked into the movie and they know everything that happens into the movie it's like oh well we know how to escape we'll just do this but nothing works they're still in danger the whole time and they like exhaust all the things that happened in the original movie and they're still being chased by the murderer so they have to try and save the actress version of the girl's mom their whole strength is that they've seen the movie so many times and that they're so aware of all these like horror movie cliches that they know how to like
like circumvent these situations i guess but um it just seemed it seemed funny which is why i want to see it but also like it seems like a scary movie that i could get on board with because they're kind of poking fun at all this like silly stuff that happens in them it looks similar to like heaven in the woods yeah it's still a good horror movie, sort of, but they're really trying to exploit all the cliches of horror. Adam from Workaholics is the, like, handsome guy. Oh, yeah. So, like, they get sucked into the movie and he says, like, I'm going to have sex with her later. And they're like, God, this movie is horribly written. Yeah. So, is it coming out, like, soon? I think, I don't know how soon. The trailer just came out a little while ago, but I think it's got to be coming out soon. I'd say probably later this year, right? Yeah. They wouldn't release the trailer, like, that far in advance. I think maybe Christmas time. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of...
bad timing for supposedly scary movies. I can look it up. Hold on, yeah, I'll look it up. You guys can keep talking to each other. Well, that sounds really interesting. I think I would like to see that. I like films that are making fun of the stereotypical horror film. I think that that's pretty good. But I also, so I liked it up to a point, especially in Scary Movie, like I loved Scary Movie 1 and I liked Scary Movie 2 maybe and then 3 and then it started becoming like such a franchise film where it's like, ugh. Well, it's boring because they're just straight parodying movies that we've already seen. Did you see...
I can't remember the two names, but it was like Tucker and Dale versus Evil. Yeah, I've heard of that. I like the ones better where it's its own movie where it's making fun of the cliches. It's not just like, remember this happened in Sixth Sense, let's do it, but goofier. Oh, by the way, this movie's going to come out by the time this episode has been released. It's coming out on October 9th.
Yeah, so now that The Final Girls is out, we should definitely go do it after this podcast. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And we can talk about it. We can talk about it. I would actually, yeah, I'd really like to see it. Speaking of combining timelines. Yeah. Oh, flash forward. Flashback. Flashback. Yeah, I think, I didn't even think about the possibility of them making it into a sequel, but I think that does happen a lot in horror movies now, where they just keep making them, making them, making them, seeing what else they can explore. Yes. Like Paranormal Activity or Insidious or any of those. I'm so mad. So Mike Flanagan made this film, and I really like this film.
I was like, oh, I wonder what else he's going to be doing. I'm pretty excited. I'm going to check up on this guy. Did you guys see Ouija? Oh, he did that? No, he didn't do it. But he signed up for Ouija 2. No. There's a Ouija 2? It's coming out, and he's doing it. So either. So this is how it could go. Yeah. First of all, Ouija. Terrible. I hated that movie. It was such a bad movie. Of course. I was wondering who even saw that movie. It was me. Well, because it was free. It was online, and I was like, well, whatever. Oh, okay, yeah. That's why. And so.
He's going to do Ouija 2. So it could either be just as bad as the first one, or because he's such a great director and he did this new thing with Flashboard Flashback and whatever, he could do Ouija 2 better. Possibly. But this concept is still stupid. Yeah, because it's just about the silly game that needs to play. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. Maybe it could be better. It's just a possibility. We'll say maybe. I'll see it. I'll let you know. I don't want anybody else to have to waste their time. I think that I just equate watching horror movies so much to being in high school and middle school where we couldn't really go out to bars or anything yet, but we still wanted a way to all hang out with each other, so we'd all go to the movies. And everybody's top choice was always a scary movie, and I would always find an excuse not to go because I just couldn't handle it. But I don't know.
it seems like for the most part, the audience of all these scary movies is a younger audience, like 13 and up or so. And I wonder why that is, if they just like being frightened or it's like because of that group mentality, everybody just goes to see that movie together or what? I think it's the latter. I mean, honestly, it's probably one of those things where, yeah, you're young, can't drink, can't do anything fun. So you got to go to the films and, you know, your parents are paying for it so you can go and afford it. And so, and then you're like, hmm, well, you know, I'm a rowdy teenager who is very excited to be next to this boy who might hold my hand during this like scary film. So boom.
That's why there's boobs and gore in everything. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's also why I didn't have a boyfriend in high school. Yeah, I never had them hold your hand. I didn't get scared. Hold your hand in a movie. That's...
That's probably why. That's probably why. It's probably the only reason why. I can just blame it on horror movies. Not because I was socially, you know... Inept. Inept. Exactly. It's interesting. Whenever you get a group of people together, you're more willing to see a movie that you think doesn't look that good. It's just be fun. Right. No matter what. If you're sitting by yourself, you're not going to watch a movie that looks like shit. Right. That's why I made you watch this movie with me. Why? Because I needed somebody to hold my hand. Aw. That's cute. I wanted to see the boobs and gore. There was neither. There was neither. Trick to you. One of my... One of the things that...
I noticed about your podcast that you were talking about Signs and seeing it in the theater. I did see this movie in the theater, but I always see horror films a week after their release because I hate those people that scream at stuff because I never agree with them. They'll scream at something and I'll be like, you're really ruining this for me because now I can't hear the next line of dialogue. That's true. It's good and bad. I like the idea of having a community of people being scared together, but I also like the feeling of being like, it's way scarier to be alone in a movie theater while it's huge in front of you.
That's a different thing. Yeah. That's the way I like to watch films now. Especially because I want to hear everything. Yeah, I get that. It doesn't have to be like a full crowd, but even if you watch it with like five other people in your house or something, watching it with more than one other person, it makes it different. Yeah. And especially like the movie theater experience is so great. I love going to movies in theater and just like sitting there and like the surround sound and it's just such a different feel than watching it in your own home. Yeah. So, which is how I watch this like five other times.
I watched this in Pete's home and his roommates kept coming in. The big thing, it's the same thing with thinking somebody's right behind me while we're doing this podcast was Dan had come in and was watching the movie just standing up behind us. Why? He was just there for a long time and I didn't hear him and then I'd turn around and see him out of the corner of my eye and it fucking scared me every time and then for the rest of the movie I kept thinking he was there but in reality, what, Dan, you walked out after like the first 20 minutes? Yeah, I was gone after the first 20 minutes but then you didn't realize I was there and I didn't even think about it because I didn't understand what this movie was about so I just...
It was when she was talking about the mirror and the whole thing, so I got stuck into that. But I was just standing there and not making a sound. You were standing there for like 10 minutes, and then you were like, this is pretty interesting. God damn it, Dan! What the fuck, Dan? Did you do that because you heard it? You're like, oh, this is going to be a scary movie. I should say something. No, I didn't even think about that. I was just like, oh, this is cool. Yeah, this is cool. And now that I think about it, you're just thinking behind you. This movie, too, is just all about dreading what's going to happen. And nothing really, like, besides the first...
like a couple minutes of the movie where it's the flashback that Tim has. Besides that, nothing too scary and outrageous is happening throughout most of the movie. It's just like that last bit of time or any flashbacks where they just start showing all this crazy shit, but you're just dreading that something awful is going to happen, you know? And that's part of the really scary thing is just like being tense and just waiting for something to pop out at you and scare you. I definitely think it's, like, the sounds that they use because they never use any of, like, the classics, like, violin noises or anything like that. They use, like, this rumbling noise, like, I can't even do it. I know what you're talking about, though. Yeah, yeah. And, like, that sound, for some reason, was the scariest thing. Yeah. It was a weird, scary sound. Yeah. I know what you're talking about, though. Yeah. How do they even make that noise? I don't know. Because it makes you think that, like.
I don't know. It's like a pulsating? Yeah. I'm making a motion with my hands around my head. It makes you think that something's going wrong with your brain. It's distorted and it's kind of disconcerting to hear that sound and think, whoa, something's happening to my brain. Yeah. And it does...
Yeah, there's something about that noise. It's just really, gotcha. And I know, I'm sure that's, like, exactly the reason why they used it. That's what they were trying to do there. Those scary sounds would scare you. Well, so, I'm just curious about, like, after you watch a scary movie, like, after you watch Oculus, does it stick with you? Like, are you scared afterwards? Or is it, like, a relief? Like, huh, that's over and I can just, like, move on? Um, it doesn't stay with me. It doesn't...
Well, I definitely have to watch, like, a rom-com afterward. Okay. Like, I'll watch it, and I'm like, okay, I'm going to put on, like, a Disney movie now. Or, like, something. Like, Disney movies are rom-coms, by the way. That's, like, what I'll do to get over it. But that's really, like, and then I'll watch that for 30 minutes and probably be asleep by the, like, that. Because it doesn't really, until I reconnect and think about it again, that's the only time. But just, like, that Babadook, like, just that knocking. Like, I don't even think I would have even thought about that movie except for hearing that noise and then being like, fuck, fuck. Like, I had turned on the lights, and I, like, slept with the lights on because I got so scared. Yeah. And there's, like, no reason to be scared. That movie wasn't even that scary, really, because you
Oh, really? See, I didn't even see it. I like that movie a lot. Yeah, so it does stick with me. That's your question. That was my question. Does it stick with you? Do you still think about these sort of things? Well, it's kind of like you said. I wasn't really... I was fine. Pete and I watched Something Funny and just went and hung out with our friends after we watched it and everything was fine. But then talking about it again just now, you saw I was fucking losing my shit. My heart beats faster and I just...
I get really tense, but I'm okay now because I know nothing's going to get me or anything. We also watched a YouTube video right after the movie to explain all the logic flaws. Right. So what was that podcast or the webcast thing? Everything Wrong With. It's called Cinema Sins, the channel, and then they have, there's a ton of them. Oh, yeah, not just scary movies too. Yeah, all these videos called Everything Wrong With Blank. So we watched the one with Everything Wrong With Oculus. How did it go? He tore into it. It's rough. Oh, really? He meticulously rips apart. Why wouldn't you do this? Why wouldn't you do this? So hold on, this just happened and this is happening. This doesn't make any sense. This has no, like it just.
He does it for everything, right? One of the big things he said was, like, it seems to be that the mirror doesn't have any power when there's a blanket over it. So why didn't you just destroy it with a blanket over it and then you would have just... been done with it. That was a big thing. Well, does it? No, it might have a, just because, no, but they never even showed it without, if it had, see, let's see, this is why there needs to be a prequel or a sequel, because they just need to really get into all these issues. Yeah. And they should put a blanket over it and see how that happens. And see what shit goes wrong with that. That's a funny, I didn't even think about it. Yeah, he's just observations like that. Yeah, I would watch that. I wish I knew about that before it came in here, because I'd be like, well, actually, just justify everything. Yeah, right? Yeah. The main question is like, why haven't you left yet? Why don't you leave? Why don't you leave? Just leave. Leave. We kind of addressed that, though, a little bit. Once it has power to do, okay, so let's say.
You can't leave. Show that. Show it. Show it more than once. Well, I feel, and okay, sorry. I think they did show it more than once because they also left the house together. Remember, they were making that phone call and that actually, that phone call went through to the police because the police showed up, if you noticed. And so that means that they probably were actually outside and then they looked inside and saw themselves inside the house. So that's kind of like a trick. However, they could just ran away because no matter what, you're probably going to fucking die. So why didn't you just say, well, those people, those selves of us is going to die, but this selves of us is going to live. So why don't we just go across the street to the neighbor's house? Yeah, that same neighbor that's like, oh.
Girls will be girls. What the fuck is going on? Wait until she doesn't die. Who's not? I think that's when I rewatched it. I was like, yeah, you guys should just go. Because who cares what happens to that self of you? Go, just get out of here. Just try something. Oh, Lord. Well, anyway. If given the choice, I probably wouldn't be watching that many other scary movies. But I actually like having to do this kind of stuff. I like that I had to watch this movie for this podcast because it's...
It's certain things that make me uncomfortable, like watching a scary movie and just being scared and having that dreading feeling. But I feel better coming out on the other side of it. And it certainly was entertaining. I'm not going to forget that movie. It's just that given the choice, I wouldn't have watched it on my own, which is why I haven't watched that many scary movies for that reason. But I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to watch it. Hey, thank you. I'm so glad that I got to share this experience with everybody else. I feel like I talk about Oculus and nobody knows what I'm talking about. So it's really great. Not that many people have seen it, but I'm glad to say that I have now. So have you, Pete? The words of Britney Spears, stronger than yesterday.
Thank you for that. Well, Sarah, is there anything, any projects that you're working on that you want to talk about? You can always head over to Second Wind Collective and listen to Listed, which is my own podcast where we uncover, well, we, just me, uncover Craigslist. Misconnections is currently the side of Craigslist we're going into, but we might delve into other things. Who knows? It's a brilliant podcast. I really love it. And you've had some very interesting people come on and talk to you, which is, I mean, that's one of the best parts is just getting to know these people who post stuff on Craigslist. Exactly. Right. It's awesome. They are great. Yeah. Love it. And if you want to just like.
Listed on Facebook. You could also do that. It's listed L-I-S-T, apostrophe D. There you go. And you can also subscribe on Apple. Apple. Apple. Subscribe on Apple iTunes. Apple. Well, thank you, Sarah, and thank you to Second Wind Collective for letting us get in here and keep doing these podcasts. You're the best. Goodbye.
Thanks, everybody, so much for listening. To round out our show, we are going to have Ava and Morty Rosenblum come in and talk about what they thought of Oculus. Oh, boy, can't wait to hear what they have to say. Hello, Internet. I am Mortimer Rosenblum, and this is my beautiful wife, Ava. I'm Ava. Hello. Hello, Internet. Ava did not enjoy this movie. No, I did not. Oculus. It's a horror film. She's got a delicate mentality. I do. You know, half of the movie I spent just hiding my face under my crochet blanket.
But, you know, those holes in the crochet are still big enough where I can see all the spooky things. I tried to rationalize this movie to my wife. I said, this movie is geared towards us. It's not geared towards teens. It's geared towards people that on a daily basis complete a task and then come to and realize that's not actually what they were doing. They don't remember where they are. They don't remember what year it is. This entire movie is an allegory for living with dementia. It's really terrible, though. I don't like to be even more confused than I already am. That is my everyday life. The horror in this movie was geared...
For us. We're the only people that actually understand what it's like to think that you're eating an apple and in reality you're asleep on the couch. Yes, yes. Honestly, it's like the other day. I thought that Morty and I were enjoying a nice dinner of pot roast and Brussels sprouts and all of a sudden I'm standing in my bathroom stock naked with a toothbrush in my mouth. What? There are some benefits to dementia. Like what, Morty? You get to walk into the bathroom and you're brushing your teeth in the nude. Oh, you. You. I'm never going to stand in front of a mirror again after this movie. Everything about this movie.
It was for senior citizens. There was a large chunk of the film devoted to an auction. We love watching auction shows. Oh, yes, yes, we do. What's the show? Antiques Roadshow. Antiques Roadshow. She was giving some wonderful facts about what kind of wood was used to make the elastic glass. The year. There was a great history lesson that went on for five or seven minutes about all these different people that had the elastic glass. It was fascinating. You know what? If I was the anonymous bidder who ended up with the elastic glass, I would have been ticked off to know that I had spent the weekend in a murder house.
Oh, yes. You know? I mean, it's like, oh, somebody, I bought this, and somebody just decided to up and take it and tamper with it after I bought it? How dare you? If you're serious about acquiring antiques, you know, that buying things from a house where a tragedy occurred, the prices are going to go down. You're not exploiting the tragedy, but you're just trying to acquire a collection, and you do what you have to do to find a good price. And if it just so happens that a man knocked his wife's teeth out and chained it to the wall and then decided to give up his mirror, then so be it. I'll never look at my Aunt Sally's antique teapot the same way ever again.
The teapot's not going to hurt you. You know what? She died while she was making tea. What's not to say that it would do the same? It haunted. Well, do your research and then set up some cameras and then try and smash it with a hammer. You know, I don't know how to do any of that. Worked out for the kids in the movie. You know what?
What? I don't think that I will be making tea or looking in the mirror again anytime soon. There's a lot of things you think you're not going to do after watching this movie, it seems. And I'm never going to get naked again. Are you going to make a phone call now after the movie? Are you going to drive a car? Maybe just one. Are you going to play with your grandchildren? All of those things happened in the movie. I don't have grandchildren yet, Daniel. Let's not get into it with Daniel. What did you rate the movie? Oh, boy. I would rate it two and a half mirrors.
Out of three mirrors. That's a pretty good score. You know what? Even though I was watching it, it got me to my core, Mori. It exploited every fear that we have, just like you were saying. You appreciate that it accomplished its mission. It scared the living bejesus out of me, Mori. Boy, well, you look like a ghost, so it must have done something to you. Thank you. Well, I couldn't look in the mirror to put on my makeup this morning, so there you go. This is what I look like without my makeup on. I have seen the devil, and he is me. That's a quote from the movie.
You don't remember? All right, let's get in the car. If we can even believe that we are in the car. Don't do that to me, Marty. Nothing is real. None of us exist. I am the last of glass.