Mirrors (I) (2008) User Reviews

Pretty good, unless you require good acting

[Her-Excellency · 5/10 · 10 March 2021]

The story keeps you present, and Kiefer Sutherland (although I am not a fan), does a great job of carrying this entertaining and well-written film.

The problem is that in terms of acting on the part of Paula Patton, who plays Sutherland's wife, it cannot get any worse. I wanted to scratch my eyes out and stab my ears each time she was on-screen. How this person ever booked anything in Hollywood that was more than a gig where she asks if you want to "supersize that", is beyond me. Not too much better, was the acting by Amy Smart, who I normally love. What a mess.

If you, however, can overlook really bad acting to enjoy a suspenseful movie with a strong story, then you might like it more than I did.

First half: Great. Second half: The opposite.

[Lando_Hass · 5/10 · 14 August 2008]

Let me start off by saying: I was stoked about seeing Mirrors. I liked High Tension, and I loved Hills Have Eyes. Both were awesome, awesome movies....especially Hills Have Eyes. So of course, again, I was stoked to watch Mirrors, because it sounded interesting, it looked scary, and the guy who made to great horror movies made it. What happened when I finished Mirrors, you ask? I was left disappointed as hell. Very, very disappointed. Which sucks because it started off so scary and so interesting.

Kiefer Sutherland plays Ben, a down and out ex-cop who's battling an alcohol problem and the stigma of killing a man while in the line of duty. While waiting to be reinstated into the police force, he takes a job as a night watchmen at an old, burned down, creepy-ass shopping mall. Of course, once there, he notices insanely scary and creepy things going on inside, particularly with the mirrors inside. He starts seeing disturbing things in the mirrors: People burning alive, grotesque people lying on the floors, crying for help, things of that nature. Since Ben is so unstable, we're not sure what's going on, at least I wasn't. I wasn't sure if all this scary stuff was in his head, or if there was a genuine explanation for all of it. Well, I was wishing that the former was true, because that would've made the movie that much scarier and that much edgier. Instead, the latter was true.

The movie has some really, really scary parts....all of it is scary until they explain why everything's happening. Then you're just left there thinking, "Well, that's not that scary anymore." There's some really crazy gore effects, especially the opening scene and the scene with Amy Smart. These parts, especially the Amy Smart scene, will make you cringe just a little bit.

But after the first half, the half filled with mystery, intrigue, and scary, horrific moments, the movies take a turn down dumbass-idea boulevard:

SPOILER Ready for this? The reason for the all the strange happenings in the movie, i.e., in the mirrors, is because of.....ready?......demonic forces. No psychological reasons, which would've been cool and interesting, but because of stupid demonic forces that lived in the mirrors. Even if they didn't go down the psychological route, they could've at least handled it better and made it interesting instead of just saying, "Bad s*** lives in the mirrors. Jack Bauer's gonna take care of it." When his wife starts believing him and when you know for sure he isn't just crazy and broken, that's when all the interest is sucked away.

Everyone does a pretty good job with their roles, but since the movie doesn't get any deeper than "Bad stuff lives in the mirrors," there's not much to do with these characters, especially Ben, who's a pretty broken and messed up guy. But as the second half comes along, you forget that he's a recovering alcoholic with a pill problem who may or may not be completely insane. When there's no more doubt about his state-of-mind and sanity, the movie loses it's punch and mystery, at least I thought so.

SOME MORE SPOILERS The movie takes a turn for the absolutely ridiculous when all the demonic forces in the mirrors manifest themselves in an old nun. She pretty much turns into a freakin' licker from the Resident Evil games. She starts crawling up walls, jumping off walls, and gets into a physical brawl with Kiefer Sutherland as he tries to shoot her. She throws him through a freakin' brick wall, and he throws her like six feet away from him. I was just thinking to myself, "What the hell am I watching? Is it still the same movie?" This part was so stupid it pretty much ruined the rest of the movie. My God. It was so stupid.

I personally thought they could've done much more with the story instead of just saying "Bad things live in the mirrors." It started out scary, suspenseful, and frightening, but then just ends up being corny and stupid. The only thing that made the last half somewhat tolerable was the last few minutes, which was a little shocking and cool. Loved the ending.

But again, don't take this review as a definitive view on the movie. Go watch it for yourself and you might end up liking it very much. I didn't, even though I really, really wanted to.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Promising Beginning, Disappointing Resolution

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 23 December 2008]

In New York, the former NYPD detective Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is hired to work as night watch of the remains of the Mayflower Department Store that was partially destroyed by fire many years ago. Ben became alcoholic and was retired from the police force after killing a man in a shooting. His marriage was also destroyed and now he is living in the apartment of his younger sister Angie (Amy Smart). However he has not been drinking for three months and sees the employment as a chance to rebuild his life. When he goes to the rounds in his first night, he finds that the mirrors are impeccably clean and his colleague explains that the former night watch was obsessed by the mirrors. After a couple of nights, Ben sees weird images in the mirrors, but due to the lack of credibility of his past, his ex-wife Amy (Paula Patton) believes he has hallucinations as a side effect of his medication. When Angie is found brutally murdered in her bathtub, Ben discovers that there is an evil force in the mirror that is chasing him and jeopardizing his family.

The first half of "Mirrors" is intriguing and scary, with a promising ghost story with good special effects and good performances. The dark cinematography is top-notch. Unfortunately, the resolution and the conclusion of the plot are very weak and quite disappointing with an open end ready for a sequel. The death of Angie is really an impressive scene of this horror movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Espelhos da Morte" ("Mirrors of the Death")

Note: On 11 November 2016, I saw this film again.

When a reflections does not reflect reality one can expect fatalities

[LazySod · 7/10 · 17 September 2008]

As a remake of a Korean film of 2003 this film tells the tale of a guy that picks up a job as a night-watchman in what is left over of a burned down department store. What starts as a somewhat dull somewhat creepy job quickly turns into a living nightmare.

There have been at least a dozen horror films where the evil lived on the other side of the mirror - nothing new here. Most of them share the same build up as this one: get to know the victim(s), get to know the evil(s), see them getting maimed/slaughtered/eaten one by one - nothing new here. In effect, this film is like nothing new all over and it would be a standard run of the mill one if it weren't for the fact that most of the settings used are worked out pretty nicely and that the ending isn't the normal sloppy one.

I haven't seen the original but I am interested into seeing it now that I have seen this one. It might be even better.

7 out of 10 mirrors on the wall

Objects in Mirrors are closer than they appear...

[Anonymous_Maxine · 7/10 · 28 August 2008]

Alexadre Aja, the man behind the intensely creepy 2003 film High Tension and the intensely crappy 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes has now brought us something in between. Kiefer Sutherland adds credibility to the otherwise unoriginal horror film Mirrors, about an exiled New York City cop who soon finds himself battling a mysterious force hidden behind every reflective surface that is endangering his sanity, his life, and the lives of his family.

The movie opens with a terrified night watchman running for his life. From what, we don't know, until he begs forgiveness from a mirror for trying to escape. The mirror cracks angrily in response.

There is a strange force in Mirrors that is able to torment members of the living, or members of the three dimensional, or members of whatever land the mirror-forces are unable to occupy. It is at least an hour and a half into the movie before we learn much of anything about the deadly force that is tormenting Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland), and that's more than a little too long.

Ben Carson has recently been put on mandatory leave from the New York police department after a tragic shooting, and his life is increasingly spiraling out of control. Not the least of his worries is the strange fact that the only job he is able to get is as a night watchman, a caretaker, if you will, of a department store that burned down five years earlier.

I'm a little confused about that whole setup, by the way. The building is standing but is nothing more than a skeleton of its former self, and is clearly beyond repair. What is a nightly caretaker meant to do? Upkeep is obviously unimportant. Are they worried about teenagers or homeless people wandering in? Isn't that a job that, say, a good fence can do?

It's definitely the worst job ever, but it's a great setup for a horror movie. A guy under tremendous pressure is forced to take a job where he has to wander through an enormous, burned building every hour or so in the middle of the night. Personally I would walk off the job and quit as soon as the mirrors showed me on fire, but not Ben Carson. He didn't start browsing the classifieds even when he learned that his predecessor suffered a mysterious death involving mirrors. This guy has balls of solid rock!

Complicating the matters of Ben's unraveling professional life is the fact that his wife doesn't want him coming over to see his kids without calling first, he's an alcoholic, and his sister, who is providing him with a sofa to sleep on, is a bartender. This guy needed professional help before the mirrors started talking to him!

The scenes inside the derelict department store are actually pretty effective, but it becomes clear very early on that far too much stock is put into the scares of his nightly walk-throughs and not nearly enough put into developing a real story. There's a story, of course, it's just that the movie feels like a lot of Funland Haunted House tours intermixed with an occasional break to explain a few things, and then back to the haunted house.

A good horror movie will either make you fear something that previously seemed harmless (like the dark or hallways or dolls or children or the like), or instill in you the fear or interest that there might be something more going on right under our very noses. Mirrors attempts to do both - to make us fear not only mirrors but all reflective surfaces, which are all dangerous in the movie, and also to suggest that there is a whole other world going on behind those mirrors, that those pesky handprints that won't wipe off are really someone on the other side with their hand on the glass.

I doubt that the movie will succeed in making many people afraid of mirrors, although it did have a fair amount of good scares and a genuine feeling of tension when it was supposed to. Naysayers will balk at the idea of paying real money to watch Jack Bauer scream at his reflection for two hours, but even though this is basically a strange combination of several previous movies and there's not much original going on, you could definitely do worse. It's a major improvement on the horror movies that we've seen released in the last ten years or so. I had started to lose faith completely in the entire genre. Mirrors is not going to save the horror genre from being sacrificed to the box office gods, but I'm happy every time I see a scary movie these days that doesn't star a lot of sorority girls in halter tops and idiot pretty boys.

But for all of it's weaknesses, as a creepy horror film it's hard to say that Mirrors isn't successful. It might even be a pretty good date movie, although there are dozens better that you could watch at home. But the ending, I don't mind telling you, is better than everything else in the movie, and it's almost worth going to see it just for the last five minutes. Horror fans, if nothing else, will enjoy picking out the homages

Good but it could be better

[barrys82 · 7/10 · 20 October 2008]

Mirrors is the U.S. remake of Korean horror movie Geoul Sokeuro, it is good and scary but not as much as the original one. The movie is about A mall security guard becomes wrapped up in a mystery involving a particular department store's mirrors which seem to bring out the worst in people. The story is almost the same as the original as well as the plot which are interesting although a little predictable. It has a good rhythm and the tension grows in its intensity as the movie moves along, these are two very good things because it never makes the movie tiresome to the viewer. The cast is good, Kiefer Sutherland gives a very convincing performance, although he reminded me of Jack Bauer in some moments of the film. Amy Smart's role was good but very short and Paula Patton as Kiefer character's wife gives a decent acting job. In conclusion, it was a good movie but it could be better.

Ludicrous empty nonsense from someone who should know better

[theskulI42 · 1/10 · 31 August 2008]

Oh dios mio, Alexandre, what have you done?

Alexandre Aja is a talented director who has a splendid visual sensibility that can breathe life in otherwise tired premises. His version of The Hills Have Eyes features one-dimensional characters and a predictable storyline, but Aja elevated it thanks to its garish, glorious appearance. High Tension also looked great, and had a similarly premise, but was doomed by a lunkheaded twist. His second attempt at a remake, a Korean horror film, was destined to be a failure. The vague Asian ghost story has long since run its course, and it can be argued that only the movement's catalyst (The Ring) was successful. Mirrors is a profoundly troubling film, if only because you wonder how such a talented man could pump out such a dud.

The trouble begins right from the start with an uninspired opening. The film proper begins, with an opening credits sequence that is dizzying in the worst way, like the projectionist fed the reels wrong. Kiefer Sutherland stars as Ben Carson, an officer disgraced after killing a colleague. He is living with his sister (Amy Smart), and is estranged from his wife (Paula Patton), mother to his two children. He gets a new job as a night watchman for an old department store that was destroyed in a fire. Around here is when the questions start. The film's first third mines a lot of attempted suspense out of extended scenes where Sutherland is wandering around looking at old burned things, mainly statues, birds and mirrors. None of these are inherently scary, bringing to mind Dark Water, where we supposed to be terrified by bad pipes and a faulty washing machine. If Aja's seem less ludicrous, just wait. All of a sudden, in a manner more awkward than shocking, he starts having fake-looking visions of people burning, so Sutherland screams and hilariously writhes around. AAAHHH FIRE OH MY GOD Not coincidentally, this is the point at which derisive laughter began to emanate from the patrons of my theater.

The plot after that set-up is...honestly, a bit hard to explain. Characters are introduced, utilized in situations that would seem to encourage a fleshing-out, then are never heard from again, and are underused even in their minute facet. Despite the film being based upon another medium, in fact another FILM, Aja and co. seem to have no idea where they're going or what they're doing, to the point that they seem to be making it up as they go along. Every major occurrence in the film was laughably silly and gloriously incoherent. First off, isn't his job description merely to just protect the place from vandals? He's taking crazy pain pills and is still disturbed anyway, so why, after his first unpleasant bit of silliness, would he go wandering around to the waterlogged basement and to the empty reaches of the top floor? Are punk kids really breaking into this place and going to all these crazy obscure places? Can't he just sit out front? He runs home, screaming to his loved ones how mirrors are attacking him, and is somehow surprised when they think he's a nutcase.

From there, the film provides all these bizarre twists about a mysterious woman, and a mental ward and the fire and mirrors and demons and...it's all curiously empty, to the point that I can't honestly conceive how they managed to fill 110 minutes of film. Oh, there's one big gore scene, but the film had lost this crowd long before it, and it ends up smacking more of desperation than anything else. It kept me entertained just because I wanted to see the nonsensical depths it would plumb, and boy did it deliver. By the time he's abducting a nun at gunpoint and wrestling her demonic corpse (in a scene that somehow makes even less sense than everything that occurred before it), all the rules of believability or genuine enjoyment were out the window, and the film ends as incoherently as it began.

In the acting department, it's just as bad. Sutherland is horribly over-the-top (and his character is such an ill-tempered dick that we can't possibly sympathize with him), and everyone around him doesn't know how to act. Amy Smart, the only competent actor in the cast, is dispatched early on, in a scene that later is contradicted, as the film can't even follow it's own rules. Paula Patton was obviously cast for *ahem* other talents, so why they continually give her extended emotional scenes is beyond me. The kids are kids, the rest are forgettable and forgotten (Jason Flemyng is introduced early on as an important character, as the film seems to be setting up a tangent where Kiefer is suspected in his sister's death, but this is as forgotten as everything else in the film).

The film's original conceit is one that is if nothing else intriguing, but its only scene with the potential for genuine suspense (having someone look into a mirror, look away, and have the reflection stay) only works once, and only if you're not expecting it. But this film not only uses it extensively with most of its main characters, announces it in its title and plot, and utilized it in its marketing almost wholly. I could continue in this vein for another twelve paragraphs, but I think the most demonic thing about the film is that its influence has apparently gotten to my brain, because, reading over this, I don't think I've accurately conveyed WHY the film is bad, or at least why it deserves the rating I'm about to give it. In an attempt to inform you, I've also blathered epic-length with little effect. Curse you, Mirrors, your tremendous downside has doomed me to work as incoherent and meandering as you. God help us all.

{Grade: 0.5/10 (what is that, a high F?) / #64 (of 65) of 2008}

Surprisingly effective horror films!

[fritzlang · 8/10 · 1 December 2009]

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.

One of the better horror movies these days

[Spooky2001 · 7/10 · 18 August 2008]

This movie is certainly not the best horror movie I have seen but out of horror movies that come out now of days it is one of the better ones. The death scenes were a little over the top and gory but at least the movie didn't really on mostly gore that a lot of horror movies these days do. Keifer Suterland was pretty good and there were a few jump scares. I like it that they added a little bit of mystery to it. I give this movie a B for effort. It did seem a little long though, they could have made it at least a little bit shorter. They had some cool special effects like when the mirror got shot and the holes repaired themselves. Overall it was not that bad of a movie.

Better than most Asian remakes, but unfortunately it falls short once again

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 5/10 · 20 August 2008]

Let me say something, I love mirrors, aren't they just wonderful at times? I mean, when you're looking hot, you just can't stop starring at yourself, it's a great pleasure. But what if those mirrors contained ghosts?! Not only that, but killing deadly ghosts! Oh, no! Great, we have another horror movie that takes the most simple and basic every day item we use and turns it into a scary thing and now we can't look into the mirrors because if you're easily scarable, then you're going to have a few bad hair days. Mirrors is another Asian remake, from a film I believe is called "Look into the Mirror" or something like that. This was one of the rare movies where I looked at the trailer, besides knowing that it was another remake, it looked interesting, so I saw it today in the theater, unfortunately, it turned typical, great story, but why did it have to get predictable? It could have been so much more.

Ben Carson is a former NYPD cop who had an accidental shooting, he's also a recovering alcoholic who is trying to get his life back on track and wants his family back. He gets a job working at a burned down department store as a security guard. But then as he looks into the mirrors, strange things start to happen, he starts seeing things in the mirrors of people burning, him dying, and now the spirits are going after his family. The only way he can prevent their deaths is if he gives the spirits what they want, the only person they can jump into and get into the outer world.

Mirrors is better than most Asian remakes, it does have some good scare moments, it has actual gore in it that will make you cringe. Amy Smart has an awesome death scene that is just horrific to watch, you'll just have to see what I mean. The ending is also kind of cool, like a Twilight Zone episode. I love Kiefer Sutherland, I love this guy with a passion, he's a great actor that still needs his big due on the silver screen, but he should have done a little more with his character in this story. One thing I'm sick of is a sane rational person starts to see ghosts, and they start screaming at people expecting them to believe as well how they're seeing ghosts and that someone is in danger. Mirrors is worth the look, I'd just recommend waiting for the rental, it's a watchable movie, just nothing special.

5/10

Mirrors: much better than you'd expect of a horror remake!

[dyl_gon · 10/10 · 16 August 2008]

Mirrors was pretty much doomed for terrible critical reviews from the start. Horror never scores big with film critics; in fact I can't remember the last horror film that got more positive reviews than negative. If the horror film in question is a remake, especially of a foreign movie, it's almost destined for critical failure. There's a reason for that: most horror remakes are utter garbage and are solely created so studios can make a quick buck. However, once in a while, a horror film remake will come along that actually isn't half bad, yet will still suffer negative reviews based on the fact that it's a horror film remake. It happened several years ago with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and more recently, with The Hills Have Eyes.

Mirrors has suffered a similar fate. Directed by French horror director Alexandre Aja, the same man behind The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors is a remake of a Korean horror film, as well as the best wide-release horror film of the year thus far. While I'll admit I probably enjoyed the film much more than most will, it's still miles better than the critic's lousy reviews or lackluster promotion would have you believe.

Kiefer Sutherland stars as Ben Carson, an ex-cop suffering from emotional issues after a "workplace accident" and a messy divorce. Sick of sleeping on his sister's couch, he takes up a job as a security guard at an abandoned department store that was devastated by a fire many years back. The job seems easy enough, primarily consisting of walking through the building every couple hours, making sure there are no trespassers. Things take a turn for the worse though, after several strange encounters involving the mirrors in the building, and Ben begins to find that his own reflection is haunting him, not only at the job, but in any mirror or reflective object (or liquid) he comes across. Soon enough, Ben find his life, as well as his families, in danger.

Mirrors biggest strength is the storyline, easily one of the best horror premises to hit the screen in years (even if it is recycled). Reflections are practically inescapable, not only appearing just in mirrors, but in doorknobs, windows and water. The inescapability of reflections is what makes the idea of one's reflection out to get them so chilling. They're everywhere. You can't escape them. Not since Nightmare on Elm Street, where ones own dreams were the cause of death, has there been a supernatural premise that has gotten so much under my skin. The fact that whatever the mirror images do to themselves happens to their real life counterparts, only heightens the hopelessness of Carson and his family.

Alexandre Aja has already proved his ability to create genuine scares with previous films, but most have been of the brutal, violent kind, as opposed to the atmospheric chills usually employed in supernatural horror movies that are more reliant on the mood and feeling than shocking acts of brutality for scares. Surprisingly, Aja's penchant for gore and violence complements the film surprisingly well. The sequences inside the derelict department store at night build up suspense very well, utilizing the eerie location with corpses manifesting themselves within the mirrors and screams emitting from within deep recesses of the building. It's fairly generic stuff for movies like this, but Aja is talented enough stylistically to pull them off. However, it's the sequences where Aja really lets loose that prove to be the most frightening. One sequence that takes place in a bathtub ends up being one of the most brutal and unsettling death scenes of the year. There are several of these sequences sprinkled throughout the film and they are extremely effective, utilizing a combination of brutality and atmospheric suspense that are, at the least, shocking. When a ghost pops out in one scene, it isn't a pale, long black haired Asian woman, nor a semi-transparent floating apparition: it's a half-naked female with half her body burned off, the flesh still sizzling off her burnt carcass as she wails in pain. That's the difference between Mirrors and most other ghost films.

The biggest downfall of the film is when it tries to provide an explanation for the horrific events taking place in the second half. The idea of one's image terrorizing oneself is horrifying on one level, but at the same time, it's extremely unrealistic. Trying to explain why this happened back fires on the film, as no explanation is going to make sense and instead, will just draw attention to the fact that this would never happen in real life, destroying a bit of the film's effect. The audience doesn't need to know why this happens. Ambiguity in this case would be much more frightening and wouldn't take away from any of the other scares. Once you throw in a sub-plot about mental institution experiments and haunting tragedies taking place in the building, you lose a lot of the suspense. Despite the unwise direction the movie takes in its second half, it's still entertaining and manages to retain a few good scares here and there, while finally rebounding in the last act.

Mirrors isn't perfect (what film is?), but its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses and in the end, it's the most enjoyable wide-release horror film of the year (although personally, the only other decent wide-release horror film this year would be The Strangers). Benefiting from a brilliant premise and the unlikely combination of French director Alexandre Aja's love of blood and brutality with an atmospheric, supernatural storyline, Mirrors is definitely much better than what one would expect of a typical Korean horror movie remake, let alone any horror movie that hits theaters.

• Dylan, allhorrorfilms.com

Pretty decent but a big too long

[ryanlion-38514 · 6/10 · 22 July 2022]

I hadn't seen this in several years and I do remember some of the graphic violence was pretty crazy, but my that bathtub scene. It was pretty well done, I just thought it was a little too drawn out. I feel like Keifer as usual does great with his role, but overacting especially towards the end was a bit eh. Oh and I actually thought they did pretty good tying up the ending. A lot of people complain the last part ruined the film or wasn't good, but it surprised me as I thought it would be much worse. I say it's worth checking out if you haven't. It wasn't groundbreaking or anything but managed to keep me focused for a few hours. I give it a 6. I liked it better than Aja's High Tension. Now to me that was a bad ending.

Mirrors

[Scarecrow-88 · 4/10 · 30 August 2008]

Major spoilers perhaps present. -- A night watchman(Keifer Sutherland), once a detective who accidentally murdered an NYC cop while undercover, is taking an obscene number of drugs to kick his lingering alcohol problem stemming from the unfortunate crisis which removed him from the force. His duty is to periodically check throughout the damaged ruins of a once lavish mall overcome by fire due to a supposed nut-case who set it afire hoping to destroy the mirrors which occupied the entire establishment. What this watchman, Ben Carson, never imagined is that the "lunatic ravings" of a man, who claimed that the mirrors were responsible for the murders of his family, would actually be true! Soon the mirrors target their intentions towards Ben and his immediate family, estranged wife, Amy(Paula Patton), son and daughter Michael & Daisy(Cameron Boyce & Erica Gluck), and particularly bartender sis, Angela(Amy Smart). Like those plagued by the mirrors before him, such as the film's opening victim, the night watchman he replaced, Gary Lewis(Josh Cole), Ben will face a harrowing crisis..stopping whatever evil lies behind the mirrors hoping to uncover the secret so that he can save his family from harm. When his own attempts at destroying the mirrors fail, Ben discovers that the evil force wishes for him to find "Esseker", and so his pursuit begins.

There are some things I enjoyed in the theater from Aja's latest dud to hit theaters unwelcome(..why is Fox releasing this film in August instead of October, where a much greater opening would've at least came?). The Mayflower mall at night is really a spooky place...and a perfect "haunted house" where mirrors and horrifying cries of victims are used to supreme effect as Ben and his flashlight comb the darkness for discoveries. The idea of finding yourself completely vulnerable to the demonic forces that can kill using reflecting mirrors, and foretelling just how little room for escape there is because "mirrors are everywhere". Two gruesome deaths are presented unflinchingly..a victim's throat is sliced with the wound opening up in ghastly fashion thanks to his evil reflection(..not by his own hand which makes the kill even more outrageous)& a victim whose face is ripped apart from her mouth(..ouch!). There are creepy scenes where a reflection remains in it's stance even as a person moves away from the mirror(..nice visual effects for these sequences). But, the film's final 30 minutes or so as Ben discovers that a mental hospital was once underneath the Mayflower for psychiatric patients by a doctor using a peculiar technique with mirrors(..to free the evils plaguing those burdened with such psychological traumas as schizophrenia), and that a particular patient, perhaps possessed with demonic forces, was released from there, Aja's film treads familiar territory. And, the final climax between a certain nun discovered who might hold the key to his family being saved, as they make their way to a secret room, walled up by brick due to the Mayflower mall, and Ben's family finding themselves in a supernatural battle with the evil working through the mirrors, really tests our threshold for accepting such contrived and ludicrous situations. The screenplay does whatever is humanly possible to save Ben's family even though we know that if the evil behind the mirrors really were allowed to, they would've killed them all. And, when a certain nun agrees to help Ben, and is overcome by evil, it's the same old cop versus demonically possessed human except with explosions and toppling stone and pipes. And, as one realizes that Aja just can never resist, there's a twist at the end concerning Ben's fate which is a yawner. Aja really needs to get out of this Hollywood studio system that is raping him of the skills he might possess. And, could someone PLEASE save Amy Smart from such dreck. Man, Sutherland gives everything he has to this role and I applaud him for his efforts.

Scary but predictable horror film from maker of Haute Tension.

[alanbobet · 7/10 · 10 August 2008]

I went to see a sneak preview of MIRRORS, the new horror film from French director Alexandre Aja, who also gave us HAUTE TENSION(HIGH TENSION) and the remake of THE HILLS HAVE EYES.It stars Kiefer Sutherland(24) as a former New York City cop, working as a security guard in a burned down department store that is being reconstructed. There he discovers a sinister demonic force inhabited in the mirrors of the store that not only endanger him, but also his family and friends. Sutherland must discover and stop the source of the evil that are in the mirrors before harm happens to his family. The film has the usual shocks and gore coming from director Aja and Sutherland plays the lead with same determination as in his role as Jack Bauer in 24 and the rest of the cast like Amy Smart give solid performances. There are a couple of effective shock sequences in the film, especially in the beginning sequence and in a nasty bathroom scene involving Amy Smart, but the film is predictable, especially in the way the film resolves itself in the ending. The audience I saw this film with, kinda guessed how this film was going to end. But even with it's predictability, the film is an OK crowd pleaser that might satisfy today's horror film fans.

Thrills, chills, and scary scenes directed by expert Alexandre Aja

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 15 February 2010]

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.

Decent Horror Effort That Begins To Shatter Near The End.

[drownsoda90 · 6/10 · 21 August 2008]

"Mirrors" focuses on Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland), a police man separated from his family who is living with his sister (Amy Smart). He takes a job as a security guard/patrolman of an abandoned New York department store that was horribly burned in a fire. Once a lavish, very high-class building, now all that remains are charred walls and mannequins. But after working there for only a short while, he realizes something about the massive mirrors left in the building aren't quite right - he sees apparitions and has strange experiences that become more and more disturbing. It seems something from the mirrors is trying to tell him something, and reflections become deadly as those around him begin to meet their demises in very bizarre ways. What ensues is a battle against time as Ben attempts to unravel the mystery behind the presence that is held within the mirrors before it gets to his family.

From Alexandre Aja, French filmmaker who brought us "High Tension" and "The Hills Have Eyes" remake, "Mirrors" is an offbeat little shocker that kind of came out of nowhere. With a fairly well-known cast, it's surprising how little build-up there was to the film's release. In fact, I hadn't even heard of it until hardly a month before it's release when ads hit television networks. Nonetheless, I went into it with an open mind and not expecting much, after the advertisements had me thinking "Hm, looks a little corny", and I didn't think it was half bad. The entire premise, while it is a bit far-fetched in terms of realism, is a neat little exploration into the supernatural with a strange bent to it, in which the antagonistic presence lurks within mirrors and reflections - it could be nearly anywhere.

The visuals are neat as well and the immense abandoned department store, charred and black, has an eerie, 1950s-feel to it what with the old mannequins and classy mementos that were left in the building after the fire. Atmosphere-wise, this film had something going for it, as well as a story that was halfway original when compared to the overall crop of horror trash that is pumped out carelessly to audiences (e.g. the "Prom Night" remake, etc). There are a couple of nasty gore scenes too (Amy Smart's bathtub scene was one of the most cringe-inducing things I've seen at the cinema in a long time, and probably one of the biggest highlights of the film), and while Aja is known for his on screen carnage, that isn't the sole basis of the movie. In all reality there are only two really violent scenes.

The acting is decent, Sutherland is a good actor and carries the movie on his shoulders. Paula Patton plays his concerned wife well, and familiar face Amy Smart has a rather small role (with a rather big scene) and does a good job. Now that I've gotten going, I will say this movie is in no respects perfect. It suffers from some pretty obvious clichés and suffers with predictability in a lot of aspects, and those "Why are going down there, you're begging to die" sort of things which are pretty consistent throughout the flick. There's some pretty big plot holes present as well, and by the time the film had reached its climax with the demonic nun- monster-thing, I felt the explanation behind the events (which is what the whole film is leading up to) weren't presented in the best way. Like a shattered mirror, I thought things sort of fell apart near the end. There's the obligatory twist as well, which was sort of unexpected and had a neat visual spin to it.

Overall, "Mirrors" is a decent effort from a director that has brought us some pretty good movies. It's a lot different from Aja's other stuff, and I like that, but I felt as the movie progressed things got a little sloppy. Still, this is better than most horror flicks of late, and makes a good popcorn movie to kick back and see with some friends. It's got some solid acting and neat visuals to keep the audience engaged, and the climax, while at times a little too far-fetched for me, was nonetheless clever and intense. I think "Mirrors" may suffer more so with movie-goers because fans of the director may have been expecting something closer to his previous works, when in reality it's quite different from what he's done before. 6/10.

Sad reflection of where mainstream US horror movies are at

[fertilecelluloid · 2/10 · 1 September 2008]

Alexandre Aja's "Mirrors" is a sad reflection (did I actually say that?) of where American horror movies are at -- at least the ones getting wide releases. Of course, much better stuff like "Inside" gets dumped straight to DVD because A)It's not "American", B)The French characters don't speak "American", and C)It's too "extreme" for horror fans(!). This film from the overrated director of "The Hills of Eyes" is just depressing. Keifer Sutherland, who can't do anything with a terribly obvious script, starts work as the night watchman of an abandoned department store in New York. He starts seeing weird images in the surviving mirrors in the old store and is soon telling everybody around him that the mirrors are out to get him. What the hell made Alexandre Aja think that this would make a scary movie, let alone a good movie? It's the worst idea in recent history. It does for mirrors what "Dead Silence" did for puppets. There is a ridiculous backstory that tries to explain what's going on in the mirrors, but you won't give a flaming f*** as you try valiantly to exorcise the insidious boredom from your brain. The film has half a dozen climaxes and gore that belongs to another movie. It's a misfire in every department. Aja's sense of judgement stinks, so I'm not looking one bit forward to his "Piranha" remake. The genre is scraping the bottom of the leaking barrel.

Boo!

[nasakcuf-3 · 8/10 · 17 August 2008]

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....

not since poltergeist and poltergeist three have mirrors been so chilling

[amesmonde · 11 November 2008]

A man and his family are terrorised by a supernatural force that is using mirrors as a way access their home.

I welcome Kiefer Sutherland with open arms as he's in the land of TV far too often. Although he seems to lack the great range of his father Donald, he is a great underrated actor. Mirrors gives Kiefer plenty to play with, but as with so many Asian horror remakes that have been spat-out recently and while Mirrors is one of the better re-workings, the story twist is something we've seen too many times.

No stranger to remakes director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes re-do and 2010's Piranha 3-D) takes the viewer though paint by numbers stuff as Ben Carson (Kiefer), a former undercover detective, is forced to take a night time security job at a department store that was gutted by a fire. However, there is an evil lurking in the mirrors, an entity he must stop to save his family.

Lately, I wish all the PC's in the world were stolen so I wouldn't have to see another dodgy effect detract from an actor's performance. While some effects are modest it's the bad CGI that spoils some moments of scariness. When practical effects are used there's one moment that would stop you ever looking into a mirror and taking a bath again.

Jason Flemyng shows up for a brief moment but seems to take his pay cheque and disappear as fast as some of the eerie atmosphere. Between Paula Patton and Amy Smarts (almost a cameo appearance) the acting is above average right down to the child actors who are at no time annoying.

Overall, Kiefer leaves his mark and it may not be the most original horror but at times it is certainly is creepy, not since Poltergeist and Poltergeist 3 have mirrors been so chilling.

Come for fun. Don't expect a masterpiece.

[njaguar71 · 7/10 · 17 August 2008]

Decent, nothing special.

Pros: cool ending, cool plot, decent acting.

cons: meh. What to include.

1) The main character (Ben, played by Sutherland) refused to get a day job, so he got a night job instead. Reason? Not given. So that night job was the most important thing in the world but we have no idea why. Good move.

2) The mirrors go crazy on him the first day of the job. I was expecting something more subtle, as opposed to the "1408" mess. Smaller indications over a longer period would have been more effective. Especially when it comes to the wife. Instead of seeing the kid in the mirror and immediately crying/panicking, she should have blinked a few times, and the mirror would be fine, and slowly gets worse over time.

3) if mirrors will kill you, are you going to paint over them and then let them stay there? I certainly hope not. I would bury them and break them all.

4) I'm not a fan of the nun/exorcist basis. I was really hoping the mirrors were feeding off people's fears, and the day-guard was providing fresh meat. Sadness.

5) When Ben discovered he could destroy the mirrors outside the department store, I expected him to bring all the mirrors out and destroy them. But nooo. Silly goose.

Oh well. Other than that, it was decent. The graphics were OK, and the opening in particular was fun. The bathtub scene was unexpected and made me twinge.

Truly awful 'j horror' ; what THE RING did for phones, this attempts with ..take a guess!

[george.schmidt · 1/10 · 18 August 2008]

MIRRORS (2008) *1/2 Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck, Amy Smart, Mary Beth Peil, John Shrapnel, Jason Flemyng, Tim Ahern, Julian Glover, Josh Cole, Ezra Buzzington. Pretty crummy 'J horror' adaptation by filmmaker Alexandre Aja – who co-wrote with Gregory Levasseur based on Sung-ho Kim's film "Into the Mirror") about a disgraced NYC cop (guess who) who takes on a night-shift security guard position in a haunted burned ruin of a department store that's titular reflective surfaces are harboring some pretty angry spirits. Laughable execution for the most part and forgettable; the film only merits a ½ star more for the nasty (literally) jaw-dropping sequence involving Smart.

scary is as scary does!

[justine0121 · 10/10 · 20 October 2008]

I have to admit I was on my toes. It's one that gets better and better as the movie goes. It keeps you wondering and there is pretty much no foreshadowing at all. I really didn't know what was going to happen from minute to minute. This movie is one of those you'll want to watch again. Sutherlands performance is good but I've got to give props to the other actors as well. All their performances were pretty remarkable too. I'm not the type of person that enjoys crappy films. I definitely have to say I know a good movie when I see it and I'm confident of that. The overall twist and turns... yeah it's a definite popcorn lights off cuddle with your boyfriend scary movie.

Not as effective as it could have been

[TdSmth5 · 7/10 · 22 August 2008]

We begin by meeting a security guard running for his life into a locker room. He looks in a large mirror and his reflection cuts it's throat. The security guard collapses bleeding from a real neck wound.

Next we meet Kiefer Sutherland as he starts his first day of work in a large mall that looks like castle/federal museum with giant ceilings and Greek columns. The mall burnt and is currently vacant only occupied by some leftovers from the stores mainly mannequins, furniture, and huge mirrors. The mirrors are squeaky clean. We are told the Kiefer's predecessor obsessed about keeping them clean.

The life of Kiefer's character is a mess. Out of a job from the police department, divorced and in trouble with his lovely wife over the two kids, sleeping on his lovely sister's couch and apparently with some type of a prescription drug problem. On his rounds at his new job he discovers something odd. A hand print on a mirror. The print can't be removed. It's on the other side of the mirror. He also discovers a flooded basement. Back at home he starts seeing things in the mirror. And starts investigating things about the place and the security guard who he replaced. He suspects that it is not just in his head as others tell him but that something is not right with this building and the mirrors.

It turns out next to the mall was a hospital where strange treatments took place in the psychiatric unit. As a result of what happened there to a young girl, the mirrors in the mall are trying to convey a message. Kiefer continues with the investigation tracking down the girl. In the meantime the mirrors start attacking his loved ones.

There are a couple of twists near the end. The story takes on quite a different character from the mirror-attacking-people story. Also the end is a neat surprise. Unusual ending and very interesting.

Aja knows how to direct horror and actors. And this movie is nicely photographed and has great camera work. There are some good scares and gore scenes. And the story itself is good. The only problem I found is that it's too long at nearly two hours and could have used a re-editing for tightness. The mirrors are as much as a character as Kiefer, who himself is not a very approachable guy in this movie. Overall a watchable milder horror film that could use either more horror or deletion of scenes to make it tighter more action-packed.

Poop.

[mcw6957 · 1/10 · 24 August 2008]

Haute Tension is one of my favorite movies. Hills Have Eyes & P2 kept me believing that Alexandre Aja was on the road to something big.Really big.Now usually I don't judge too harshly if an artist slips up & makes one or two stinkers so long as they rebound & hold steady. Mirrors already had several strikes against it. Another remake?Come on man. Kiefer Sutherland?Really?! Yet I pressed on its Aja if anyone can turn these strikes into lightning its him. Wrong.Wrong.Wrong. This movie falls victim to every horror movie cliché & makes some new ones for good measure along the way(anyone count the number of times the word mirror was used just in the 1st 1/2 hour?!). There's zero chemistry between the actors. There's no tension no build up of suspense. The horror moments are laughable like the Grudge 2 House of Wax & The Amityville Horror. Christ im about to put the final nail in the coffin on this man being the future of horror over this. I log on to IMDb to see what his next project is & its yet another remake. He pulled a Wes Craven in just under 5 years. I know I haven't written any details on the movie & its because I cant its just too idiotic & honestly hurts my head to recall what I just suffered through. Mr.Aja please get out of the gutter & get back into making kick ass horror movies.Please?!?!?

Flat, uninspired horror film with intermittent unintentional laughs but with action that picks up in the last third

[J. Spurlin · 2 October 2009]

Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is an ex-police detective in New York whose alcoholism made him incompetent on the job and caused him to kill a man. Now he's trying to get his life in order. He's living with his kid sister to save money. He's taking medication to wean himself off the booze. Most important, he's trying to win back the trust of his estranged wife, a medical examiner, and maintain a loving relationship with his two young children. To make money while waiting for reinstatement, he takes a job as a night watchman at a department store gutted by fire. That was a mistake. He is soon tormented by the same supernatural mirrors that plagued his predecessor. The images in these mirrors do not reflect reality as we know it. The images will stare back at you, but remain in the mirror when you walk away. The images will even try to kill you. Soon, Ben Carson finds that the mirrors' demons follow him everywhere in every reflective surface. They're willing to harass him and his family until they get what they want. Ben's job is to find out exactly what that is.

This silly horror movie, based on a Korean film I haven't seen, shares several things about Asian-inspired supernatural tales that I dislike. The demons at first seem limited to a single space, but then later prove they can follow you wherever you go. They'll follow the protagonist, attack him, attack everyone he knows. They seem bound by certain limitations at first, but then it seems they can pretty much do anything they want - which makes all the running around, running away and desperate investigations into old records and dirty secrets seem pretty pointless. This one has lots of the usual gross-out effects (especially in the unrated version I saw), including a hideous and prolonged jaw-ripping scene.

The movie starts out flat and uninspired, and makes too little use of its main set piece - the burnt-out department store. Every line of dialogue is prosaic and sounds like something we've heard a hundred times before. The music is clichéd and slightly intrusive. There are intermittent unintentional laughs. The action picks up in the last third, which makes things less dull, but even stupider than before.