Mirrors is a 2008 American supernatural horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, and Amy Smart. The film was first titled Into the Mirror, but the name was later changed to Mirrors. Filming began on May 1, 2007, and it was released in American theaters on August 15, 2008.
The film was originally scripted as a straightforward remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film Into the Mirror which is rated 15 by KMRB. However, once Aja was brought on board and read the script, he was dissatisfied with the particulars of the original film's story. He decided to retain the original film's basic idea involving mirrors, and to incorporate a few of its scenes, but otherwise crafted a new story and script for his version of the movie. A sequel titled Mirrors 2 was released in 2010.
Plot[]
An ex-cop and his family are the target of an evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home.
Cast[]
- Kiefer Sutherland as Ben Carson
- Paula Patton as Amy Carson
- Amy Smart as Angela "Angie" Carson
- Cameron Boyce as Michael "Mikey" Carson
- Arika Gluck as Daisy Carson
- Mary Beth Peil as Anna Esseker
- John Shrapnel as Lorenzo Sapelli
- Jason Flemyng as Det. Larry Byrne
- Tim Ahern as Dr. Morris
- Julian Glover as Robert Esseker
- Josh Cole as Gary Lewis
- Ezra Buzzington as Terrence Berry
- Aida Doina as Rosá
Production[]
The movie began development in 2005 under the working title Into the Mirror, when music video director Sanji Senaka were in talks to direct the movie. The screenplay was initially written by Joe Gangemi and Jim Uhls, with rewrites by Michele and Kieran Mulroney. After Alexandre Aja signed on to direct, he brought on his partner Grégory Levasseur to completely rework the script.
Filming began in fall of 2006 and was filmed mostly in the Romanian Academy of Sciences building in Bucharest.
Music[]
Javier Navarrete used a prior existing work of classical music, "Asturias" by Isaac Albéniz, as the film's main theme.
Reception[]
Box office[]
In the United States, Mirrors opened in fourth position making $11.1 million. On its second weekend, it ranked at seventh position, making a further $5 million. The film made a total of $30 million in the United States. In foreign cinemas the film stayed in the top five for its opening weekend in several countries including France, Mexico and United Kingdom, where it consistently ranked #2. It topped in the Hong Kong box office with $228,481 and stayed at the third place in Philippines and Spain. In South Korea and Russia it took #4 at the box office in its opening weekend. The film grossed $72,436,439 worldwide, including $41,745,000 from foreign cinemas.
Critical response[]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 15% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 88 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads "Inconsistency and listless plot make this horror remake a less-than-frightening time at the movies." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 35 out of 100, based on 13 reviews.
Sequel[]
On October 8, 2009, the director Victor Garcia announced that he would begin to shoot a sequel, which would be released direct-to-DVD by 20th Century Fox. The sequel was released on October 19, 2010.
