'Dark Mirror' review

If you look too closely, you won't like what you see

By Geoff Berkshire

Posted May 6, 2009

Metromix

Almost immediately after aspiring photographer Deborah (Lisa Vidal) moves into a new house with her husband (David Chisum) and young son (Joshua Pelegrin), she starts to notice strange things. Like mirrors that reflect doorways that aren’t really there and a menacing hooded figure that appears out of nowhere. With the help of her mystery loving mother (Lupe Ontiveros), Deborah discovers that one of the home’s previous residents was a successful painter whose family disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The buzz: This is director and co-writer Pablo Proenza’s first feature film, and it’s being released as a “midnight movie” selection of the video on demand service IFC Festival Direct. The title, though not the movie itself, was apparently inspired by 1946 thriller "The Dark Mirror" starring Olivia de Havilland. A classy touch for a movie without much budget or obvious marketing potential.

The verdict: Oh, the frustrating unpredictability of low budget horror. Sometimes no money is the key to great creativity and resourcefulness, and other times it just leads to everyone involved looking kind of foolish. “Mirror” falls into the second camp. It’s hollow, dull and too obviously inspired by Asian ghost stories. The exposition is clunky (a feng shui book Deborah consults for “research” contains a priceless diagram detailing how to trap an evil spirit in glass), the acting unexceptional, and the visual effects, well… it’s obvious there wasn’t much money to spend, so there’s no need to pile on too harshly. On the plus side, there are a few nice visual gimmicks involving the mirrors—especially in the decently executed climax—and, um, at least the movie is shorter than last year’s Kiefer Sutherland debacle “Mirrors.”

["Dark Mirror" is available via IFC Festival Direct video on demand from select cable companies.]