MIRRORS
September 6th 2009 07:51
Mirrors (2008) - Unrated version
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart.
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
I actually rather enjoyed this remake of Korean horror Film Geoul Sokeuro (2003). Kiefer Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a cop on suspension, who, while waiting to get his old job back, takes a nightshift job as a security guard in a burnt out and abandoned department store called The Mayflower. You would think that guarding an empty building at night would be simple enough, only there is something lurking inside of the many mirrors in the department store.
I watched the unrated version of this film on DVD, so it may differ a little to the theatrical release. It opens with a man fleeing in terror from something. He comes face to face with his own reflection in a scene that makes excellent use of the mirrors on the inside of locker doors, when they open themselves one by one, confronting him with his reflection many times over. The mirror he faces cracks, and his reflection takes one of the broken pieces of glass and uses it to cut his own throat in the mirror, causing the man to die for real. Later Ben finds out that this man was the security guard that he replaced. These are not nice mirrors.
Once Ben gets the job, and is it established that he is a recovering alcoholic who is estranged from his wife, and lives with his sister; the film stalls for a bit as Ben wanders around the Mayflower at night with a puny torch getting scared by glimpses of things that are usually too brief for the audience to see properly.
There are a couple of quite creepy bits: Ben investigates the horrific sound of a woman screaming relentlessly, only to discover it is the reflection of a burn victim who died in the Mayflower’s fire; and handprints on the wrong side of the mirror glass that do not wipe off. Director Alexandre Aja makes good use of reflective surfaces throughout the film, emphasising their prevalence in everyday life through the composition of his shots.
But just when you think the entire film is going to be Kiefer Sutherland getting scared by his own reflection in the dark, a back-story emerges (Ringu style) that requires his character to investigate the history of the Mayflower building, and stop the mirrors before they kill his family.
In one particularly gruesome scene, Ben’s sister Angela (Amy Smart) rips off her own jaw in the bath. It is at that point that Ben realises that the mirrors are not only after him, but that they can get him through any mirror anywhere, or, in fact, any reflective surface. His five year old son is also seeing a creepy lady in his mirror at night. Ben tries shooting the main mirror in the Mayflower, but it is bullet proof. He asks the mirror what it wants: Esseker is scratched into the surface of the glass.
A package also arrives from the deceased security guard that contains a history of the Mayflower, including that it once housed schizophrenic patients. Without giving too much a way, the film does borrow from The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and from The Exorcist, obviously. But I think that it works quite well as an explanation of the mirror’s evil origin and supernatural power. Events build to quite a satisfying climax, that involve exploding mirrors, and a lot of reflective water. The ideas are also intriguing as it is old folklore myth that mirrors, and water, can capture a person’s soul because of their reflective quality. There is also a twist ending that plays upon this theme.
Altogether a satisfying horror mystery with a reasonable gore quotient. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Asian horror.
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart.
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
I actually rather enjoyed this remake of Korean horror Film Geoul Sokeuro (2003). Kiefer Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a cop on suspension, who, while waiting to get his old job back, takes a nightshift job as a security guard in a burnt out and abandoned department store called The Mayflower. You would think that guarding an empty building at night would be simple enough, only there is something lurking inside of the many mirrors in the department store.
I watched the unrated version of this film on DVD, so it may differ a little to the theatrical release. It opens with a man fleeing in terror from something. He comes face to face with his own reflection in a scene that makes excellent use of the mirrors on the inside of locker doors, when they open themselves one by one, confronting him with his reflection many times over. The mirror he faces cracks, and his reflection takes one of the broken pieces of glass and uses it to cut his own throat in the mirror, causing the man to die for real. Later Ben finds out that this man was the security guard that he replaced. These are not nice mirrors.
Once Ben gets the job, and is it established that he is a recovering alcoholic who is estranged from his wife, and lives with his sister; the film stalls for a bit as Ben wanders around the Mayflower at night with a puny torch getting scared by glimpses of things that are usually too brief for the audience to see properly.
There are a couple of quite creepy bits: Ben investigates the horrific sound of a woman screaming relentlessly, only to discover it is the reflection of a burn victim who died in the Mayflower’s fire; and handprints on the wrong side of the mirror glass that do not wipe off. Director Alexandre Aja makes good use of reflective surfaces throughout the film, emphasising their prevalence in everyday life through the composition of his shots.
But just when you think the entire film is going to be Kiefer Sutherland getting scared by his own reflection in the dark, a back-story emerges (Ringu style) that requires his character to investigate the history of the Mayflower building, and stop the mirrors before they kill his family.
In one particularly gruesome scene, Ben’s sister Angela (Amy Smart) rips off her own jaw in the bath. It is at that point that Ben realises that the mirrors are not only after him, but that they can get him through any mirror anywhere, or, in fact, any reflective surface. His five year old son is also seeing a creepy lady in his mirror at night. Ben tries shooting the main mirror in the Mayflower, but it is bullet proof. He asks the mirror what it wants: Esseker is scratched into the surface of the glass.
A package also arrives from the deceased security guard that contains a history of the Mayflower, including that it once housed schizophrenic patients. Without giving too much a way, the film does borrow from The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and from The Exorcist, obviously. But I think that it works quite well as an explanation of the mirror’s evil origin and supernatural power. Events build to quite a satisfying climax, that involve exploding mirrors, and a lot of reflective water. The ideas are also intriguing as it is old folklore myth that mirrors, and water, can capture a person’s soul because of their reflective quality. There is also a twist ending that plays upon this theme.
Altogether a satisfying horror mystery with a reasonable gore quotient. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Asian horror.
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