THE MIRROR

Are you ready for another low budget (£10,000.00 of director Edward Boase’s own savings) horror film where supernatural events are documented on home cameras? One that’s been "compiled from footage retrieved by the police"?

This time around, we follow the exploits of three London-based flatmates – pretty Jemma (Jemma Dallender), wise-cracking Steve (Nate Fallows) and the somewhat more reserved Matt (Joshua Dickinson). They’re looking to make some quick cash and so, when they hear of a $1,000,000.00 prize being offered by the James Randi Educational Foundation (a genuine challenge, if any readers want to dig deeper) for providing "reliable" evidence of paranormal activity, they decide to chip in and buy a supposedly haunted mirror off eBay.

Once said item arrives, they position it in their living room and set up cameras to record its goings-on round-the-clock.

The following evening, Steve and Jemma are awoken by motions in the living room. Upon inspection, they discover Matt stood before the mirror in a state of somnambulism. Okay, panic soon over: it turns out he’s not possessed, but is prone to sleepwalking and occasionally pissing himself in the process. Steve and Jemma share a laugh at their flatmate’s expense, and retire back to their cribs.

Ah, but, what about the next time Matt will rise in the night and stand before the mirror? And what of the odd behaviour he will develop in time? Will his house-sharers dismiss these events as mere extensions of his odd disposition? Well yes, initially, of course. But things soon turn more sinister …

Edward Boase writes and directs. You may know him from early shorts TABOO and ONE SMALL LEAP. Perhaps you’ve seen his 2011 feature BLOODED – another faux documentary. Here, he’s influenced by an article from 2013 in which a North London couple claimed to have rescued a Victorian mirror from a skip only to subsequently be cursed by financial woes and ill health. They eventually sold it on eBay for £100 …

Hmm, a haunted mirror, eh? Where have we seen that before? Oh yes, that’s right – in the likes of DEAD OF NIGHT, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, MIRRORS, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, THE BOOGEYMAN etc.

Hardly a novel idea, then. Though I suppose being "inspired by true events" (in fairness, Boase paid £500 to meet the original claimants in a bid to stay true to their story) and updating things for the i-generation does lend THE MIRROR some credibility in today’s market. However, taking a well-worn theme and then opting to film it in a manner which places the movie squarely in the over-saturated "found footage" sub-genre does Boase’s cause few favours.

The film’s sharp, home video-type digital look provides an aesthetic that is at once intimate and cheap. Some will no doubt be turned off by the DIY-style lack of veneer; others will argue it lends events a raw urgency. The truth lies somewhere in-between.

Dallender takes the experience gleamed from appearing in the likes of COMMUNITY and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2, turning in a credible improvised performance. In fact, her and Dickinson are the film’s greatest asset. Their chemistry is palpable; the early larks and moments of candour help form their characters in anticipation of the conventional scares that follow. Fallow’s performance is a necessarily broader one, and therefore unfortunately feels much less natural.

The film builds to its scares. Sadly, when they come, these amount to fairly stock fare. They’re executed competently but there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done – better – before.

And let’s face it, even the film’s title is generic. Just type it into The Internet Movie Database and see how many results it throws back at you.

THE MIRROR comes to UK DVD courtesy of Matchbox Films, uncut and with a 15 certificate rating.

It’s presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The picture is pin-sharp and bright, offering pristine digital picture quality for the most part. Odd moments of noise during darker scenes (the film was shot over nine days – windows were blacked out to imitate night) are evident but never enough to become overly problematic.

English 2.0 audio does its job without fuss. It’s a solid playback, proffering clear dialogue and decent reproduction of sound design as events escalate in the film’s final third.

The disc opens to a static main menu page. From there, a scene selection menu allows access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras are limited to a short featurette providing details on the true-life case that inspired the film. Logically, it’s entitled "The Real Mirror".

THE MIRROR benefits from solid performances but overall looks very cheap and is hampered by its lack of originality. The ‘haunted mirror’ shtick has been to death, and more effectively, while films like this serve to reinforce that the "found footage" sub-genre really has had its day in the sun.

It’s a shame because the acting is spot on in the main and there’s no doubt that Boase has talent as a director (a good pace, naturalistic representation of events, proficient if clichéd scares). Given a decent script and budget, I’m certain his full capabilities will shine through.

Review by Stuart Willis