Mirrors **½ (2008, Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Jason Flemyng, John Shrapnel, Cameron Boyce, Julian Glover) – Classic Movie Review 4625

Kiefer Sutherland does his usual briskly competent job in Mirrors (2008) as Ben Carson, a troubled ex-NYPD detective who takes a job as a night-watch security guard at the abandoned Mayflower Department Store devastated by a fire years ago.

There, he is apparently targeted by some sort of ghostly killer evil force using reflections in mirrors and other shiny objects as – er, um – ‘gateways’ into his estranged family’s home.

French horror director Alexandre Aja, who remade The Hills Have Eyes in 2006, does a slick, polished-looking job again but has less success with this rejig of the 2003 Korean film Into the Mirror.

Korean films have often proved tempting but tricky for American or European remakes. Some of this one is admirably atmospheric, suspenseful and creepy, but some of it is pretentious and bewildering – and even annoying, with unintentional laughs often not far away.

The overall verdict on Mirrors is that it is thoroughly watchable and acceptable horror mystery thriller, if unfortunately finally unsatisfying and underwhelming. However, it does look good in Maxime Alexandre’s sleek cinematography.

Mirrors was filmed in the studio and on location in Bucharest, Romania, with a tiny bit of LA and New York work.

Also in the cast are Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Jason Flemyng, John Shrapnel, Cameron Boyce as Michael Carson, Mary Beth Peil, Tim Ahern and Julian Glover.

It is rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, strong language and brief nudity.

It runs 110 minutes and 112 minutes in the unrated version.

It is followed by Mirrors 2 (2010).

In 2016 Aja made The 9th Life of Louis Drax and in 2019 Crawl.

Cameron Boyce (1999–2019).

RIP Cameron Boyce, who died on 6 July 2019, aged only 20. He died in his sleep of a seizure resulting from an ongoing medical condition.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4625

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