The Mirror

This isn't the greatest movie ever made, but it's far better than the ratings it's getting here. I like the first person/found footage style movies. I like the creepy paranormal stuff. At least there was some originality with this one. I wasn't able to guess the ending, and that's another plus. It held my interest, had some good tension, and believable acting. Right now, it's sitting at a 4.7 and that's too low. I'm giving it a 6 because that's what I feel it deserves, but I was very tempted to go higher just because people are hating on this movie for no reason. For what it is, it's not bad at all. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.

I am not generally a fan of found footage movies. This one, however, doesn't have the cheap jump scares of something like Paranormal Activity nor a lot of the crazy shaky camera videography. The acting in the first half is quite amusing - 3 roomates (see flatmates; they are Brits after all) try to win the million dollar James Randi Foundation prize by proving paranormal shenanigans with a supposedly haunted mirror they find on eBay. The film turns a weird direction when the plot evolves and ends up somewhat short of a truly scary horror film.

(in one scene, you can clearly tell the victim is a doll, which snaps the viewer back into reality)

All in all, an okay watch. Don't expect too much by way of scares and give some appreciation to the cinematography - which is decent.

When I came across The Mirror everything I saw and read about it was the epitome of hatred and dislike. Everybody slated the film left right and centre and this peeked my curiosity. I gave it a chance and found it immediately was fighting an uphill battle as it is in fact a found footage film. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with found footage films, my problem is that there are just so damn many lately........and most of them are terrible.The whole style of movie has enabled film makers with no money or experience to make a movie and it immediately puts it in a bad light for me.I don't even like the "Critically Acclaimed" Paranormal Activity series! Anyway within 5 minutes I was finding myself quite enamored with the film. Primarily because of the likable characters and the really quite good performances by the three young actors.

It quickly became apparent that this movie was not going to break any new ground and would be a fairly standard predictable affair but the actors made these 90 minutes and limited script quite enjoyable.

Now without giving anything away the movie does something quite unique. For the last 20 minutes I was finding myself almost wincing as I knew that something was coming, most likely a big jump scare. It kept me waiting in anticipation, it teased......and I liked it.

Comparing this to the likes of the Occulus is foolish, you cannot compare a mega budget Hollywood blockbuster to a low budget indie film on the same scale. Take each movie for what it is and this really entertained me. Don't compare, don't put emphasis on its budget or unknown actors, just turn out the light and give this a chance and you may be surprised.

If you want big budget, if you want big cgi and constant action then you won't enjoy this. If you want a well constructed, well acted and interestingly paced horror then give it a try.

You like me may be surprised.

www.platypuschow.com

I can't believe someone actually said this was better than Oculus. That's the only reason I made this account. Believe me Oculus is much much better. Do not waste your time on this film. I am an avid horror fan this is just pure garbage. It is poorly made, it's goes nowhere, there's no jumpy bits, it's not scary in the slightest. . . . . . Oculus is very clever and enticing this is plain stale. I was so disappointed and even more so that it is a British film. Must've been a very low budget and must've been thrown together within a week. If you like horror and like a scare this will only disappoint. Nothing interesting came from this film. It's very boring I should've turned off after 10 minutes. No joke, Sabrina the teenage witch is scarier than this.

For a movie that is just making it up as it goes along (corner points were given to the actors, as in beginning of the scene and end of the scene, do as you please in between), this is not half bad. Even if you didn't know that, you will realize that the actors are making stuff up as they go (coherent and continuity be damned).

Which is a shame because things are there that could've been explored more and just looking good (especially the female lead), is not enough to keep you hooked for a long time. So our comic relief does a good job and he has quite a lot of jokes that almost make this a way better movie than it actually is. Unfortunately that thing, about this not making sense, characters behaving, like they are in a mental institution, where they lost their brain and other things like that, will kind of take the fun out of it ... literally.

All this is based on a true story. Yes really! Actually the two guys (no girl in that story, at least not one that was alive) who owned the real mirror of the story were at a screening at Frightfest and told us a few stories. You can either believe those guys or not. They sold the mirror on ebay to someone in Germany and the director found out about this and thought: Hey why don't I make a movie about this? Well guess what? He did! I know! Shocking. Almost more so than the movie itself! Which again, is only really "saved" (not literally), by the jokes of one of the characters ..