Ed's Review Dot Com

Intrepid Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, WWE Studios,

Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan, James Lafferty, Miguel Sandoval

Kaylee (Karen Gillan) and Tim Russell (Brenton Thwaites) are orphaned brother and sister. They suffered a supernatural family horror 11 years ago and Tim has been locked up in a mental hospital getting treatment for his blocked memories and horrible dreams. Kaylee has been patiently waiting for Tim to be released to complete a promise that they made 11 years ago to destroy a mirror which Kaylee has been studying for all these years that seems to have a long, long history of death, torture, and suffering. Kaylee has acquired the mirror and they setup a wide range of precautions so that they can spend the weekend in the house with this mirror and destroy it once and for all.

When my wife and I saw this film on opening night, the theater was packed. There has not been a really good horror film in a while, and every seat was full. There were people sitting in the side aisles and on the stairs and landings all over the place, much to the disgrace of AMC who allowed this. There were dozens and dozens of people coming in even after the previews were over and the movie had started. They kept coming in, walking up both sides all the way to the back past the people that were sitting on the steps and then walking back down to look in the front section which was also packed and then plopping down on the floor on the sides and in front of the first row. With a start time of once every hour, they could have moved the people to the next showing, but of course they probably wanted to oversell them as well. These aisle sitters also left their drinks and half eaten popcorn in the aisles which created a rather scary exit for everyone. But the big theaters were taken up by Rio 2 and Captain America which seem to be creating all the buzz this weekend. I think Oculus was pretty popular as well although nobody seems to be wanting to talk about it at this point.

I’ll talk about it. I am a sucker for horror films. I typically really enjoy these when they’re well made. Unfortunately a lot of them lately resort to shaky handheld cameras, vomit inducing camera motion, and stupid “found footage” fake stories. This is a classic horror film that can be summed up in a single word, “dread”. It is a dread filling movie. Throughout you are guessing what is about to happen, and you know it is going to be BAD. The only partially negative part of this film is the fact that when it’s over, you will still know something bad just happened, but you won’t have any idea what it was. Sometimes this is a brilliant way to tell a story, and I suppose that really adds to the terror this film produces. It is constantly jumping back and forth from past to present, and since the kids are in the same house their parents died in, it is easy to cut back and forth, even in the same scene. You will never be sure which are memories of what they remember, back story for the benefit of the audience, or actual crazy people who think they’re reliving the past. You’ll never know who is insane and who is normal, and what is supernatural, what is imagined, and what is simply insanity. The premise is so simple. What we know is that there is definitely something wrong with that mirror. But how much is the mirror, and how much is fear of the mirror is hard to tell, and when it’s over, you just have to figure out for yourself what you think you saw. This is an excellent filmed horror film and the soundtrack add a wonderful bit of fear inducing panic as well. The actors, both the adult Kaylee and Tim, and the young versions of the pair are also excellent. They equally tell the story and do a fantastic job of bringing us in. Although there are certainly many jump out of your seat moments, there is a classic horror feel to this movie as well. It builds suspense bit by bit, piece by piece until you just have to look away. You will be amazed at how wonderful it is to have a horror movie filmed with professional camera equipment instead of a shaky handheld camera phone movie. What a relief. But the intense dread and fear will build to a peak. If you’re a fan of real horror movies, this is one like the old ones used to be, and the makers of this film should be very proud. If you are not afraid of scary movies, then go see this one in the theater. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog