MIRROR MIRROR [1990] (REVIEW)

Dir. Marina Sargenti

Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield

Mama Firefly herself, Karen Black takes a backseat in a teen horror which sees one unfortunate outcast come in contact with a magic mirror. Severe consequences follow as she does what teenagers do and fights back against bullies and love rivals to death.

There are moments of greatness, a shower scene that gets difficult to watch, practical effects and some star actors but it never quite gels to a cohesive film. There's plenty of slow motion and each death scene is overlong to the point where you're screaming at the screen to get on with it. Not to mention the fairytale ending that proves the mirror isn't as evil as the posters would suggest.

Rainbow Harvest and her school "friends" really hold this film together and there a glimpses of promise that this could have been a companion to the likes of FRIDAY THE 13TH, PROM NIGHT and CARRIE however behind poor direction, the film really does know how to make dying dull. Stretched out death scenes intercut with other scenes takes any absorption in the ongoing events withdrawn to the point where even some of horror's most grizzly death scenes are little more than footnotes for much better films.

MIRROR MIRROR could have and should have been better but it also shows reflection on a rather bleak time for horror... the early 90s, a transition from all out video nasty to dramatic teen horror and it shows elements of both. Unfortunately, it's execution is just sloppy and Sargenti may want to reflect on this and look at what could have been. Interestingly, the film spawned two more sequels which don't hold much better for a franchise that has long been forgotten.