The Mirror is a pretty good found-footage film that is elevated from being just average by a couple of things. You get some pretty decent, realistic performances by the three main characters (all flatmates - it's British, so maybe I'm predisposed to liking it), but mainly? It's a found footage film that doesn't take place in a haunted house/abandoned asylum or some other creepy location (the woods, caves, catacombs, whatever). It takes place in an apartment (or "flat," if you will), but unlike Apartment 143 or the Paranormal Activity series, it's not a previously haunted place that's being investigated. Your getting into these folk's lives *before* the shit goes down, so while it's a little slow at times, you get a good feel for the calm before the storm. And in this case, the storm takes the shape of, um... a haunted mirror.
Before you start laughing - it's actually treated pretty seriously. (And looking into it a bit, there are quite a few films about haunted mirrors... not sure if it's quite a sub genre, but still.) Basically, the found footage aspect is that these three flatmates (Matt, his girlfriend Jemma, and his friend Steve) are planning to win $1,000,000 in the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge - a real contest run by the James Randi Educational Foundation. Their plan is to provide video proof of the paranormal after they purchase a haunted mirror from an eBay-ish seller online. (The real contest would not accept video-only proof, but whatever.) They've done their research and think they have the real deal - they've got some fancy-ass cameras to catch the haunted mirror in action (one static camera that just sits facing the mirror, a nice handheld, and a go-pro). And of course, since this is a horror movie, the mirror *is* actually haunted, some scary shit goes down, and things spiral out of control.
I guess the first thing you should know is that The Mirror is not a thrill-a-minute type Found Footager. It's more like Paranormal Activity (one) where they get a lot of tension from long static shots of nothing happening. I know, a lot of people hate that shit... but I'm all about it. And it's just pretty well done. The action is usually framed in such a way that you are constantly on the lookout for some movement or creepy shenanigans. (Note: generally nothing happens.) So if you can't swing the slow build, The Mirror is not for you.
It's also kind of cool to see how the mirror's presence manifests itself. You really end up with more of a possession film, and the scares build at a slow (but steady) pace. It starts with a little sleepwalking, then leads to picking up a knife and just wandering around, and then... I won't spoil it. But the go-pro camera is put to good use. It's certainly not the first film to use one, but I thought the way it was used here (especially outside of the apartment) was genuinely chilling.
The Mirror does an okay job staying true to its found footage roots. Other than the typical "why are they still filming this?" I didn't notice any glaring flaws. Maybe there are one or two times where there had to be a phantom camera man, but there's no music and no cheap editing tricks. Although it *does* have both traditional credits and a note that says "this footage was found by police," so it kind of tries to have it both ways.
There isn't a ton of gore or anything too outrageous in the film. The main concept behind the horror scenes seems to be "remember how scary it was in Paranormal Activity when Katie just stood there hovering over Micah?" If you're like "yeah, that was scary," you'll dig The Mirror. Lots of possessed folks blankly standing around. (Note: I think that's scary.) There's a little more gore and thrills here than in Paranormal, but that film is an obvious influence.
Ultimately, I liked The Mirror. It is kind of slow, and I'm sure that would turn a lot of people off. And even though the novelty of the "nothing-happens" scare has kind of worn off, it's still effective if it's well done. And it is here. The Mirror isn't going to change your mind on found footage flicks, but if you're a fan and don't mind a slow build I think it's worth checking out. It kind of takes found footage back to its roots - simple story, nothing flashy, and surely very cheap. But bottom line is that it works.
I would recommend this film.
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