Search - Mirrors 2 (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

The Return of some Reflective Souls!

Vlitch Godunov | Birmingham, MI United States | 10/15/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"OK, let's get this straight from the start - this is not only a stand-alone film from the Hollywood original, featuring a smaller, more contained B-movie cast, but it's actual premise defies even the most abstract of racing imaginations!

And, let's face it, the original didn't exactly light Hollywood up either, the best part of that movie being its main character's last minute of horrific self-realization. Anyway, in this low-budget sequel (Producer - "There's less effects, but they're more effective"!), our hero Max (Nick Stahl - 'Terminator 3'), a man already recovering from a traumatic car accident, takes a job as a night security guard at his father's new Mayflower Department Store - now relocated in New Orleans.

Complete with the huge horror mirror from the first movie, once another night guard is bloodied up whilst looking into it, Max himself begins to see visions of a young mysterious woman in the store's mirror. Not quite knowing what is going on, he seeks therapy, swallows pills, but nothing seems to rid him of the nightly visions.

Directed by Spanish filmmaker Victor Garcia ('Return to House on Haunted Hill'), a man who can barely speak English himself, 'Mirrors 2' does have things going for it. It has some very inventive deaths, some really well-created, and usually bloody horror moments, and the always stunning, Emmanuelle Vaugier ('Two & A Half Men'). It was also filmed in a brand new, state of the art New Orleans museum, and the underground tunnel scenes were all filmed on location too!

Personally, I think the grisly slaughters make the movie, but the shower one (as a red-blooded male) is the cherry on the cake re: Christy Carlson Romano (voice of 'Kim Possible') ... because, she has the thinnest legs I have ever seen placed on a tight mid-section, with some big-ass fake boobs atop for good (counter) measure!

Anyway, back on track and coming full circle, the one thing I didn't get is the reason for the horrific car crash at the beginning. I mean, Max is driving in blinding, pouring rain, car lights shining constantly in his face, the wind howling around outside, and the asks his girl next to him to remove her seat belt, crawl over/past him into the back seat, to simply dip into his bag and remove a ring - to propose to her with there and then!! Come on, filmmakers, a) that's hardly a romantic moment for such an occasion, and b) seriously, in all that rain and bad visibility?!

The middle of the movie staves off from any horror, trying to tie up all the plot points for you, to allow you the chance to guess exactly what did happen that one night back two months ago - and, more importantly, which of the characters is the main killing culprit! And that's where it succeeds, although the film does feel like it's going in slow motion for some 30 minutes!

Come the ending, the final ending, yup, it's clearly guessable (both times!), but by then, and as long as you can suspend even Hollywood belief for the movie's duration, you've had a fun ride.

The Other Side: Making 'Mirrors 2' (9:30)
Keeping it Real: The Visual and Special Effects of 'Mirrors 2' (12:30)
2 Deleted Scenes
Sneak Peaks

"

5 for the entire BD product, not the film

Steve Kuehl | Ben Lomond, CA | 10/19/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Admittedly I had low expectations for this straight to home release film, but after watching all of the features, both films and reviewing everything they offered here, it makes for probably the lowest quality film that I have given 5-stars as a rating (meaning purchase worthy).

The story follows another night watchmen (Nick Stahl this time) having personal demon issues with himself and the mirrors in his workplace. They made the supporting cast fill some average roles, but they went way upscale on the eye candy with Christy Romano and Emmanuelle Vaughier. And yes, I have had a few customers already ask right away if the Internet rumors are true about Romano and her shower scenes - definitely (I doubt any Kim Possible fans are renting this anyway). The majority of the film relies on suspense and weak character stuff, and the actual mirror scenes number less than ten. But what makes this product go from a 3-star event are the supplements and BD quality.

* Making of, 9:39 minutes. Standard interview fare with film clips, decent material if you liked the film.
* Deleted scenes, 2:09 minutes. Two scenes thankfully deleted, skip them.
* VFX behind the scenes, 12:33. A definite watch for the VFX fans out there both of the film and in general. Covered every single shot in the film that required both heavy post-production and make-up/props.
* Bonusview: When selected a 35% sized PiP fills the screen as the point-of-view of the mirror ghosts. Essentially they reversed the actual film footage and added some corny stuff - for the few times it comes up in the film I was wasting my time on fast forward. - not worth it as it muddles the sound also.
* DVD, disc 2. Contains the original Korean Film Into the Mirror and this film with same special features (sans the PiP option).

The picture quality is outstanding, both in the day and night shots. Clarity was solid, even to the point of showing the production weaknesses. One mirror shot in particular on a tracking cam with mirror cracks moving multi-dimensionally looked great. The DTS was decent, with several of the effects scenes filling all of the channels.

Overall, a slow moving film with one or two bad effects, but mostly a nice test for clarity and seeing another film getting made in the New Orleans/Baton Rouge area. That, and the inclusion of extras gives this a full rating. Unrated but saw nothing to give it above a standard R, region coded A."