Category Archives: German Horror Films

MIRRORS-United States/Romania/Germany-2008

Kiefer Sutherland as Ben Carson

Paula Patton as Amy Carson

Amy Smart as Angela Carson

Directed by Alexandre Aja

Screenplay by Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur

Based on a screenplay by Kim Sung-ho

PROLOGUE

We begin with a man, a security guard, as he runs terrified from an unseen pursuer through a subway station. Checking, testing every locked door and gate for an escape, he finally finds himself in a locker room. There is a window, but it is bricked up. He is trapped. The locker doors open, each one with a mirror revealing the man’s reflection. He pleads and begins to clean the mirrors. One of them breaks and a shard of glass falls to the floor where he bends down to pick it up. His reflection remains standing. The reflection stabs itself in the neck and runs the shard across its throat. A crimson line appears on the man’s neck as his throat is opened and he dies.

THE STORY

It is 8 o’clock in the morning and Ben Carson awakens. He tells his sister to go back to sleep and that everything will be okay. He reports for his first day on the job as a security guard at the Mayflower, a once luxurious department store gutted by fire. A newspaper article and conversation with the guard, Sapelli, as they tour the building gives us clues as to why Carson, a former NYPD detective, is no longer employed with the force. The guard tells Carson about the Mayflower and the security guard, Gary Lewis, who was there before Ben and his obsession with keeping the mirrors in the building polished.

As the film progresses, we meet Ben’s estranged wife. She doesn’t want him making visits to his children without calling first. We find out that he killed a man in the line of duty and that Ben’s drinking is a cause for their separation. They argue loudly and their young son covers his ears and submerges himself in the bathtub water to drown them out. Ben leaves.

On his first night at the Mayflower Ben stands in front of a huge mirror. He sees a handprint and tries to wipe it off, but it will not come clean. He traces his flashlight along the length of the mirror and sees that it is covered with handprints. He hears the door behind him open but sees that the mirror does not reflect the action.

Later, at home with his younger sister, Ben sees a distorted image of himself reflected in the bathroom mirror. He reacts, afraid. He assumes it is because of stress.

At the Mayflower Ben again experiences strange phenomena with the mirrors. One cracks and cuts his hand and then repairs itself. He sees images of people burning. His own reflection bursts into flame and he is left writhing in pain on the floor. He escapes and later finds the ID badge of the guard, Lewis, who worked there previously. He also finds a slip of paper with one word, ‘esseker’, written on it. He explores further and hears a woman’s terrified screams coming from somewhere in the building. He sees image after image of a woman burned; but only in the mirrors.

What is the secret of the Mayflower and the mirrors? Is Ben merely stressed; or are there supernatural forces at work that are beyond his comprehension. I will stop here with my summary of the movie. To go further would tempt me to use spoilers and I hate spoilers.

THOUGHTS

I liked Mirrors. The film is directed by Alexandre Aja and is loosely based on a Korean film; Into the Mirror, written and directed by Kim Sung-ho. Aja kept a few scenes from the original film, but for the most part has crafted an entirely different interpretation.

The film appears to be a departure for Aja. Despite some intense moments of gore, the movie could be classified as more of a psychological tale and not of the relentless slasher variety as depicted in his breakthrough film High Tension or his over the top yet entertaining adaptations of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and Joe Dante’s Piranha. I don’t know if this new approach is the reason for the lack of popular opinion for Mirrors, but I do know that people become accustomed to a certain style from a filmmaker like Aja. When that style is not presented in their work it can lead to anger from the masses. It seems ironic that I would like Mirrors; of all the people I know I am the one who hates change the most.

FURTHER ALONG

This is one of my favorite performances from Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys and 24). He has always been an actor that I thought was full of a rage that is just bubbling underneath the surface of his skin. Sutherland uses this intensity to great effect in the role of Ben Carson. Paula Patton (Hitch and Swing Vote) is good as Amy, Carson’s estranged wife and Amy Smart (Crank and The Butterfly Effect) gives a brief but engaging performance as Ben’s younger sister, Angela.

My biggest complaint I have regarding Mirrors is that Aja throws in too many scenes of reflective surfaces. I understand that these things are a large part of our everyday lives and that we are so used to them that we barely notice them; I don’t need to be beaten over the head to remind me of this. Add a twist ending that doesn’t stray too far into M. Night Shyamalan territory and despite a few distorted moments Mirrors is a fairly polished tale of terror.

TRIVIA

The name ‘Esseker’ is an anagram for ‘Seekers’. This can be an appropriate terminology for the demons who live on the other side of the mirrors seeking out their host, Anna Esseker.

Shot in Romania, most of it was filmed in Nicolae Ceausescu‘s unfinished Academy of Sciences building in Bucharest.

Grégory Levasseur had to fill in as director for the scene where Kiefer Sutherland thinks he’s on fire as Alexandre Aja had to leave urgently. His wife had just gone into premature labor.

Amy Smart had to be fed through a straw for her big bathroom scene as she obviously was unable to open her mouth.

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