The Gist:
Tim and Kaylie Russell, teen siblings, are reunited after Tim is newly released from protective custardy after the brutal murder of their parents ten years ago.
Kaylie suspects something paranormal has unleashed upon her family, a malevolent supernatural force unleashed through the Lasser Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home.
Determined to clear Tim’s name, Kaylie learns the mirror has linked to similar deaths by previous owner over the past century. It’s up to her and her brother to prove the mirrors mysterious entities. The two soon find themselves in a warp of confusion, hallucinations as the past replays itself in their child home.
The Review:
We go straight into the story of what happened in the Russell house hold, feel the uncanny presence succumb you … now!
The film jumps ten years to Kaylie and her boyfriend showing how she has the perfect life love and career, but before she can move any futher her main obsession is the mirror which she buys at an auction. For years, Kaylie has studied this mirror, and her strong minded characteristics and determination put aside what we usually see of women in horror films, an applause for Kaylie and her balls of steel!
Tim Russell however, has just come out of reliving his nightmare with therapists, he has now a new outlook on life and just wants to move on, never to think of the mirror and the last moments he spent in the Russell household.
Tim shows up, to his dismay Kaylie wants to clear all this mess, she reveals her plan which he eventually agrees on. Cameras are set to record the mirror 24/7 not like the paranormal films now were you watch someone eat, shit, possess and repeat.
Kaylie turns into Sergeant Kaylie by scheduling out what they should eat and when, its all too much but then again, the siblings are now Ghost Busters… well …. Mirror Busters!
The brother and sister alliance is quite remarkable given everything that went on , Kaylie Russell is quite the smartass as she starts to portray all of her homework for the cameras placed around the mirror, hanging on top is a pendulum ready to break the mirror in case anything goes wrong. So I bet you can guess what happens?
And I know what you’re thinking “Why don’t you just destroy the mirror in the first place?” That is exactly what Tim Russell says! So it’s no doubt I feel like Tim’s character represents all of us watching the film, how logically think about horror films in general, whatever negative things happen, get the hell out of there! We’ve watched so many horror films to know what to do and not do, but it’s nice they put a character like that in there.
Every now and again I silently fist pumped to Tim’s outbursts like this.
The scares are tentative, it feels creepy like Insidious, the focal point being the families progression. There is a little scare when Mother Russell looks into the mirror and see’s her doppelganger, I feel the mirror represents the vanity of darkness within oneself, making it harder to let go of the entity.
Perhaps lust too, as the Father is seen in his office making out with the mirror’s evil spirit, enough to drive anyone into a possessive fit!
Mother Russell’s breakdown throughout the film gets crazier, she’s weakened by the entity the mirror embraces, ends up chasing her children in a desperate need to kill them, as the father is stone faced, he could of pulled off a Kubrick stare if need be.
The film drags out the story of the children side by side with the present, it’s almost like a mirror within the scene, when Kaylie turns looks at present Tim, past Tim is looking at her, I do hope that makes sense because its the key ingredient to this film!
The constant flip of the mirror, what the film does is move back and forth, from then and now, although it gets a little tedious as two stories warp into one, and the ending result isn’t so surprising, these hallucinations can seem too unnerving.
The Verdict:
It is long overdue to have a traditional horror film like this that doesn’t need to focus itself on needy jump scares, creepy people standing around for no reason or everyone suddenly talking in tongue and flailing around the floor like a fish out of water. As a horror buff, I feel this film takes a risk and doesn’t follow a particular genre we are now having in horror films and that’s the whole paranormal crap.
Although it does need a little work here and there, its something fresh and new, the experience alone is worth it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTcD1TVupzs
Certificate: 15
Director: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff
Running Time: 104 minutes
Release Date: 13th June 2014
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