Horror films of late seem to be going from bad to worse. I keep hoping. I keep watching. And, I keep being disappointed. Sadly, Mirrors joins the pack of disappointments. It’s a total waste of film, and Kiefer Sutherland certainly deserves better material than this.

While employing every established horror cliché, Mirrors borrows liberally from plot points and elements of other horror films, chiefly the The Ring, The Others, The Shining, and even The Exorcist. . We’ve seen this all before. And we’ve seen it done better.

Mirrors is another in a growing list of American remakes of far superior Asian New Wave horror movies. This year alone we’ve been treated to remakes of The Eye (Hong Kong), One Missed Call (Japan), and Shutter (Thailand). As a fan of A-Horror, I can tell you that none of these remakes topped or even equaled their predecessors. Only a very few were just as good, The Ring the best of these. Director Alexandre Aja, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Gregory Levasseuf -- adapted from the Korean film, Geoul sokeuro-- gives us his trademark blood, guts, and gore in this pointless film.

Sutherland plays Ben Carson, an ex-police detective separated from his wife Amy (Paula Patton) and his two children Michael (Cameron Boyce) and Daisy (Erica Cluck). Suspended from the force, he is living with his sister while trying to get his life back on track. After Ben gets a job as the night-shift guard securing the burned down Mayflower Department Store building, strange things involving mirrors start happening. He begins to see disturbing images that feel real -- but he knows they aren’t. Naturally, no one believes him. Ben later learns his predecessor was found dead in the subway station, having been brutally murdered. Ever the detective, Ben investigates. His only clue? A name scribbled on a piece of paper.

As a horror fan, I expect to see a lot of violence and blood in films of this genre. Generally speaking, I don’t have a problem with that. As long as their use matches the context of the film or serves a larger theme, that’s fine. However, the brutality and graphic depictions of violence, blood, and gore in Mirrors completely turned me off and sickened me. They don’t serve the story and merely exist for their own sake. The almost loving way in which they are staged and filmed suggests the relish typical of torture porn, a sub-genre of horror that has risen in popularity in the wake of Saw. Mirrors belongs in this category of cruel, sadistic, and blood-soaked films I never want to watch again. I shouldn’t have been surprised, for filmmaker Aja belongs to the “splat pack,” a group specializing in torture porn movies.

On the acting front, Sutherland at least brings his trademark intensity to the role of a man trying desperately to solve the mirror mystery before harm befalls his family. Patton on the other hand, seems weak and unbelievable as his wife. The only asset she offers involves her impressive cleavage, which Aja takes every opportunity to showcase. He even outfits the actress in cami-tank tops, an odd clothing choice for the doctor she portrays.  

Further problems arise from some silly dialogue and unintentionally funny scenes. Despite the sickening blood splatter, I was laughing out loud at some of the things the poor actors were forced to say. When Sutherland realizes how dangerous the mirrors are, he runs around his house like a demented interior decorator yanking them off the walls and painting over the ones he can’t remove. Worst of all, we get another example of Hollywood’s twisted distortion of mental illness, in particular personality disorders and schizophrenia, devastating illnesses that cause suffering for those diagnosed with them.

To be fair, Aja is an adept director. He knows his genre well, can tell a story, generate suspense, and scare the audience.  Unfortunately, regarding the latter, he does so by resorting to run-of-the-mill scare tactics and conventions. However, despite all the tricks and gimmicks, this movie isn’t scary, at least not organically so.

Still, I did like the movie’s clever though predictable ending plus Aja’s use of Isaac Albeniz's “Asturias” as the main theme music, because that’s one of my favorite pieces of classical music.

Mirrors will probably make money at the box office, pandering as it does to the appetites of torture porn enthusiasts who will appreciate the blood. Also, younger viewers may feel awed by the horror gimmicks since they haven’t lived long enough to know better. But Mirrors does nothing to honor or advance the horror tradition. In fact, I’m adding it to my list of third-rate films that shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

(Released by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation and rated “R” for strong violence, disturbing images, language and brief nudity.)

Review also posted at www.moviebuffs.com.