The dark side of mirrors – Oculus on Blu-ray and DVD now

Ever looked at your reflection to work out your best angle? Little did you know that the mirror itself has a bad side.

OCULUS tells the truly chilling story of siblings Kaylie and Tim, who are determined to prove that their parents’ deaths were caused by a dark force from within an antique mirror. To celebrate the release on Blu-ray and DVD from October 20 (just in time for Halloween!), we look at the spooky superstitions, myths and urban legends surrounding the deceptively unassuming household mirror.

Seven years bad luck
- The superstition of breaking a mirror dates back to the Romans who believed that a person’s reflection was a view into their soul and that life renewed itself every seven years. Therefore when a mirror is broken, the person’s soul would take seven years to heal.

 

Covering mirrors
- Victorians believed that when a person died, mirrors in the house had to be covered so that the soul could pass peacefully to the other side. Superstition had it that the devil invented mirrors so that he could trap souls behind the glass.

Bloody Mary
- A creepy childhood game, ‘Bloody Mary’ supposedly summons the tragic apparition of a woman forever trapped within a mirror by dark forces. If you’re brave enough and want to play, just stand in front of a mirror with a candle and say the words three times.

Inexplicable reflections
- Ever seen something from the corner of your eye when looking into a mirror? It may not merely be a trick of the light but rather remnants of lost souls projected in a reflection. Some people report seeing images of relatives after they’ve suffered a traumatic event moments before getting a phone call, leading them to believe that it was their soul calling out for loved ones.

Handprints
- Supernatural experts claim that spirits are present when mirrors inexplicably fog up. This is a phenomena reported in some of the world’s most haunted houses, normally over dates where tragedy has occurred. One particularly disturbing example is where handprints appear on a mirror at The Myrtles Plantation in Lousiana.

Vampires
- In folklore, vampires reportedly have no reflection. As one of the undead, they are considered ‘soulless’ and, in the same vein as the Roman belief that mirrors are a method to see into a person’s soul,  they therefore cannot have a reflection.

Oculus is out on Blu-ray and DVD now

 

Buy the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk

 

Buy the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk