Mirror, The (2015)
Starring Jemma Dallender, Joshua Dickinson, Nate Fallows
Directed by Edward Boase
I’ll give credit where credit is due, but for this particular critic who’s become so incredibly jaded towards the “found footage” sub-genre of film, there comes a time when someone has to say “enough is enough” and finally put this heinous mode of filmmaking in a lock-box, chain it shut, and toss it off of a cliff, a la Creepshow Arctic beast style.
From director Edward Boase comes The Mirror, the next clone in a long line of go-pro POV displays that takes a group of annoying youths, places them in a series of circumstances that could be easily avoided, and regardless of the amount of peril, NO ONE is willing to drop said camera and call for help… all I can say is “serves ya right.” The movie showcases three flatmates that decide to shell out some serious coin on a supposedly haunted mirror from an online merchant and videotape every conceivable instance of their lives in the hope of obtaining paranormal proof to win a one million (pound) prize – doesn’t anyone place any trust in the Publisher’s Clearing House people anymore?
The three test subjects are Matt (Dickinson); his girlfriend, Jemma (Dallender); and their pal Steve (Fallows), with Matt taking the lead as the one poor soul that cannot contain his excitement nor his curiosity towards the flat’s latest piece of haunted hanging home decoration. So, cue the camera being turned on at night to follow our lead in a weird stare-down with the reflective icon and waking up on the balcony the next morning with no clue of what happened. Then ratchet the events up to Matt suffering from near-bleeding eyes, confronting personality disorder, and an unwillingness to allow anyone to touch the mirror.
After what appears to be the destruction of the mirror, it miraculously reappears in the flat to wreak more havoc and cue more shaky-cam chills and thrills, and we’re brought to a conclusion that even the most short-sighted viewer could have envisioned. I’m terribly sorry to those who may have held out hope that this one would be different, but between the boring banter, lukewarm tension, and transparent frights, this one simply sinks to the bottom of the ocean like a cannonballed pirate ship.
My advice to the fans of first-person horror: Dig deep into your collection and rescue some of the remnants of the past, for there is more than seven years of bad luck attached to this broken mirror.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
