Movies
The Huge ‘Oculus’ Easter Egg You May Have Missed in ‘Gerald’s Game’
Did that headboard look familiar to you?
This past weekend saw the Netflix arrival of brand new Stephen King adaptation Gerald’s Game (read Brad’s review), which has firmly cemented director Mike Flanagan‘s status as a true master of horror. Previous Flanagan horror films Absentia, Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Hush hinted at his mastery of the genre, but goddamn does his latest take his career one big ole step further.
Gerald’s Game, like IT before it, is an all-time great horror masterpiece.
You may remember that Flanagan placed the haunted “Lasser Glass” from Oculus in Ouija: Origin of Evil, and there’s a similar Easter egg in Gerald’s Game.
As Flanagan himself confirmed on Twitter over the weekend, the headboard of the bed in Gerald’s Game is a dead ringer for the Lasser Glass’ frame!
Similarly, as pointed out by Twitter’s @CultureCrypt, Hush main character Maddie Young’s book “Midnight Mass” is also featured in Gerald’s Game.
Mike Flanagan movie cameos in GERALD’S GAME: Oculus’ Lasser Glass frame as the headboard and Maddie Young’s Midnight Mass novel from HUSH. pic.twitter.com/5jOraDUIXX
— Culture Crypt (@CultureCrypt) September 30, 2017
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
You must be logged in to post a comment.