Mirrors (DVD, 2009, Checkpoint; Sensormatic; Widescreen)

en Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is an out of work, former police officer who takes a night watchmen job at a creepy, burned down department store to help support his estranged wife (Paula Patton) and two children. He loads himself up with prescription drugs to ward off the urge to drink and begins seeing heinous images in the some eighty thousand odd mirrors inside the abandoned building. At first he, along with everyone watching, hasn’t the slightest idea what’s transpiring, but thanks to a script page possibly stolen from PBS’ long-cancelled and forgotten Ghostwriter, it becomes apparent he needs to find a young girl released from a mental hospital decades earlier.

Surprise surprise. After a Little Red Riding Hood-like quest for the girl and a not-so-shocking reconciliation with his wife, Ben re-enters the department store for an epic final battle, more video game than motion picture and some sort of resolution is reached.

It’s not that Mirrors is a bad film--per say. It’s just pointless, lacking in originality, and prone to shooting itself in the glass. There’s a plethora of good through-the-mirror camera shots, but they get overused and weak by the end. There’s a realistic use of the language one might implement if ever confronted with haunting doppelgangers residing in an abandoned building, but the swear words often seem forced and come out a little too big budget catchphrase-y. And there’s even a look at Amy Smart’s unmentionables to keep the bored and irritated male interested, but her boobs, just like her entire role in this film, seem more to fill her obligatory gratuitous nude scene quota for 2008 than facilitate any imperative plot movement.

At a basic, unchallenging level, Mirrors works. It’s sure to haunt and frighten folks looking to have a jumpy good time, but it never strives for more than just superficial background noise. The whole film feels a little borrowed and worn--and not even from groundbreaking movies. A character dies in almost the exact same way as Billy Bedlam from Con Air. Faucets are mysteriously turned on in a possible ode to Harry and Marv from Home Alone. The film even manages to squeeze in creaky doors, unidentified hand prints, and a pale, adolescent chick--the unholy triumvirate of horror movie fallback scares.


OVERALL
5/10
THIS IS A RENTAL AT BEST!

I liked the idea of a haunted department store. But instead of exploring this premise, it turns out the department store used to be a mental institution, and the haunting is caused by something involving a patient. The patient is a lot like Samara in THE RING. And speaking of movies based on Japanese horror films...what is it with Japanese people being afraid of water? Is this some cultural hang-up, or a stereotype? American writers can come up with numerous horrific ways to kill people, but it seems many Japanese writers and filmmakers think that the very WORST thing that can happen is drowning, or at least dying in a bathtub or shower...THE RING, DARK WATER, THE GRUDGE, and now MIRRORS reflect this fear of water. Other things I disliked about this movie: 1. Kiefer Sutherland falls short as a hero. His big heroic act is saving his own family even though he knows it will cause another person's death AND release demons upon the earth...way to go, Kiefer! 2. The first two-thirds are slow moving and not very scary. It picks up in the last third with nonstop action and gore...but a character who makes the supreme sacrifice is introduced too late in the game for the audience to know the character well enough to really care whether this person lives or dies. Missed opportunity here; the character could have easily been introduced earlier. In fact, this storyline (from the past) is far more interesting than Kiefer's drinking problem in the present, but we only see the past in very brief flashbacks. 3. Memo to all makers of horror films: if you shoot a gory battle scene in total darkness with brief strobe-light flashes offering quick glimpses of demons & blood, it's not SCARIER; it's just CONFUSING. Dim light may be creepy, but total darkness means the audience can't see what's happening. 4. The ending is supposed to be a surprise. Depending on how many horror movies you've seen, it may surprise you, or you will see it coming a mile away. In either case, the ending is unsatisfying, because Kiefer is not the first security guard to be in his position. He takes great pains to do the opposite of what his predecessors have done...in fact, he fulfills the demons' wishes. But he doesn't get the result he should. If you care about Kiefer's fate, the ending will upset you. If you don't care about him, then you won't care what happens to him. Either way, a disappointment. Some scary scenes make this film worth seeing, but it's a shame it relies on cliches (haunted mental hospital!) when it had the potential to be more original.

Features actors: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton & Amy Smart
Rating:R

Reeling from an accidental shooting during his time as a NYPD detective, Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland, putting forth minimal effort) has drowned his guilt in booze and rage. Trying to clean up his act and win his family (including Amy Smart and Paula Patton, fighting her cleavage for screentime) back, Ben takes a job as a security officer guarding the spooky ruins of a department store that suffered a massive fire. During his rounds, Ben spies strange visions in the massive mirrors that decorate the hallways, images that forecast gruesome death. Attempting to investigate the history of the store and its past tragedy, Ben finds he's brought the visions home to terrorize his loved ones, forcing him to fight back against the ghostly wrath of the mysterious reflections.

The ending will leave you thinking long after the movie has ended!Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading!Please click YES at the bottom. :)

Sure to please any and all horror fans..Sutherland plays a disgraced ex cop who takes a job as a nightwatchman at a burned out store..he quickly discovers there's mopre to the fire then meets the eye..as spirits trapped in the mirrors that line the stores walls and doors come to him asking for help he runs away, but sadly there isn't anywhere he can run to and be safe..as he digs into the stores past he discovers a dirty little secret that the trapped souls want revealed..the stores mirrors and property was once the home of an insane asylum..can this former cop help those spirits??? I give this flick 5 out of 5 bars!!

I love scary movies! I try not to think too much about them and dissect the plot. However, when watching the movie "Mirrors", I couldn't help myself.

Long Story Short - Here's the deal: Kiefer Sutherland is a cop on forced leave due to an accidental shooting and a subsequent drinking problem. In return, he is estranged from his wife and children. In order to support this family he never sees, he takes a nightwatchman job at a burned-out department store. Which happens to be haunted.
(For some strange reason, the never-seen owners want it patrolled.)

The ghosts eventually follow him home.

After some researching, and a little help from his "friend on the force", he figures out it all stems back to a tragic accident some 50 years ago. Basically, the demons want closure.

I really enjoy Special Features on a DVD. The "Deleted Scenes" on this one, really help to tie up loose ends. The "Alternate Ending(s)",were decent. The "Making Of" was so-so.

The best parts about this movie: The Cast, The Lighting and the Special Effects.
The worst parts: Everything Else.

Bottom Line: Predictable. Still,I would've given the movie a 2.5. (Because I did have goosebumps a few times, and that counts for something:)