Entertainment :: Movies
Dark Mirror by Kevin Taft
EDGE ContributorTuesday Nov 17, 2009 Yet another movie about someone moving into a house with a dark past has surfaced, this time using reflective surfaces as the catalyst for its supernatural events.
Dark Mirror isn’t only about a mirror, nor is it a dark one. The title is just one of the many vague elements in a film that seems to have been edited with a machete.
Lisa Vidal (E.R.) stars as Deborah Martin, a photographer who moves with her husband and son to a new house she is strangely drawn to. "Strangely," because when she first sees the house, she is clearly disturbed by it, but instantly says "We’ll take it," before seeing anything but the foyer.
Soon enough, Deborah is taking random pictures with a camera that has the brightest flash on the planet. (Not to mention, the flash mechanism is sometimes not even visible while the flash is going off.) When Deborah takes a picture of a mirror that reflects opposite another mirror, thus making it seem like there is a never-ending series of mirrors in the reflection; the flash becomes a strobe effect. (This is one of the few clever moments in the film.) What Deborah notices is that her resulting picture isn’t of the mirror itself, but of the shower stall in the bathroom in another part of the house.
Part of the mystery of Dark Mirror is why the house can look different when viewing it through glass or mirrors, and this device is actually pretty interesting. Unfortunately, it’s wasted with a plot that goes in a few different directions while the key device is lost among them. Is this about a house that exists in different dimensions? Is it about a camera that takes pictures of people who will then die at the hands of a murderer wearing a black rain coat? Is it about a mirror that releases an evil into the house, and/or into our protagonist? It’s kind of a mix of all three, which makes the movie feel random and confused.
Lisa Vidal is good as Deborah and makes the character feel as real as she can. Secondary performers are spotty, however, especially Deborah’s scantily clad neighbor played by Christine Lakin, who makes her character a cartoon rather than a real person. The worst is Lupe Ontiveros, previously having done good work in Desperate Housewives, but here acts like she is in her first community theatre production. It doesn’t help that her scenes with Vidal are strangely edited and their relationship dynamic changes from moment to moment, so blame might rest with the director.
It’s too bad, because there are some interesting ideas and the mirror device is fun. But there are too many movies in here to make it worth taking the time to check out. Late night cable viewing is probably where this is best suited.
Special Features include: Behind the scenes footage, one deleted scene, and commentary.
Special Features include:
- Behind the scenes footage
- Deleted scene
- Commentary
Kevin Taft is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles with an unnatural attachment to Star Wars, horror films, and Britney Spears. He also would very much like to be adopted by Steven Spielberg.
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