Director Alexandre Aja first jumped into the horror scene with 2003 horror hit Haute tension. Then he moved onto one of the better remakes in recent years THE HILLS HAVE EYES before directing this half good, half disappointing film MIRRORS. Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh, lets say the film was good up until the last five minutes. Yes, folks there will be a few spoilers in this review. When I discuss how and why the ending of this film ruined what in my opinion, could of been a film that made my top ten list of 2008. You’ll understand why I’m a bit disappointed. Overkill plays a big part.
MIRRORS is about a detective named Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland). Ben has pretty much been put on leave on his department for a few issues he has, one of them being drinking, the other being something to do with shooting one of his own. With his wife and him separated, and not much money coming in; Ben is forced to take a nighttime security guard job patrolling the Mayflower mall that was victim to fire that killed two dozen people and wounded many more. Ben begins to experience odd ghost like images within the many mirrors of the Mayflower Mall. However, whatever haunts the mirrors in the mall, also haunts any mirror in Ben’s life, and if he does not do what the mirrors tell him to do, they will kill his family and the people around him. The mirror asks one thing of Ben. Find the meaning of the word ESSEKER. Using his skills as a detective, Ben begins an investigation to find out the meaning behind the mirrors. His life depends on it, as well as his families life. Ben must figure out the mystery before it’s too late.
MIRRORS does have a great, well written script, at least for the most part. The characters are very well written and the horrors of the film are slowly and mysteriously let out upon us slowly to keep the tension. We get some good scares and some nice bloody kills, along with that mysterious ghost story, where we’re not really sure what is behind all the killings and just what’s going on with the mirrors. It’s a pretty good script, up until the last five minutes, where the film becomes more like an episode of 24, with a demon nun chasing Ben though the underground halls of the mall’s basement. Honestly, this killed the film for me. It’s could of ended on a nice note, once the nun in the film, who we find out to be ESSEKER, the women who put the demon in the mirror as a child; takes the demon back into her body and as it appears blows up. But this does not happen as we get this bloody demon nun chasing Ben all over the place. It would of been nice if they just used the original ending that appears in the deleted scenes on the DVD. But because they thought that ending would confuse audiences they decided against it. Other than this dissatisfying, silly ending the rest of the script is actually pretty good.
The acting, directing and overall production value fall hand in hand with one another. It was nice seeing Kiefer Sutherland in a horror film. He was good in films like DARK CITY and THE LOST BOYS so it was good to see him return to a role in the genre. The rest of the cast which includes Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Jason Flemyng and Mary Beth Peil were all good in their respected roles. The production values was also pretty good, but it was basic. The effects were good, but were similar to the ghost like effects you’d seen in movies like THE GRUDGE and GOTHIKA. The set design was great, as well as many of the visuals used to give the film it’s feel.
Overall, I really got into MIRRORS right from the beginning. It was a great horror film that just ended on a very poor flat note. Honestly folks, it’s not a bad movie at all, but the ending just kills everything leading up to those dreadful last five minutes. Still despite the fact that I didn’t care for the ending I can’t take away from the rest of the film and say it was entirely bad. Just that if had a different ending, I think I would of liked MIRRORS a lot more.
The DVD has both the unrated and theatrical versions of the film. Reflections: The Making of Mirrors featurette, Behind The Mirror featurette, Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary by director Alexandre Aja), and Inside The Mirror: Alternate Ending.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
