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Movie offers a few twisted scenes, Keifer, and a decent plot... Don't understand how this movie gets knocked it has what horror movies need and the Amy Smart scene was absolutely BEAUTIFULLY gory and nasty... Some may disagree, but people love to hate.
It had one of the best bloody sences in it I have ever seen with Amy Smart.. I loved it thought it was great!!!!I wish every movie made my mouth drop like that scene did!
Wish I could say this was the worst movie ever but the truth is that there are so many other crap movies waiting in line behind it to take the title. So maybe it was just ONE OF the worst movies ever but it really was desperately bad. The only fond memory (or should I say mammary) I have of the movie is my friends reaction to the burned lady in the dressing room, "I've seen a lot of boob in horror films, but that was my first charred boob." Just great.
I waited to watch this movie until I could borrow it. I didn't expect much from it. I can't say a lot of bad things about this movie and i can't say a lot of good things either. You won't throw it at the screen when you are done. Mirrors is a movie that you will watch and then immediately watch something after without thinking about what you just saw.
A bad movie seems longer than it is.
A good movie seems shorter than it is.
Mirrors seems like the time it actually was.
If 5 is the last number in the bad rating scale and 6 is the first number in the good rating scale, I'd will give it a 6 for mediocre.
Bad, bad, bad... I love Kiefer Sutherland but this is one of those movies where you are just waiting for the protagonist and his family to die because they are lame and deserve to die (at least in the horror movie world).
The last scene in the movie - and the weirdness of a "backwards world" must be why the movie got made. But should we have to wade through 2 hrs. of crap to get to the point? I don't recommend wading through crap.
Just awful. The 'final battle' is silly.
This movie is a one trick pony. The mirror image does something different then that of the real person... over and over...
This time I'm going against the crowd. I loved this film, I'm a big fan of Alex Aja's style of making films, and this was no exception. Yes, the gore sometimes was a bit misplaced, but I was expecting it. After all, an Aja film would not be an Aja film if it didn't have an insane amount of gore in it. I also appreciated the turn of events, the whole possession, demons behind the mirrors side story. The final battle, if I may call it that, wasn't a let down, and Sutherland was convincing as a man who has been through a ton of shit. After the film I was compelled to look at myself in the mirror. And I mean really look at myself, as if someone, or something else was staring back at me.
good film nice story too it good acting all good but nt the greatist film im more into slasher films das why im so happy bout all the remakes dat r cumin out
Meh. I wasn’t expecting much because of all the other reviews i’ve read but wanted to see it for myself. So i finally sat down and watched it and it dragged on and on. The storyline had plot holes throughout and i don’t get why the reflection is killing people which made the end result pointless. The best part of the film was when Amy Smart was killed. Her death scene is one i wont forget quickly. Somewhat predictable it made no sense how the people in the mirrors escaped to get the officers family. Director “AJA” was superb at making the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes a great film and i was hoping this would make my top 10 list, but this isn’t even worth of the top 30. The lack of suspense and scares was filled up by shadows that were supposed to make people jump. The CGI on the fire covering Kiefer was really fake that even a child wouldn’t mistake it for real.
The plot was simple. Crazy souls in mirrors that kill people. The plot holes were abundent and the ending i didn’t see coming but would be expected from a film like this. The death scene where Amy Smart was killed was really the highlight of the movie for me, and the endind comes a close second.
Kiefer Sutherland wasn’t great but his character wans’t portrayed as well as it could’ve been. Amy Smart although in it for a little bit was as usual great. Paula Patton was great as Mrs Carson. She showed emotion and great skill.
Overall Mirrors is a pointless flick that just plain drags on and on. My rating is 2.5/5
All I can think was Jack where did you go wrong after 24???........what kind of dialog btw husband and wife???.....I am sure if might of been good movie if the script was changed around.
Posted By: fantasmagora6 at 6:50pm, February 4, 2009
well as soon as I saw there was a jaw ripping scene I had to see it... rented it from teh red box....and it was good...the movie had an interesting concept...
I did not like the fact that the thing that was killing everybody was a demon from some girl that got trapped in the mirrors...that came off as a bit cheesy but...it was still a good movie...
I built up the jaw ripping scene too much so it wasn't as good as I thought it would be but it was still pretty fricken good...XD
I have to say, I was going into this movie with very low expectations. So low that when I got to the theater I turned back and went home to play GTA 4. Then it came out on DVD.
I rented this movie and loved it. The first 5 minutes had me gripped and scared out of my mind. I really regret skipping this in theaters.
I will admit that I had high expectations for this film and they did not live up to them. But I did like the film, just thought there would be a little more, and more intense. I also thought the ending was good. Wasn't expecting that to happen.
Posted By: Bloodymuffins at 11:12pm, January 25, 2009
I thought this one was pretty good. I liked the idea of the movie and it was pretty creepy. By no means was it a masterpiece, but it was fun.
I guess going into this movie thinking it was going to suck more dick than an American pornstar was what helped me enjoy it. I actually thought it was a pretty good movie and will probably end up buying it on DVD. Though I did notice the rip off of the Batman score, and another thing I noticed was the 'stair decent scene' from Silent Hill. Maybe that was just me, but I noticed it. Anyways, I thought this was decent. Not great, but I enjoyed watching it.
Posted By: Demented D at 12:46am, January 20, 2009
I do not watch 24. It's not that I don't like Kiefer, it's just that I can only take so much of certain actors. I have most of his films as well. Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie. I found it pretty original, and I was entertained throughout. And being a gorehound was pleased with the effects. I thought Kiefer was in fine form, and did a good job. Sure the script was dumbed down, but hey, it didn't bother me at all. I had fun.
the gore was very well done. i loved the creepiness through the whole movie. i almost was disappointed by the ending, but it went on for another 15 min. and was pretty impressed. the deaths were very filled with gore and worth seeing. definetly proud to enter this movie into my collection of 457.
Posted By: Lyssa284225 at 6:04pm, January 15, 2009
I loved it...except for the end.....yup the end ruined it for me....
Jack Bower takes on the supernatural? Definitely, I thought!
Ok, so the building is haunted, and is manifested by mind-control and scary reflections. And guess who's the new security guard!
This film was chugging along fine, until Jack starts getting crazy visions OUTSIDE his work. Now, sorry, is the spectre after him now? Ok, I'll accept that, because he's been in the building - but then the spectre starts haunting OTHER PEOPLE (that HAVEN'T been in the building?!) Why not just attack the President of Ghana? My suspension of disbelief was ruined. C'mon! Gimme something to work with! Nice to see "ur one" from Road Trip's arse, but the film just isn't that good.
I can't say I'd recommend the film, as it falls flat in storyline, plot progression, characters and soundtrack. It's all pretty run-of-the-mill. I was disappointed, but at least I didn't pay to see it. That would usually mean I'd enjoy it more, but meh, nothing outstanding about the film.
Just realise what you're getting into when you rent/watch this film! It's another time killer!
I thought this film was pretty damn good, the only CGI I saw that looked kinda bad was the fire. I think the problem here is that people are measuring this one up to Haute Tension, which is a mistake as far as I'm concerned. This movie was definitely a bit spooky, I recommend seeing it.
Posted By: killerkong56 at 8:01pm, December 7, 2008
love it or hate, you will never think of mirrors the same way. i thought it was a good decent film. and the twist was unsespecting. whoaa! poor amy smart. so hot, so hot...!
Posted By: Creepy Sadako at 3:18am, November 30, 2008
I found the movie extremely creepy and enjoyable. Good story, excellent gore, nice story and awesome ending. This is one time I don't agree with BD review at all. I recommend this movie very highly.
I though mirrors was a fairly decent idea. I am a huge fan of the quality work Alexandre Aja has put forth with his passed films, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this one. It was by no means terrible, but it was not what I was expecting. Good effects, a little too much CGI for my taste. But... I did really appreciate the effects, and scenery used in the gigantuon old department store. It was a great set piece. The worst part in my opinion, though, was the mono acting from both stars of the film. I agree with BD almost mistaking Keifer Sutherland's acting as that from 24. It was not very focused, and rather unbelievable especially towards the end with the edition of our nunned out plot twist. All in all entertaining but not up to par.
Posted By: MrHorrorfest at 9:36pm, November 27, 2008
It was pretty cool.
Posted By: Kennreaper666 at 6:59pm, November 27, 2008
I felt their was more to the story after Alex left us hanging in the ending :( Its intresting story but kierfer sutherland did kind of bad. no afence to Sutherland fans but he wasnt perfect for the roll. The movie had a intresting story to it but i seems like movies like this already been made, like someone gets killed then another one oddly and then the lead character goes looking for clues and why this is all happening.
Very graphic deaths but he could of done more of them because showing all deaths on TV comercial and trailer(2) But i feel like alex aja should stick to awesome Lezbian killer and Mutane rapest that never got laid for like a decade. But this is my 3rd favorite of alex movies. I give this a 7/10. Now to wait on the movie that may never happen "Piranha 3D" Lets hope it does happen. Peace out!!
Posted By: Guitarded at 12:11pm, November 27, 2008
This movie was actually pretty awesome. I thought i would enjoy it, but not this much. I will definitely be picking this one up.
this is my FAVOURITE movie!! i LOVE IT!!!
it has a good story... lots of gore... and great actors!!!
after watching this i had the biggest fear of mirrors for about a week!!
What was Aja smoking when he directed this!!! I'm such a huge fan but after the sensational High Tension and the fantastic Hills Have Eyes remake this was just wrong on so many levels. No tension , suspense , no anything with only two gory set pieces and even they were disapointing. I really wanted to like this film but just couldn't. Towards the end in the house with Sutherland's wife and kids things started to look on the up but this movie just couldn't hit the high notes I wanted it to. The problem was the clunky script and Sutherland's character wasn't the most likeable. Maybe I need to give it a second go after having such high expectations the first time round but from first viewing not very good.
A few months ago I was watching, hell I dunno, Igor or something, and I happened to see a poorly executed J-horror rip-off poster with half of a standard issue J-horror freaky little girl’s wide-eyed face peering out. (damn that was one fucked up sentence) So I thought to myself, hmm I might watched this, you know, cause so far this year has been kind of a fucked up year for horror anyway. Got to take what you can get. Well, later that month, I saw the trailer and nearly blew my wad, which would have sucked because I had just washed those underwear. After a little research, I found out that this was, as nearly 90% of all mainstream horror these days, a remake. The kicker was, however, that this remake was to be directed by Alex Aja who has so far in his career been a consistently good director whose every film I’ve liked (Haute Tension, P2, etc.).
The story centers around a down on his luck ex-cop Ben Carson who has just begun a new security job at one of the creepiest buildings in New York. The building was once a mall until some wack-job (or was he?) decided to burn it down, torching a whole throng of shoppers as well as himself in the process. Inside the charred ruins are some very massive mirrors that serve as home to a murderous demon who’s able to torment Ben and his family through any mirror that happens to be in spitting distance by using their own reflections against them. See, whatever the reflection does to itself happens to the victim, which leads to a lot of bloodletting and sick, snapping jaw bones.
Okay, so when I was little I had a horrible fear of mirrors. The Bloody Mary urban legend fucked with my head so badly that even now I get jitters if I am in a dark bathroom with the door shut and a mirror hanging over the sink. So, needless to say, this movie probably struck me harder than it would have your average person. In an case, like it or not, you’ll have to admit that if nothing else Mirrors has some damn fine visuals. From the relentlessly gory to the down right creepy, it’s makes The Ring look like Scooby Doo. That’s one thing that I like about director Alex Aja. All of his films have just the right amount of blood and guts. Never do they use the red, red kroovy as a crutch but always as a compliment to the story.
Sadly, the story in Mirrors is pretty run of the mill as horror goes. A creepy building with a disturbing past, old mental asylums, creepy little girls, medical experiments gone awry, and a few other ditties run rampant throughout the movie, but the acting is pretty spot on and the atmosphere is downright scary. The biggest complaint is the storyline which is really almost clichéd. I really don’t understand why all these Americanized Japanese horror remakes are so similar. I know that there are other types of J-horror out there that don’t go the creepy little girl coming to get’cha route. Almost all of these movies involve a malevolent force that follows you around where ever you go whose motives must be tracked down in order to stop it. Sheesh!
Rotten Tomatoes gave Mirrors a 13% Which I personally think is a little harsh, but, hey, these are the same people who gave Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist a 72%. Proving, once again, that any review other than your own should be taken with a grain of salt. I hope that Aja wont take the negative reviews to heart because he’s proven himself time and again to be a great director who can take even a weak plot with a lackluster ending such as a Mirrors and turn it into a pretty decent creeper.
This one is a very thrilling movie that scared the hell out of me. It had great shocking moments and the story is acceptable. For me, it seems that Mirrors is a kinda Best-Of of many thrilling horror movies. It remembered me of Silent Hill as well as the Exorcism of Emily Rose. I can just recommend it...great movie.
i expected more from alex aja ... i love this director´s work...it wasn´t bad..but i mean come on he directed high tension...
i guess the story wasn´t good enough to safe alex direction...
Posted By: DiegOmen16 at 12:02am, September 22, 2008
Am actually surprised how the movie got critized for having awful CGI,(Actually the effects were really awesome and didnt looked fake)Bad acting,(Kiefer Sutherlands performance was really good and its so to the other cast)Cheesy fake scares,(WTF??? the scares werent cheesy they were scary,fascinating and gory)And that everything in this movie has been seen before(Actually there wasnt a single scene i saw on other movies)So why people has bashed this film? just because those fuckin morons heard this was a remake(It actually is a remake) and started bashing it just by seeing the trailer when they havent even seen the whole movie so i really recomend this, this movie its Alex Aja best effort so far.
Posted By: Darkened Soul at 12:57pm, September 14, 2008
This movie was relatively good..in fact it was a lot better than I thought it would be honestly. It also had a few parts that would make you jump. And even though I was dissappointed by the end it was still a good ride and I'm glad I watched it.
Standard ghost story with a ton of cliches and a few nice surprises. Not unbearable, but probably nothing I'd watch twice. I liked how they tricked me out of being disappointed with the ending by adding a few extra twists I wasn't expecting.
Worth seeing once, if for nothing else than the incredible 'jaw scene'.
Fun shit, but you won't have trouble sleeping afterwards.
Posted By: DarKnightmare at 3:31pm, September 7, 2008
The first half was good but then it started going downhill. Makes you think its horror but then it turns into something supernatural. It's good movie to watch one time but defenitly not worth owning on DVD!
Posted By: Protecious at 10:28pm, September 2, 2008
Im shocked to read such negative reviews of this movie, i love horror films, especially 80s horror, and i have loved the previous alex aja movies haute tension & hills have eyes, I like Mirrors even more, i though it was scary, interesting, entertaining, I guess it would depend on one's relationship with mirrors in every day life, I think it's a great film and it sickens me to read such negative reviews of this film, I felt the mystery of why the mirrors were doing all that and investigating into the story behind the building was interesting, i never ONCE checked my watch for the time, like some people claim, I think some people just automatically wanted to hate this movie because of the hype or their personal feeligs on alex aja, if you ignore the hype, ignore any other bullshit that comes with the hype of watching a movie, just go in and enjoy, dont think much of what people say, if i went by all the reviews posted by the runners of this web site, id be missing out on alot of great grreat movies that I love...i tend to agree with about 70% of the reviews, however my 2 biggest disagreements has been with the film "MIRRORS" and the film "THE DEATHS OF IAN STONE" in which I thought were wonderfully entertaining horror films, at least in this horror film junkie's eyes...
perhaps those that didnt like mirrors...were checking their watch because they were to scared to keep their eyes on the screen awaiting the next possible scare...?....or when you looked at your watch, perhaps you saw a reflection of yourself stabbing your eyes out for disliking such a film...?
Posted By: Mr. Fillet at 2:15pm, September 2, 2008
CG was awful. Story was broken. Not a very good movie.
I really expected to hate this movie. It's the type of movie where I know when something is going to happen and I'm like whatever. But I did get a lot of jumps from the movie, and I was actually a little terrified at points. I loved the bathroom scene, by far the freakiest. The ending dragged on for way to long and lost some of it's crediblity to me. But overall a pretty good horror flick.
what a terrible waste of money! it bases itself around the flimsy kind of plot you would expect from a jump-scare-only film but doesn't even deliver that. the gore is rare but satisfying and the end is stupid beyond comprehension. somehow the movie drags on despite obviously desperate attempts to edit it down further (made especially apparently when the "mystery" is being solved at the end through a series of unexplained plot jumps). sutherland is terrible but i really can't imagine what else he could have done with such a such a cliche-ridden script and one-note direction. there was no real suspense either, as none of the characters were likeable...especially his wonderbra-loving estranged wife (what was she? a detective-coroner-underwear model?). it's been a long time since i've sat through something so tedious, it was like aja stitched together the worst of 13 ghosts, silent hill, dark water, and the house on haunted hill remake. please please don't waste your time.
Mirrors is a respectable new entry in "splat pack" memeber Alex Aja's saga of gory horror films, but even though the film contains some good set pieces, decent acting, and a few disturing images, it fails to truely make an impact and leaves you feeling empty. In the tradition of Aja's Haute Tension, he gives Mirrors a clever twist that sadly suffers from the same fate as the one used in the Frenchman's debut feature...it doesn't really make sense. The twist is a VERY interesting idea that really hits you at first, but the more you start to think about it, the less it makes sense.
Still, Mirrors is far from bad. There's tons of fun to be had here and an open minded viewer might get a kick out of it if they don't go in expecting the next great horror masterpiece.
The opening scene was pretty good and so was the bathroom scene with Amy but overall I must say the movie dragged on and I lost interest. The ending could've been made better.
For me the movie opened up strong, a great gore sequence to set the mood and a visually impressive credit sequence. The Mayflower department store, like Amused said feels very "Silent Hillish" and as a fan of the Silent Hill games I loved it. I really cannot complain much until about midway through the film, after Amy Smart's already well known scene (a fantastic scene I might add). After that though the film went downhill. It quickly went from feeling
"Silent Hillish" to "chessy Asian horror film remakeish" and felt a lot like films such as The Ring 2 and Dark Water. Keifer Sutherland's character quickly went downhill, cursing loudly after ending every conversation; I though his character might have had turrets syndrome. In addition to that we were given virtually no more gore scenes and rather cheesy scenes involving a kid's reflection in the water and Keifer shooting mirrors. Overall the movie is a disappointment. I really am worried for Aja after this one as his film seem to be going downhill a bit too early. Lets hope he does better with his Piranha remake.
I expected more from Aja.
The first half of the movie feels a lot like "Silent Hill"(Aja does do a good job at making the "Mayflower a creepy place) and then after that it feels very similiar to "The Ring" and " Dark Water."
Sutherland did a good job, but there were a couple of really cheesy parts in this film.
Some good gore, but if you expect loads of gore like "High Tension" you will be disappointed.
Overall this movie was alright, a lot of cliches but it didn't turn out too bad.
A lot of "jump" scares. Some of the scary scenes made me feel uncomfortable, as any worthwhile horror does. It was entertaining enough for a tuesday afternoon (which was half-price ticket day *winkwink*). And yes, if you have any sense of humour, you may laugh.
I really expected to hate this movie. Prior to seeing the movie, I'd read all of the negative criticism and thought it would suck. But I was very surprised that I actually enjoyed the movie, a lot. It was scary, nasty, and entertaining, and had an interesting storyline unlike most of today's horror movies (but then again, most of them are PG-13 so-called horror movies with no plot at all). Some parts were unintentionally funny, of course, and it was little longer than the average horror movie, and I can think of at least 15-20 minutes that could have easily been trimmed. But all in all, I recommend it to any horror fan, or just a movie fan in general. Don't make assumptions based on reviews, go see it and make your own opinion.
Posted By: screamzFIRE29 at 12:07am, August 20, 2008
Respectable for two reasons. One reason being that there weren't a lot of deaths but when there was you remembered it. The viciousness of the killings were ridiculus. It was slow and intense. The other thing was the casting. Keifer is a good enough actor that he could carry the movie without making the audience roll their eyes in disbelief. I guess Aja should stick to what hes good at, picking good actors and relying on blood and guts to carry a scene.
i saw it opening weekend, and i loved it!! yeah it's kinda corny at some spots,but i jumped a few times,and the gore was awesome plus seeing amy smart's tit's and ass was great too. go see it and judge yourself.
Good acting, great effects, terrible story. I wanted to like it, but I just didn't. Plus, now everytime I see Amy Smart in other movies i'm gonna think of her jaw hangin' off. Is that good or bad?
this is one of the most gruesome films i've ever seen!!! the movie only had a 4 person body count but the jaw ripping scene sold the movie! the story too, when it finally started, was good to. it was the exorcist meets 13 ghosts, and the end *spoiler*
where kiefer and the demon get into a badass fight was amazing, when he tossed it under crumbling concrete i even yelled " fight gravity bitch!!" in the theater. overall an amazing movie!!
I thought this film was actually good, I don't know what Mr. Disgusting was thinking giving it a 4/10. I think Alexandre Aja did a good job directing a movie for an "American" audience. It had some gore and lead the audience to believe it had something to do with the fire that happened 5 years before. I do wish Alexandre Aja would direct films with the same twists and gore level that High Tenison had, but to be honest films like that don't appeal to a wide range of people in America.
This may be my least favorite Aja film but it's FAR from bad. For some reason it didn't come across as a strong film but I did like the story, the atmosphere, the overall mood of the film, the violence was great, and the acting while not amazing was enjoyable. The lowest anyone should score this should be a 5 or a 6. It's bullshit to think this was a below average movie. Low scores should be designated to Scream sequels not Mirrors.
7/10
Posted By: bloody_bones at 10:48pm, August 17, 2008
I was really looking forward to this one, but as I was sitting in the theater, it just seemed to drag itself along. I even checked my phone to see what time it was. There's only two good scenes out of this boring, cheap thrill movie. The acting was horrible, it seemed like Kieffer has done a little too much t.v. acting and brought it to the big screen.I was let down big time. BOOOOOO on this film!
A feeling of "been there , done that" dogs Mirrors from start to finish. This umpteenth J-horror retread offers absolutely nothing new.Instead it plays out like a Halloween episode of 24. Director Alexandre Aja seems to have hit a wall here after the collosal 1-2 punch delivered by High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes.
2008 has been kind of a mediocre year for horror films so far. Hyped up films like The Happening and Doomsday failed to deliver, we were bombarded with useless remakes (Shutter, The Eye, One Missed Call, Prom Night, etc.), including this one, and I haven't seen Cloverfield yet, so the best horror flicks of the year thus far are The Ruins and The Strangers, two effective, well-paced shockers. And I'm still mad that I haven't been able to "catch," pun intended, The Midnight Meat Train. And there's also of course, The Mother of Tears that I have yet to watch. So, really, The Ruins and The Strangers were the two worthwhile horror films this year, not to mention the French released to video gorefests Inside and Frontier(s). But, sadly, Mirrors was another disappointment. I would call it a very watchable disappointment though. I mean you have Kiefer Sutherland in full Jack Bauer mode, trying to prevent creepy mirrors from destroying his family. And there were some fairly creepy moments throughout the film, but it definitely dragged on too long, and was plagued with too much bad CGI. Obviously the real highlight of the film is poor Amy Smart's gruesome demise. That part disturbed me quite a bit. If only there were more gruesome set pieces like that, instead of the cliche' "Let's look for answers!" bit. I mean, c'mon! The guy who did The Hills Have Eyes remake, and the sadistic, but brilliant Haute (High) Tension was at the helm. So I was quite taken aback at how the gore quotient wasn't fulfilled this time. But I guess Aja wanted to do a story that didn't revolve around gore, which can be good, but he also bored most of us in the process. Oh well, you can't win them all. And I don't regret spending the money on the ticket. At least the poster still freaks me out. Anyway, I still can't wait for his 3-D take on Pirahna. I still have faith in you, Aja!!!
I am not a fan of Aja, but I had some hope for this movie. I was disappointed. It was too long and the acting was terrible. I have loved Kiefer Sutherland since the moment I saw him in the Lost Boys, so I'm shocked at how bad he was in this movie. Paula Patton's acting was the worst. I wished her jaw had gotten ripped open. There were also to many plot holes. A major character in the movie was even introduced until the last 30/40 minutes of the movie. The scares had everyone in the theater laughing. At one point, my friend turned to me and asked, "Is this suppose to be a comedy?" Wait and see this one one DVD.
"Mirrors" is the third horror feature directed by young and aspiring horror maestro Alexandre Aja. Now, as a fan of the horror genre I enjoyed both of Aja's previous films quite immensely, despite their flaws, and was greatly anticipating Aja's take on the supernatural side of the horror realm. Asian horror films are a major target of movie studios nowadays and their remakes flood the market with mostly poor results. "Mirrors" itself is a remake of the Korean horror film "Into the Mirror". While Aja's remake is more interesting than quite a few of the more recent Asian remakes (such as "The Eye", "Shutter", and "One Missed Call"), it is still a highly flawed and ultimately disappointing, especially since it's from a director I've come to admire. Let's start with the acting department.
Kiefer Sutherland carries the film by himself at times, most notably the first 30 minutes or so. Once the film continues, Kiefer's acting bounces in and out of believability. Sometimes his acting feels forced and other times his reactions are laughable. The rest of the supporting cast does virtually nothing to help Sutherland. Sutherland's wife, played by the beautiful but immensely untalented Paula Patton, is perhaps the most irritating characters during the 110 minutes journey. I must mention, however, Amy Smart's brief role in the film. She is easily the most intriguing character inside of Ben Carson's (Suthland's) horror story, yet she is only in the film for a brief time before she is (in rather gruesome fashion) taken out of the picture.
One of the films' most notable flaws is its a times' extremely weak executed CGI. In one scene, Sutherland is tricked by a mirror and believes he is "on fire". The resulting scene is one of the most ridiculous and laughable in the film. Several other effects scenes in the film seem rushed as well and come off as ineffective.
The story is also disappointing since many threads are left hanging and the ending, while trying to be clever, is ultimately unsatisfying. Half of the film seems to be in a mental hiccup and much of the movie's runtime could have been cut down in order to better service the story and attention of the audience.
Despite my major disappointment, I must say Aja's directing and style wasn't a problem. Every scene shot within the confines of the "Mayflower" has haunting and creepy. Aja states his biggest inspiration while working on "Mirrors" was Kubrick's "The Shining" and it becomes evident with how he manages the atmosphere within the burned building. Aja also gives us a few scenes of great gore, but this is easily the most tame of his works yet. Thus, another disappointment since many horror fans will be expecting much more bloodshed.
The films' score was one of the biggest surprises for me and will probably be missed by many viewers. I found myself listening to Javier Navarrete's score during many of the more uninteresting scenes.
All-in-all, "Mirrors" is a heavily flawed film that held much promise. In the end, Aja relies to much on cheap gimmicks for scares and doesn't spend enough time on other important elements of the film. Although I'm undoubtedly frustrated in his latest effort in the horror genre, I will still line up for whatever Aja makes next since I believe this could have been a thorough learning experience for the still young director.
Well I can see why fans were disappointed. Because there wasn't a lot of violence. I'm not saying anything against you guys but just because there's limited gore and hardly dialogue it's considered bad? I liked the film because look at all the things you can do with just one mirror. Create a story in it, make people kill themselves, and way more. I agree I was expecting a huge gore fest like 'The hills have eyes' or 'P2' but this one was enjoyable. Overall the film isn't that bad and was actually pretty good.
Went and seen this today and was pretty let down. This film was not the horror event of the summer by any means. I was really wanting to like this film but when it had ended and I left the theater, I just had to shrug to myself and say, "It was not the worst film I have ever seen, but it was far from being even one of the better films I have seen..."
I really liked Aja's previous two films, so that was enough to make me want to see Mirrors. It was far from anything like his previous two. The gore factor in this film was very minor, only two scenes really have anything going for it, as far as gore is concerned. (Anyone who has seen the trailers knows which ones Im talking about, very obvious) and those scenes were great. The CGI in this film was just terrible also, I couldnt believe how bad it was. Also I really didn't enjoy the ending, and I thought the film was way too long in it's running time. I like a long movie and all, but only when there is actually some entertainment involved, this film lacked that also, very boring at times. It could have been trimmed down a bit. Overall it was pretty lame. It could have been so much better. Best of luck to you for whatever you do next Aja.
One other thing I wanted to point out, is that I don't think Sutherland was very good in this and I just don't think he even should have been cast. Somebody else would have been a better fit for that character, I don't know who, but just not Sutherland. I am a huge Amy Smart fan and thought she was the best thing in this film, her scene in the tub was the best thing in the film as well. It's too bad she was limited to such a small role for this, I think shes only in like four scenes maybe 8-10 min of screen time? Overall I really dont have any praise for this and thats just too bad because it could have been a pretty good film, but somehow it just came out a mess when all was said and done.
I liked it. It wasn't the late-summer,balls-out horror flick I was hoping for, but a better than average night at the movies nonetheless. At least it was trying to be a real horror film, and I feel it was one of the better "major" releases so far this year (though I admit the pickings haven't been great).
To sum up in terms of what I've seen this year... BETTER THAN: Shutter, The Happening, The Eye, Prom Night, The Ruins NOT AS GOOD AS: Hellboy 2, Frontier(s), Inside, [REC] ABOUT AS GOOD AS: Doomsday, Cloverfield, Rouge, The Strangers... and I haven't seen Midnight Meat Train yet.
I don't know what movie you guys were watching, but the one I saw creeped the hell out of me. Maybe it's because I don't watch 24 that I enjoyed Kiefer Sutherland's performance, but I think that everything in Sutherland's performance was justified by his character's background. I didn't care too much for the ending, but sometimes life sucks. Also, Paula Patton was gorgeous in this movie. Just thought I'd throw that out there...
Dammit, Aja. What have you done? Dialogue, some of the writing, and most of the acting was awful, and the CGI only added to my disappointment. Hopefully Aja will return to his previous greatness for Piranha 3D... but I'm not holding my breath.
Very cliche at some points. Ending was horrible. The only reason anyone should see this movie is for the scene with Amy Smart ripping her jaw off. GREAT STUFF!!! Too bad the rest of it wasn't good. At first it seems pretty creepy but kills off the tension by thickening the plot to the point it is overstuffed and you are ready to leave.
its sort of the basic asian ghost story plot where no one believes the person and the person goes crazy and every one thinks they are lying until the end type of stuff BUT I THINK AJA DOES REALLY GOOD JOB WITH THE MATERIAL HAS SOME CREEPY LOOKIN SCENCES i think it has a different route than ur usual asian stuff
I actually found the film rather enjoyable. The CGI took me out of it a bit, but not so much that I didn't enjoy the movie. Everyone in my theater was terrified. Cheap scares are fun. They're part of horror. Not having them would be like having a roller-coaster with with no twists and turns.
It is what it is. It's a french director doing an asian horror film. It had bits of his past films in there, but all directors recycle themselves in one way or another. It didn't hurt the film.
I thought Sutherland was fine. He did a great job. I sympathized with him. This film is a lot more psychological than people are saying it is.
Overall, I enjoyed the film. Aja is a great addition to horror. This could have been some crappy PG13 film, and Aja did something different with a usual asian remake.
This film was the comedy of the year! Seriously, I've seen comedies this year, but nothing made me laugh harder than this. There was an unintentional joke just about every 5 minutes or so! And the audience in my theater seemed to agree with me on that. I was never the only one laughing.
This takes the place of "THE HAPPENING" as the single worst movie I've seen in a long, long time. The acting was so ridicules it was like they were reading their scripts for the first time as they read their lines.
Overall:
- It gave boring a new level. Out of the 110 minutes, 90 were either a talking scene or a scene of awkward staring. It reminded me of Napoleon Dinomite. There were literately 2 minutes left in the movie and people couldn't bear it anymore and walked out!
- It gave cheesy horror a new meaning. At one point the ENTIRE AUDIENCE burst out laughing at how cheesy one scare scene was. (It was the scene with the dead man turning his head.) Every other scare scene had at least one person laughing other than me. And there were like 50 cheap, cheesy scare scenes.
- 57 cliches! I sat there and counted every cliche and it added up to 57! Add to that: the plot and characters were copy/pasted from movies like "THE RING", "THE GRUDGE", and "THE EYE". Exact same plot lines. Exact.
- Gore? What gore? A chick rips her jaw off, but the CGI is so laughably bad it was no more effective than old Godzilla movies. Plus, haven't we seen jaw rippings in PG-13 movies like "THE GRUDGE", anyway? There was NO gore in this movie. NONE.
Beside the horrid things I just mentioned, all the good parts were typical. Typical atmosphere, typical exposition, typical mystery (that was copied/pasted from "THE RING"), typical characters (I can't name how many times I hear in a horror movie, "I have to save my family!"), typical story layout, typical camera angles, typical EVERYTHING. The only things that weren't typical were the things it got horridly, utterly wrong.
Go see this movie if "PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" doesn't make you laugh enough, and you'll have a blast. If comedy isn't your thing and you actually think this is a horror movie, may I suggest an episode of Barney to give you shivers?
WTF is wrong with you people. This movie was actually great. It actually had exposition which I feel most horror movies lack and is often the reason for their failure. The acting was quite good, and the story was also great. I would have preferred a bit more mystery with it. But hey, what can you do? Definitely give this one a chance, especially if you liked the Hills Have Eyes remake.
Just came back from an employee screening of this film, and felt as though I should share something with you..This film is disappointing, not only is it not the horror event of the summer, it has joined the list of mediocre remakes. The only thing that kept me in the theater was the gore, the jaw rip scene is excellent...but it doesn't save the movie from pointless dialogue, and stolen music, and really horrid CGI effects.
Yep, glad I didn't pay for this.
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