Mirrors

French director Alexandre Aja exploded onto the horror scene in 2003 with excellent horror flick Switchblade Romance, but since then he's disappointingly veered off into remake territory. He can be forgiven somewhat for his first remake - an updating of the Wes Craven semi-classic The Hills Have Eyes - because it was quite good, but this next attempt - an Americanisation of South Korean film 'Mirrors', is not so successful. The basis for the plot is actually quite good and with some minor tweaks, Mirrors could have been a successful horror film. The plot focuses on Ben Carson; and ex-cop and ex-alcoholic who has been forced to take a night watchman's job in order to get his life back on track for the good of his children. His new job is at a shopping centre, which was forced to close down after a fire devastated the building. He soon notices that the mirrors in the building are extremely clean - as a result of the previous watchman's obsession with them - and he later finds out why, as there's an evil that lives in the mirrors; and Ben Carson is their next target.

The lead role is taken by Kiefer Sutherland. I've been a fan of Kiefer ever since I saw The Lost Boys; but he feels out of place in this film. It's probably just because I'm so used to seeing him as Jack Bauer that it's impossible to believe him doing any other role. The first half of the film is rather poor; the atmosphere of the former shopping centre is good, but most of the runtime is taken up by various CGI special effects going on in the mirrors, and it soon becomes tedious. Luckily, things pick up in the second half. There's a rather nasty murder scene; and then the film starts to develop a plot, which is fairly intriguing. It has to be said that the plot is rather lacking in logic at times, and all sorts of plot holes can be picked out; but then again, it is a film about evil inside mirrors at the end of the day. The revelation regarding how the mirrors became evil is a bit disappointing; I was hoping for something better, but at least the final twist is amusing. Overall, I can't recommend this film really but if it's a rainy day and you've got nothing else to watch, you could do worse than see this.

A former policeman and nowadays alcoholic named Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) who inadvertently brought the death during a face off with an outlaw, has quit the police force . Now heads up security at Mayflower Department Store that was destroyed by deadly fire in which deceased 23 dead and 78 wounds, he's an employee of the security company who finds alone with the scorched mannequins . Having been caught up in the situation at the department store he watch stuff reflected in glass. Then the spirits trapped behind the mirrors flee and attack his sister (Amy Smart), wife (Paula Patton) and sons. Ben comes across his former partner (Jason Flemyng) who now heads the investigation into the recent murders to chase the criminal. The presence of the weird events and the eerie situations causes Ben to relive the horrendous memories which he has since tried to forget. Meanwhile, Carson is hurrying to solve the recent string of killings . As he discovers how a mysterious nun , once-possessed named Anna Esseker is also found lingering about the crime scenes and she tells him about an asylum where seriously ill patients were subjected to mirror-based shock treatment. Without wishing it, Carson is drawn farther and farther into the deep mystery surrounding the astonishing deaths.

Alexandre's Aja remake of a Korean movie titled ¨Into the mirror¨ is made in American style. It packs,tension,suspense,chills,horror and lot of blood and gore including slitting the throat,attempted rage, slicing ,stabbing, all courtesy of Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger. They create a creepy make-up of horrible and bloody images. The gutsy murders are gruesomely executed and equally as graphic as the original movie.The film is constituted by a well done terror set pieces with creepy and spooky atmosphere.The mirrors's reflections appearance deliver the goods with hair raising chills and full scares.The story is borrowing from the original Korean film , taking and ripping off numerous scenes. Thrilling musical score by Javier Navarrete including a leitmotif based on a Spanih classical music and appropriate cinematography by cameraman Maxime Alexandre. The motion picture is skillfully directed by Alexandre Aja, though with no originality because it is a simple reworking . Aja is an expert on terror genre as proved in the new version of ¨The Hill have eyes¨ and ¨Switchblade romance¨ also titled ¨High tension¨ and in post-production realizing ¨Piraña 3D¨. .The film isn't apt for little boys,neither squeamish.

Maybe it's because I only heard bad things about this film. Practically every review said "disappointing," "skip it," etc.

So I got the DVD not really knowing what to think. I really liked Haute Tension and I like Kiefer Sutherland. Though the trailer made this look like Jack Bauer and Kim stop a mirror terrorist attack.

But once the opening credits started (with that great pre-credit scene), I was hooked.

Never once was I bored, and there were quite a few times I jumped out of my seat.

Maybe others figured out what the plot was all about, but it took me by surprise.

I found the film eerie, suspenseful, scary and well directed and acted.

And that house! not since Event Horizon have I see a production design so impressive! It was like another actor in the film. The people behind that work deserves an Academy Award, in my opinion.

I also loved the ending. Very un-Hollywood and while in retrospect it probably didn't make a lot of sense, somehow it 'felt' right to me.

All in all, I found this a refreshing take on a horror film... and considering the villain was a piece of glass, It think everyone did a great job.

Not sure why others didn't like it as much as I did, but all I can say I found it a very satisfying experience, and will probably watch it again one day.

Another over-the-top American horror movie based on an Asian horror movie. Kiefer is alright but the other actors are pretty bad and the dialog is quite poor. Only the first third of "Mirrors" is any good. It's downhill after that as Kiefer tries to unravel the mystery of the mirrors. Instead of genuine creepiness, things jump out at every moment. And then there's the over-the-top finale which is unnecessary and awful.

I like the idea of abandoned places as the setting in horror movies. I watched the horror film "Session 9" after this and it was quite a bit better. The director knew what the director of "Mirrors" didn't know. Setting is crucially important in horror movies. "Mirrors" used the abandoned department store in its first third and then abandoned it for more scares outside. The film should have taken advantage of this setting and used it more. The film does backtrack to the abandoned store at the end of the film, but by then all mystery and suspense is gone from the place.

These days, at over $10 per movie ticket, the question I most ask when I go to these review boards is...was it worth it? The answer to that question depends upon how effectively the movie brings its genre across to the audience...the interesting plots, the action sequences, the drama. Yes, perhaps I've seen the movie's take on these things before, but to me the movie's worth is defined by the movies own merits, not necessarily the merits of what preceded it...

We have I think all seen variants of what Mirrors is about, yet I still recommend it. I found it to be atmospheric and suspenseful (with some gore, one effect in particular will probably make your jaw twitch for the remainder of the movie), although the suspense wears off once certain things are revealed about 3/4 of the way through the movie. The atmosphere remains intact however, and the ending of the movie delivers an unexpected twist that brings the movie full circle. While I'm not likely to see it a second time, I found a single viewing to be a worthy investment of my time and my $10.50....