Mirror Mirror 2: Raven Dance

There where the original "Mirror Mirror" was a surprisingly fun and atypical early 90s slasher/demonic horror movie, the sequel very much is an unsurprisingly weak and typically annoying mid-90s horror sequel. Gone is the light-hearted atmosphere of the original, and all the likable characters and gory set-pieces with it.

What's even more frustrating, but sadly also typical for 90s horror, is that "Raven Dance" nevertheless holds a massive lot of potential, but the untalented director Jimmy Lifton (whoever he is...) does nothing with it. The convent/orphanage setting is terrific, for instance, but there only seem to be two nuns living there and all the orphans are on vacation. What?! The wicked older stepsister plots to mentally break the lead girl, and pump her full of drugs, but she already falls apart herself when she sees the wrinkles in her own face. The film stars none other than B-movie queen Veronica Cartwright as a hysterical blind nun, but the director keeps her locked up in a dark room pretty much the entire time. The "innocent" 9-year-old can supposedly defeat the evil forces, but he's played by such a dreadfully annoying and untalented kid that you wish for him to die in the most excruciatingly painful way imaginable. And - worst of all - whenever the script becomes senseless or heads towards a dead end (and this happens frequently, believe me) Lifton's solution is to insert endlessly long footage of lead actress Tracy Wells dancing in her room.

The impressive, for such a lousy flick at least, star-power is totally wasted. Next to Cartwright, "Raven Dance" also stars a young Mark Ruffalo (I still don't know whether he's supposed to be good or evil) and the always-deranged Roddy McDowall (can somebody explain to me what happened to his character, by the way). William Sanderson also briefly appears, but as a different and totally unrelated character than he depicted in the original "Mirror Mirror"; - that's how consistent this movie is. I only just found out today there also exists a "Mirror Mirror 3", and even a "Mirror Mirror 4", but I think I'll politely pass on those.

The sequel to the (fondly remembered, in some quarters) 1990 horror flick "Mirror Mirror" could give you cause to wonder if the producers of it made a Faustian bargain of their own with the haunted mirror in the movie. It's like they asked for above-par cinematography and actors, but didn't realise that granting this wish would also put their screenplay through a paper-shredder.

The original "Mirror Mirror" didn't seem to know what to do with the whole "haunted mirror grants dark powers that help you get revenge" premise, so instead it fell back on a few generic horror movie death scenes where pipes sprung leaks and killed naked 20-something high school students. The sequel, on the other hand, more completely embraces its concept, showing people conversing with the mirror as if there were someone on the other side.

This doesn't help much, though. The movie is too disjointed, with weird flourishes of dancing and ravens that do nothing but signal to the viewer that they can stop paying attention because nothing important is going to happen for the next few moments. It feels like the director reaching beyond their grasp. Like they are trying to achieve something transcendent and haunting with the ballet and the raven.

They fail, dismally.

The plot is something to do with a young ballerina and her violinist brother who lose their parents in an accident and are sent to stay with a bunch of nuns. Their much older stepsister(played by Sally Kellerman from MASH) is out to get their inheritance, aided by an evil doctor played by Roddy McDowall. An oily drifter played by a young Mark Ruffalo is there to save the day, however.

William Sanderson (of Blade Runner and Deadwood) is the only actor from the first movie who returns, and he seems to be playing a different character here. I wasn't really sure who his character was, or what he was doing in the movie - but then his inclusion didn't make much sense in the first movie, either.

Unlike the original movie, there is no nudity (or sex) in "Mirror Mirror 2", and I can hardly remember any violence. There was one thing I hadn't seen before, however: a knight depicted in stain-glass windows comes to life. I don't think I have ever seen stained-glass animated before.

The demon that lives in the mirror again shows up at the end of the movie, and we get a better look at him. He's pretty unimpressive looking.

This sequel doesn't have a whole lot to recommend it, frankly. Does anyone watch horror movies for their cinematography or music? Do you?

Most films are only as good as the screenplay or adaptation from where they originate. Although the cast of this film is experienced, with most receiving an award of some kind in their careers, one would never know that from the performances of this lot! There is one exception however, young Ms. Tracy Wells does indeed show that she has developed beyond the childhood actress she was at one time.

Moreover, Tracy is able to really show off her skills in some rather compromising scenes. She is wonderful in a seduction scene where, while being possessed, she is able to (convincingly) go through a sequence of erotic dreams. And again, and even more prominent, she is able to showcase her dancing talent, relentlessly, that earned her high praises as well as the Pepsi gig with Michael "Jacko" Jackson. In fact, the high point of this film is the breathtaking camera work that moves with Tracy from one side of the room to the other. The dance sequence alone rushed this critic enough to sit through an otherwise butt-numbing movie.

RAVEN DANCE is a typical straight-to-video horror sequel of the early 1990s, made without much in the way of a plot and with a heavy emphasis on style which has dated plenty since this film's first release. The inspiration here seems to be the first two in the HELLRAISER series in terms of lighting and set dressing, but the effect is far from the same: this is pedestrian, uninteresting, and entirely forgettable. Once more there's a cursed mirror and a few bloody death and cheesy computer effects, the best bit being when stained glass comes to life, but mostly it's all talk and boring characterisation. Roddy McDowell sleepwalks through a villain role and William Sanderson lends his typically kooky presence to the proceedings, although for modern viewers the most fun comes from seeing Mark Ruffalo acting right at the outset of his career.

Well, I rented this after seeing part 1, which I LOVE. When I saw this I liked it. It is a little slow and starts out cheesy but it gets better. It has a good storyline, some awesome and original kills ("church window" kill=most original kill I HAVE EVER SEEN!) Not too much blood, however, but still some awesome scenes. Special effects, of course, are not the greatest but fairly good. It is good for it's budget. This also dishes out another brilliant ending. The acting is decent. I have seen better acting though I have seen A LOT WORSE. (Can you say AX EM?) So I recommend this if you liked the first, it is an enjoyable film, IMO. 7/10