Film Reviews

Mirrors

• Rating:
• Director: Alexandre Aja
• Starring: Frank Mayers
• Details: USA / 110mins / (TBC)

Having last directed the successful remake of The Hills Have Eyes, French filmmaker Aja appears to have lost his ability to scare with this nonsensical horror film that plays like a comedy, if you're in the right mood. Kiefer Sutherland returns to the big screen as a former cop with a tragic past: he killed a fellow officer by accident whilst undercover. Taking a job as night watchman of a recently burned-down department store (always a fantastic way to get over a traumatising period in your life), he swiftly starts seeing things in the mirror that he really shouldn't. No, he isn't dressing up and prancing about, whilst doing Buffalo Bill impersonations - but rather seeing his reflection act in a none-too-friendly manner, looking all evil-like. Well, that, and people on fire, bloody arms reaching for help and a lot of cracks. Soon, his loved ones start seeing the images too, so it's therefore time for Kiefer to switch to cop mode again and figure out what's going on, so he can stop his estranged family members from buying the farm. What follows is a series of preposterously assembled scenes that make very little sense and take far too much time doing so. There are plot holes galore, and Aja makes no attempt to cover them up; but that's often of little consequence when a horror film delivers on the most fundamental level - scaring folk. A bad horror film can get by on scares alone if they're put together right, but Mirrors is about as scary as one of those dreams you have where you're naked in a crowded room - embarrassing, yes, but not really scary. Even if you buy the ridiculous premise, the whole thing is executed so poorly you'll be nodding off between sequences. This is hugely disappointing given the talent of its director, who showed strong promise with his last two films. We can only hope that studio interference ruined this film and Aja will soon be back firing on all (bloody) cylinders.

Review by Mike Sheridan