MIRRORS IS a surprisingly old fashioned horror movie, with a ghost story at the heart of the gore and violence. Effectively combining carefully constructed sense of menace and a mystery story, the film manages to be thought-provoking as well as spooky.
Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland ) is a disgraced NYPD cop, on leave after shooting a man in the line of duty. Estranged from his wife and children, he takes a job as a night security guard at a derelict building site in Manhattan.
The previously grandiose building was once an elegant department store before a fire gutted the interior. Ben must patrol its echoing, sooty, hallways every few hours, his flashlight beam reflecting off of the surface of the many mirrors which still cover the walls.
When Ben begins to see strange people and events in the mirrors, his wife Amy (Paula Patton ) begins to fear for his sanity. He discovers the building was previously a hospital where experimental psychological treatments were carried out in a room entirely made of mirrors.
The first half of the film is satisfyingly creepy. The atmosphere in the ruins of the department store is tangible, heightened by the presence of endlessly staring mannequins leaning against the ruined walls. The second half returns us to daylight and Ben’s increasingly frantic investigation into the background of the tragedies which unfolded in the department store.
While the menace which initially pervades the film wears off, the second section still contains some genuinely chilling moments. Mirrors is perhaps particularly well served by its European director, who films his American location at one remove, rendering everyday locations as strange as the ornate department store.
Initially one of the most talented, multifaceted members of Hollywood’s erstwhile Brat Pack, Kiefer Sutherland has since devolved into (or been deployed as ) cinema’s Action Man, most notably in TV series 24. He shows a glimpse of a wider talent here, although his role for the most part is that of a standard horror film hero with not a lot of room for character development.
With horror film audiences becoming increasingly blasé, director Alexandre Aja’s emphasis on developing a storyline rather than simply throwing in lots of gory special effects is admirable. Mirrors falters in places but retains audience interest through a combination of effective suspense and a reasonably involving plotline.
