10 Best Ghost Story Movies

Following on from his 2011 indie breakthrough Absentia, writer-director Mike Flanagan really announced himself as one of the most exciting new horror filmmakers of the decade with this distinctly above-average 2013 ghost movie.

Karen Gillan landed her first US leading role as Kaylie, a young woman who, along with her younger brother Tim (Brendon Thwaites), is haunted by the memory of the violent death of their parents - which, they believed, was down to evil spirits that came out of an antique mirror.

However, where Tim (having been forced to shoot and kill his own father) has undergone years of therapy to rid him of this 'delusion,' Kaylie still firmly believes the mirror is haunted, and to this end has reacquired it in hopes of performing a parapsychological study that proves them right.

Oculus succeeds where many other contemporary ghost movies have failed, by allowing time for real character development, as opposed to just rushing over things to get straight to the scares. The film poses some interesting questions regarding the paranormal, discussing the matter in a very intelligent way.

Even so, once it gets to the scary stuff, Oculus really gets under the skin, with some truly creepy moments that'll stay with you; for one, you might struggle to casually bite into an apple again.