Reflecting on Evil
By Edwin McRae - Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
I went to see ‘Mirrors’ last night. A damn fine horror. Low body count but high shock factor, with a gruesome death in there that I’ve simply never seen before. All the good freaky mirror tricks, plus a few new ones. Add the superb manipulation of suspense, and the macabre mise-en-scene (a burned out department store from an opulent yesteryear), and there really wasn’t much that left me wanting.
Mirrors have always freaked me out a bit. Who the hell is that staring back at me? Why does he obey me? And what happens if he doesn’t? ‘The Tain’ by China Melville is a great exploration of this. Our reflections, the Imagos, rebel and invade. Very creepy stuff, particularly the disembodied reflections – hands that pair up to make bird-like creatures that infest a post-apocalyptic London like the pigeons that are now all dead. And beautifully written, as always with China.
And to this day I have never been able to say ‘Candyman’ five times in a mirror. 
December 12th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Mirrors can freak me out too!