Kiefer and costars Paula Patton and Amy Smart spend most of the film looking at their own reflections and getting freaked out by seeing their faces CGI'd into a gory mess.
Mirrors (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:79
Fresh:12
Rotten:67
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: Inconsistency and listless plot make this K-horror remake a less-than-frightening time at the movies.
Theatrical Release:10-10-2008
Synopsis: French director Alexandre Aja adds to his growing canon of horror features with this remake of the Korean feature GEOUL SOKEURO (2003). Kiefer Sutherland stars as Ben Carson, a disgraced former New... French director Alexandre Aja adds to his growing canon of horror features with this remake of the Korean feature GEOUL SOKEURO (2003). Kiefer Sutherland stars as Ben Carson, a disgraced former New York City cop who attempts to put his checkered past behind him by taking a job as a security guard. Carson is required to take the night shift in a department store in the city. The store closed down after a fire put an end to its business, and Carson soon discovers that malevolent spirits are lurking behind its walls. The spirits connect with the human world through the mirrors in the store, and when they discover Carson's presence they go after his ex-wife, Amy (Paula Patton), and his kids (played by Erica Gluck and Cameron Boyce). Carson attempts to figure out the meaning of a cryptic message carved into one of the mirrors, hoping it will save his family and cut off contact with the malignant lurking presence. Aja successfully replicates much of the tension and edge-of-your-seat moments that he managed so skillfully in HAUTE TENSION (2003). The film begins with an unnerving set piece in which Carson's predecessor takes a shard of mirror and slashes his own throat, and it's an indication of the gore-filled fun that awaits intrepid viewers. Aja creates a palpable sense of unease by shooting dim-lit set pieces in the department store. Sutherland makes for a convincing lead in a character that closely resembles his turn as Jack Bauer in 24. There are plenty of genuine scares in the film, and the director ultimately spins MIRRORS as a cross between a psychological thriller in the vein of the POLTERGEIST movies and a no-holds-barred splatter flick. [More]
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Jason Flemyng
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Jason Flemyng, Erica Gluck, Cameron Boyce
Director: Alexandre Aja
Director: Alexandre Aja
Screenwriter: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Producer: Alexandra Milchan, Marc Sternberg, Gregory Levasseur
Composer: Javier Navarrete
Reviews for Mirrors
Filmmaker Alex Aja is a dab hand with the gore, and it's only too bad you've already seen most of the movie's good stuff in the trailers and advertisements.
An empty enterprise that provides a few moments of goofy fun, Mirrors reflects back nothing.
Mirrors is too lugubrious and misconceived to reflect the talent of those involved.
I suppose Offscreen Spring-Loaded Cats is in active development even as I write.
Alexandre Aja keeps the suspense tight for most of the movie, only to fritter it away in an overblown ending.
This remake of a South Korean movie ultimately provides fewer scares than the average aging baby boomer feels every time they look into a reflective surface.
At nearly two hours, Mirrors is overlong for a summer horror toss-off, and the movie's three or four false endings make it seem even more of a haul.
Alexandre Aja's inability to delineate credible or interesting characters results in 110 wasted minutes for anyone unfortunate to wander into an auditorium where this is playing.
[Aja's] pedal-to-the-metal intensity only serves to heighten the film's fundamental ridiculousness.
Aja's way with gristle and grue makes for a number of arresting images, and the second half, in which the secret of the mirrors is gradually revealed, is actually stronger than the first.
Really doesn't have much up its sleeve other than parlor tricks and gimmicks.
The concept isn't the problem here, it's the execution. Never campy enough to qualify as a guilty pleasure or consistently scary enough to work as pure horror.
this is a film that starts out strong, but turns silly once you bring the lights up on the plot.
Supernatural troublemakers and psychos under glass in an endlessly dreary, disappointing remake having less to do with keeping you awake at night than struggling to stay awake during viewing.
From making the terrific HIGH TENSION, director Aja should know better, but it seems that he has been seduced by Hollywood to make shallow remakes for the rest of his career.
It's too bad that other elements of 'Mirrors" lack the brilliance of its visual artistry.
Latest News for Mirrors
October 10, 2008:
Exclusive: Alexandre Aja talks Mirrors and Piranha 3D
We caught up with Aja for his only UK interview to learn more about the movie as well as his latest project, a 3D remake of Joe Dante's classic Piranha. More...
September 02, 2008:
RT's Summer in Review: The Best, The Worst, and Our Favorite Films!
The summer movie season of 2008 ended last weekend, and boy, was it a good one. Led by box office smashes like Iron Man, Wall-E, and The Dark Knight, Hollywood raked in the... More...
August 22, 2008:
Supernatural troublemakers and psychos under glass in an endlessly dreary, disappointing remake having less to do with keeping you awake at night than struggling to stay awake during viewing. ![]()
More...
August 22, 2008:
Supernatural troublemakers and psychos under glass in an endlessly dreary, disappointing remake having less to do with keeping you awake at night than struggling to stay awake during viewing. ![]()
More...
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