Into The Mirror (Geoul Sokeuro)

[Jon]

Into The Mirror
2 out of 5

Thanks to Lovemunkey for the recommendation in response to a post about the remake starring Kiefer Sutherland. But on reflection (snigger!), I couldn't see the attraction.

Mysterious deaths threaten the reopening of a shopping centre, closed after an accident the year before. A former detective works as a security guard while trying to come to terms with a past tragedy and believes there is a supernatural element to the killings. His former colleague tries to follow a more conventional explanation and between them they uncover corruption behind the supposed accident.

Lots of fantastic ideas that continually run out of steam. The two deaths early on were promising, but literally nothing happened after to build on them. Especially as I thought it was going to focus more on them having issues with guilt (a metaphor for having to deal with their own ghosts), but that seemed to get left behind and the actual resolution was more contrived or detached.

Spoiler (hover to show)

Put another way, they died immediately after doing something dishonest, but later it is suggested they were killed because of their links to the fire. I found that jarring.

But whatever the reason, the execution (of the scene and the character!) was excellent. The atmosphere is fantastic, so why wasn't it used more? When the premise suggests "security guard" and "scary mirrors" I thought there might be at least one scene of him wandering around dark, empty corridors after hours with just his torch and reflection for company. Never happened! 

I did like the idea of the split personality theories and obviously a lot of work was put into that angle, but at the end of the day, they were making a horror film and forgot to make it scary. The premise gives the story a huge margin for shocks, but by the end I was sure I was just watching a decent police detective story where someone tried to shoehorn in a supernatural element and really it was just getting in the way. Motivation was weak, resolution weaker.

The final scene encompasses all the problems I had with it. It's creepy and effective, but a step behind the story and it didn't fit in entirely with what happened:

Spoiler (hover to show)

Can the bloody nurses see him or not? If he's dead, he wouldn't be in the hospital at all, let alone able to sign his name, forwards or backwards. ::

I'm more than willing to accept I've missed the point, leading to my confusion. But that's what second viewings are for and sadly, there wasn't enough going on and the characters were too thin to support putting it on again. I know from the Trailer Park thread that Lovemunkey holds this in very high regard, so I'd love for him to give me a reason for repeats! 

These themes seem to crop up a lot in Korean film. If you like this, I would recommend Some (which resembles this as a detective thriller with a supernatural element) and A Tale of Two Sisters.

Speaking of the trailer for the the remake, after seeing this, I really don't know what to think. Obviously they're increasing the horror, which should make it more entertaining (and Kiefer does seem to be on his own a lot, which as I said before, is surely the point), but the original story did have some substance and strong ideas about dual personalities. In typical Hollywood fashion I can see them turning this into a gore-fest with a really weak reference to duality. Which would be a shame. There's a bloody good film stuck in here somewhere! Romero could have pulled it off, but although I like Aja's version of The Hills Have Eyes, I don't think he has the same touch.