5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.3 |
The grisly slaughters continue after a young woman is brutally murdered in front of a mirror that is a portal to the world of the undead. Embarking on a murderous rampage, one by one she stalks the men and women responsible for her horrific death, exacting bloody revenge by dismembering and eviscerating the guilty. They can’t run, they can’t hide and they can’t look in the mirror because inside the mirrors the dead live on...waiting for vengeance.
Starring: Nick Stahl, William Katt, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Lawrence Turner, Stephanie HonoreHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 59% |
Supernatural | 28% |
Mystery | 16% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
A low-budget, straight-to-DVD and Blu-ray sequel to Mirrors, French director Alexandre Aja’s slick, scare-less, Kiefer Sutherland-starring Hollywood horror production—itself a loose remake of a Korean film—Mirrors 2, as you’d expect, is unrelentingly atrocious, even by direct-to- video standards. This is the kind of film that gets oozed out into the market right before Halloween, its cover proudly displaying the now-meaningless adjective UNRATED—in a blood red, all-caps font, no less—along with a screaming, heavily photoshopped ghost face and a generic tagline like “The Terror Lives On.” Don’t take the bait. There have been so many great Halloween-horror-marathon-worthy releases on Blu-ray this year—The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, House, to name a few—so why waste your time and money on this dreck?
More Mirrors!
What were you expecting, Avatar? Mirrors 2 is a schlocky no-budget horror movie, and it looks the part on Blu-ray, with a 1080p/AVC- encoded transfer that's serviceable but dull. I couldn't find any confirmation online, but I'm guessing the film was shot on high definition video. There are occasional moments of refined clarity—the terrycloth nubs of a bath towel, crisp facial texture in close-up, gross-out dead girl make-up, etc.—but most of the film has a slightly soft appearance. The color palette—no surprise here—is drabber than drab, the only vividness coming from the occasional splash of bright red blood. Black levels during the darker scenes become a hazy gray, contrast is weak, and the cumulative effect is a picture with little pop or presence. Basically, it looks as cheap as it is. Still, the encode is relatively solid, with no drastic compression problems or other issues. Ranked along the entire spectrum of Blu-ray releases, Mirrors 2 is definitely visually sub par, but the transfer, when held to the film's cheapo standards, holds up fairly well.
Usually even bad horror films have booming, immersive soundtracks—the loud, musical stab-induced jump scare is the go-to tactic for movies than can't generate real fear—but Mirror 2's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix is a rather inert affair. There's just not much going on here, audio-wise. You'll hear some exploding glass, some rain in the rears, some quiet ambience at times, but that's about it. The music limps along and the appropriate effects are trundled out at the appropriate times, but there's no heft or presence to this mix. It's lightweight stuff, with little to no LFE engagement and a severe underuse of the surround channels. Still, on the plus side, the voices are always clean, clear, and easy to understand, so that you can effortlessly hear the characters' dim-witted dialogue.
The Other Side: Making Mirrors 2 (1080p, 9:39)
The kind of glad-handing making-of featurette where all the talking head participants talk kindly about one another and compare Mirrors 2 to
much greater films. Lawrence Turner even evokes Blue Velvet and calls his character "Frank Booth's bastard son." Whatever.
Keeping it Real: The Visual and Special Effects of Mirrors 2 (1080p, 12:33)
A quick look at the film's practical and CGI effects, once more with comparisons to other films: "My death is almost like a throwback to Psycho,"
says Christy Carlson Romano of her shower scene. Really?
Watch Mirrors 2 with the Woman in the Mirror
A picture-in-picture mode that pops up whenever a mirror is present to show the "creepy" view from inside the film's "mirror world."
Deleted Scenes (1080p, 2:08)
Original Korean Feature Film Into the Mirror on DVD
It's not exactly a saving grace, but the included DVD copy of Mirrors 2 generously features Into the Mirror on the flipside.
You too may feel like stabbing your eyes out with scissors after Mirrors 2. Just to reiterate, the straight-to-video movie isn't worthy of your time or money, and doesn't even deserve a rental. (Let's put it this way: if I wasn't getting paid to watch it and write about it, there's no way I'd ever make it through the first ten minutes.) For a scarier Halloween experience, go into your bathroom, turn off the lights, and play "Bloody Mary." Or, better yet, pick up some of the true horror classics that have finally made their way to Blu-ray recently.
Unrated
2008
2012
2009
Limited Edition
1980
Unrated
2007
2019
Unrated
2006
Scre4m
2011
1978
La morte ha sorriso all'assassino
1973
2013
1980
2003
2001
Unrated
2016
Unrated
2008
1961
Unrated Director's Cut
2010
L'etrusco uccide ancora
1972
2017