Into the Mirror

Wu Young-min, a former policeman who inadvertently brought about the death of his partner during a face off with a criminal,has quit the police force and now heads up security at Dreamapia Department Store as an employee of the security company SecuZone.Having been caught up in the situation at the department store Wu comes across his former rival and co-worker Ha Hyun-su,who now heads the investigation into the recent murders linked with mirrors.A mysterious woman Lee Ji-hyun is found lingering about the crime scenes.Without wishing it,Wu is drawn into the creepy mystery surrounding the murders."Into the Mirror" is a creepy South Korean horror with some striking visuals.There is very little gore,fortunately the aura of distinctive mood is clearly visible.The acting is great and the climax totally creeped me out.All in all if you are a fan of recent slew of Asian horror give this one a look.8 out of 10.

INTO THE MIRROR is an intriguing mix of police procedural and supernatural horror, an unwieldy but effective combination that proved successful enough for Hollywood to attempt a remake (the Kiefer Sutherland-starrer MIRRORS, which upped the gore but lost something in translation in the process). The film's setting is a once-deserted shopping mall, always a choice location for the movies and one that doesn't disappoint here; in places it drips with an eerie, provocative atmosphere.

What I liked most about this movie was the mixing of genres. On one hand there's a serial killer aspect to the murders, which are inventive without being gruesome. Then there's the supernatural touch, which is handled subtly and effectively, particularly in that great twist ending. Finally, there's the police procedural side which dominates most of the running time, and that's interesting too because the cops are humanised.

Ji-tae Yu's former detective Woo, now working as chief of security at the mall, is by far the most interesting of the characters. Although he's saddled with one of those all-too-familiar back stories involving him making a fatal error, the script works well to make him sympathetic and an intriguingly balanced lead. Myung-min Kim's officious detective is well placed as Woo's antagonist and the story that develops is never less than enthralling. A good little movie, this one.

OK, I was a bit evil myself to put a comment titled like that, and the film was a good one. The problem with it is that is not really scary. It's a nice thriller and , as some other viewers have noticed, has a nice pace in the first half, but then gets sluggish. The lead actor doesn't show a lot of emotion in his acting and that also sets the feeling of the movie to a lower level. The ending is really unrealistic to the extreme (for a ghost movie, that is :) )

But the idea is nice. Another world may lie beyond a mirror and things that happened there might not mimic exactly what s happening here. Parts of people might get trapped in mirrors or exact revenge coming from there. Anything else, though, is pretty confusing. I am not Asian so a lot of the names in the movie sounded alike. Add to this that the dead girl had a twin sister and there were mirrors everywhere and you can understand why I felt confused.

As Asian horror movies go, I would rather see a cliché "bad hair wet ghost with spooky eyes" than this kind of thriller, but this film definitely has some good and original parts in it.

This film was based on a psychological analysis for mirror and patients who suffered severe shocks. The movie doesn't really have a ghost or a bloody scene, however, the flimmaker intentionally puts mirror into the film many times, the fear and thrill flows underneath the screen.

The film starts with a department store in South Korea, the department store caught fire and one woman was killed. Few years later the department store was opened again and those people who hold secrets of the department store and the dead woman began to be killed.

To tell the truth, the film was great and I recommend you all to see this!!

After the accidental death of his partner Young-ho in a hostage situation, the former detective of the Seoul Special Operations Force Woo Young-min (Ji-tae Yu) feels responsible for the tragedy and quit the police force joining the private security company SecuZone. His uncle and owner of the department store Dreampia, Jeon-il Sung (Ju-bong Gi), hires Woo to be the chief of the security of Dreampia, which was rebuilt after a fire where many employees died and is near the reopening in spite of the protest of the families of the victims that claim their indemnity. When an employee dies after hours in the store, Woo leads an internal investigation, while detective Ha Hyun-Su (Myeong-mim Kim) that blames Woo for the death of his friend Young-ho, and his assistant Park, come to the store to lead an official investigation. When other employees that worked in the same department are mysteriously killed in the store, Woo meets Lee Ji-hyun (Hye-na Kim), the twin sister of Lee Jeong-hyun, that convinces him that her sister has not died in the fire and is trapped in the mirrors, while Ha Hyun-Su believes that Lee Ji-hyun is the serial killer.

"Geoul Sokeuro" is another great South Korean horror movie. With a complex screenplay that discloses an intricate and intriguing supernatural plot, this film is supported by great direction and acting and excellent camera work, using mirrors in many unexpected scenes. The horror is not gore but psychological, and there is an important and complex explanation about the "mirror-world" that is basic to understand the end of the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Espelho" ("Mirror")