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Quint stares into Alexandre Aja's MIRRORS. What did he see?
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a quickie review of a flick not getting much attention this weekend. I guess Tom Rothman’s still angry at us, so we never seem to be invited to any Fox press screenings.
Being a bit of a horror nerd I made a point to catch the midnight screening of Alexandre Aja’s newest film, MIRRORS, which opens today. I don’t know if there was a press screening this week… if there was I certainly wasn’t invited to it, but I figured I’d write up a quick review so the only new things I have to add to the site today aren’t just another snarky, upset CLONE WARS review and my AMAD column (those both coming shortly).
Quick recap: I love, love, love the first 85 minutes of HAUTE TENSION. That ending really nukes the shark… jumps the fridge… shits the bed? Whatever it is, if it’s bad that ending fits. I dug his HILLS HAVE EYES remake, but didn’t love it as much, but I did love that it’s a fucking mean horror movie and it doesn’t shy away from the abyss.
So Alexandre Aja means good news for me.
And I still like Kiefer Sutherland… I still dig the hell out 24 even though there’s been a few rocky seasons. What can I say? I love Jack Bauer.
And it’s a good thing because Sutherland isn’t playing anyone besides Jack Bauer in this movie. He channeling drug-addicted Bauer from season 3, but instead of heroin he’s trying to kick booze. Instead of a government agent he’s a tortured ex-NYPD officer who is taking time off after the accidental shooting of his partner while undercover.
He takes a job as a night watchman at a creepy old burned out massive shopping complex that was nearly destroyed in a fire set in the ‘50s. This place is still somehow taking up a huge amount of valuable square footage in New York City.
On his first night there, Jack Bauer/Ben Carson goes on his rounds and is scared by pigeons, then notice some fucked up shit in the mirrors.
Now I’m a big fan of good mirror usage in horror films. The best example, in my opinion, is John Carpenter’s vastly underrated PRINCE OF DARKNESS. I don’t think it’s his best movie (especially with the obviously 30-something lead trying to play college-age), but I stand firmly behind my belief that it’s his scariest movie.
There’s something about the concept of mirrors hiding other beings, evil beings… backwards bizarro worlds. It’s fascinating.
And Aja shoots the film well, very smartly playing with dual images throughout and he doesn’t shy away from the gore as evidenced by the opening scene in which a man’s reflection forces him to slice his own throat.
Where the movie disappoints is the character writing. Ultimately the explanation of what the evil in the mirrors is isn’t all that interesting and it takes a long damn time to get there only to force a big CG fight with a character that looks like the Pit Witch from ARMY OF DARKNESS. This fight reminded me of the horrible EXORCIST prequels.
I wish Aja would have avoided CG more. You can do so much with real distortion and make-up, as is evidenced by the centerpiece effect. If you’ve seen the trailer you know that Amy Smart ain’t gonna have a good time, but it’s a particularly gruesome effect that is aided by CG… maybe a little too much, but still practically done and the results are really interesting. Plus you get some Amy Smart nudity as a side-effect.
But despite a few good cheap scares I didn’t find myself very much creeped out by the movie, which is hard for me to accept with my love of horror movies involving mirrors. But I will say that this film blows away the crappy Lena Headey evil mirror people movie that I saw at Sundance this year, THE BROKEN. At least something fuckin’ happens here.
And I quite dig the finale. I saw the movie with a friend and his wife who didn’t care for the finale, thought it was tacked on and didn’t make much sense. I won’t ruin it here, but I think it’s pretty interesting and almost wish we got to see a little more of it.
The acting’s fine. Sutherland is playing Bauer, like I already mentioned, but I like that character enough to roll with it. Amy Smart is good for her small screentime and Jason Flemming is really good, if not way underused as Sutherland’s cop buddy who feeds him plot points. Paula Patton, who plays Bauer/Carson’s estranged wife is probably the weakest link. She’s gorgeous, no doubt, but doesn’t come off very well in the movie. I recall liking her in DÉJÀ VU, so I’ll lay most of the blame at the feet of the shoddy character writing.
So, at the end of the day I’d say this is the least successful Aja film I’ve seen, but the fact that it’s an original horror movie and is shot very well elevates it out of some mediocre and predictable writing. I can’t get excited over the movie, but I can’t get worked up over it either. It has a lot of flaws, but has enough good with it that it ends up better than mediocre. Unapologetically R-rated, original horror. That in and of itself these days makes this a successful big studio horror release.
Well, damn. I was all impressed with it being an original horror film then I am reminded below that it's a remake of a Korean film, something I knew while it was shooting, but I guess forced out of my brain for some reason while watching it and writing up the review... oh, well...
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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of filmmaking, for sure. I love Kiefer, but that one's a rental, at best.
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Mirrors just doesn't seem to do anything for me. I would love to see Amy Smart nude though. That would be a perk. Guess I will have to wait for the dvd.
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Aug 15, 2008 5:00:43 AM CDT
So, did this scum thief steal from Koontz again...
by stalin vs predator
...or did he copy someone else's work legally? Those are the two things he can do.
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has an awesome tale of mirror horror, great anthology movie.
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2 of the 4 most fearsome weapons in the Jack Bauer arsenal
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Aug 15, 2008 5:29:47 AM CDT
Poltergeist 3 would have been a better movie without Poltergeist
by bentley_bear
Because the movie sucked but the mirror aspect was creepy and well done.
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I saw that in the theater with my mom, both huge fans of Poltergeist. I can look at the movie now and see how crappy it is, but at that screening the air conditioning unit in the theater was on the fritz and we could literally see our breaths, which made the second frozen half of the movie really feel like it was happening. And I still argue that the movie's creepy as shit, just a bad movie. I think fake make-up devil replacement Carol Anne is one of the creepiest things ever.
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If they kept the ending from the original, well it was one of the most bizarre endings to a film I've ever seen - and certainly would fit the description of the ending in this talkback. It did seem to come out of left field but I liked it because it was freaky.
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What, did you call him on his bullshit?
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Many, many times, OBSD. He's no fan and the feeling is mutual.
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I love the Carpenter flick you mentioned,and the big green hand,and the fubar ending.
This kinda reminded me of that in the trailer too.
Where is that John Carpenter now?..I thought madness was his last great film(although the Vampires was passable).
This movie looks decent though,...thanks and love the AMAD stuff. -
Had no plans to see this until u said nude Amy Smart, guess now i will have to remember to rent it
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A great little movie, with some interesting ideas all the way through it, plus it's a QUATERMASS homage! Glorious.
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..would sell many tickets.
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...This and Midnight Meat Train practically going before they came. Shame, cause I was hoping Aja would move onto something bigger and better after Hills.
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...was pretty crappy, with the wooden acting, ridiculously unrealistic police procedure, and from what I recall zero gor or scares.
I really do hope the ending you're talking about isn't from the original, not because it was too "clever" or anything (I liked the concept), but that it sabataged itself with faulty logic WHILE IT WAS HAPPENING! (To those who've seen it - recall when he speaks with the nurse and then the "realization" outside. I doesn't make a lick of sense. I'm pretty sure that was as vague as I could make it without spoiling). Bad, bad ending that only lessened an otherwise mediocre Korean horror flick. -
please tell me you are kidding? One of the worst endings ever!
http://tinyurl.com/pv8do -
...when my and three buddies were watching the DVD before it was ever released here, we had a blast through most of it. Alcohol helped, but the movie itself was great.
Then, when she started chasing the killer in the car I shouted out loud that if the killer was herself this would be the single most retarded thing in horror history.
I pirated Hills Have Eyes because of it. -
Those dreams from the future (I believe the film ends on one) creeped me out big time.
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stop saying 'dig' so much
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Yeah, the end of Haute Tension is considered bad because it pretty much is a twist for twist's sake. The movie would have made a lot more sense just from a practical, plot-oriented way without it: IE, if the lead lady gets all fucked up from crashing that yellow car while being chased by the truck the killer is driving... who was driving the truck, if she is actually the killer?Get my drift?
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Anyone else ever notice that the "Transmission" tracks on DJ Shadow's Entroducing... album are sampled from Prince of Darkness? Cause they totally are.
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Aug 15, 2008 11:31:34 AM CDT
POLTERGEIST 3 did good stuff with mirrors, pity the budget was l
by spacesheik
Had a rough quality that film, bad music, bad supporting actors, but it had its moments
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...and what bullshit have you guys called him on? I've obviously missed something here...
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Great frickin' movie until the end. Made me instantly hate it!
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"We are transmitting from the year..." those dreams freak me out every time.
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I mean it was (in my opinion) a dumb ass movie,with no real substance, just a few violent scenes and an attempt to make every one cringe with a tacked on rape scene. I guess i'm just not a fan of the man's work so far. On a lighter note, how great is it to see guys like Keifer Sutherand and Robert Downey jr back to big screen greatness. Both of those guys came back from the fucking brink and deserve a medal or an oscar...something.
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Looking mother fucked in Hills Have Eyes Redo? I had to keep telling myself it was the Tobes.
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One that thought Hills Have Eyes redo 2 was better then Hills Have Eyes redo 1? I just thought it was more fun.
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And the award for the most badassly esoteric reference of the day is. . .you. Me and my buddies in High School used to always muse, stoned of course, about what the hell those 'transmission' tracks were from. Endtroducing, classic album. I've listened to it at least two hundred times. I'll have to watch Prince of Darkness now.
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Wasn't impressed by the premise -- in fact, I was disappointed that Aja was wasting his talent here -- but figured he'd at least make it look great. Hope he goes with something more original next time out.
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Sometime this week, but I can't really say that I am very excited about it. Sure, it's got Keifer, which is always a plus, but he hasn't been in the trailers or commercials at all.
Nevermind the fact that Haughte Tension has the single most bullshit ending of all fucking time. -
And I would like to hear about the Rothman bullshit as well.
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As was most of the other students in "Prince of Darkness".
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I think it was Sutherland yelling "What do you want from me?!" into a mirror that finally convinced me I was watching a bad movie.
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scared me as a kid it had a lasting impact on me to the point where once i got older i bought it on dvd at best buy cheap i think $6.99.it has it's moments but overall it's chessey.but still a fun watch.sucks to hear mirrors is another in the long list of modern horror shit.the trailer looked ok not enough to make me say I have to see it
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AND WHATS THE BEEF/FEUD ABOUT?
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You've pegged my fantasy. Smart & Larter are my favorite "modern" actresses, though both are bereft of press visibility because they circumvent taboid sleaze (a la Lohan, Spears and Pam Anderson). I yielded to Larter's charms in the HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL remake (though a couple of her more significant scenes were deleted). If they do engage in a naked tickle fight, I hope that Mary Harron (NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE) shoots for it for posterity; otherwise, Fred Olen Ray will shoot it for Cinemax. Just for the record, I also dig Julia Stiles (make it a threesome).
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the extremely underrated ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (followed by HALLOWEEN and THE THING).
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But his acting really ticked me off in this film. Whenever he yells it's so irritating. The movie definitely was not bad but it wasn't scary and like Quint said, too much of a reliance on cg. The Amy Smart death scene was awesome though and it was nice to get a glimpse of her nice droppy ass.
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not droppy
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