That is the rhetorical premise which the latest Korean film, Into the Mirror, seems to be riding on to pull the crowds and I think it worked. Albeit to a certain extent of course.
Rewind to last Saturday night;
Was sitting down at Maxwell food centre wif the regular blokes having our usual supper & kopi when we suddenly realized that we havent watched a movie together fer ages... Someone suggested watching an after-midnight horror-flick & though I was (and still am) a staunch non-advocate of this mindless genre, I reluctantly agreed to the idea eventually to prove that I'm not such a scaredy-cat as is widely believed. Moreover, it doesnt help that I was grossly outnumbered four against one. Hurrah for democracy~ ;p
Anyway, so there I was at one-thirty freaking am, milling about at Cathay Cineleisure and surprisingly, it was practically teeming with teens & young adults (who probably think it's sooo cool to be hanging out til late hours in orchard on a saturday). The Cheers store was brimming wif people and it felt rather ridiculous queuing up behind ten others, just to pay for a measly can of season's lemon tea... Thus my belief has been validated; most singaporeans are nocturnal creatures. And I must confess, late-night movie-watching is an interesting experience indeed. For one thing, do Not expect movie-goers to abide by the basic rules of cinema ethics, especially if the film in question is in a tongue non-native to singaporeans.
Back to Into the Mirror;
The Japanese have already perfected the psychological horror-flick genre with gems like The Ring and Ju-on but the Koreans have taken it a step further by infusing other elements such as melodrama to rejuvenate a saturated market (think The Tale of Two Sisters and Wishing Stairs). Into the Mirror, when it comes down to the fundamentals, does possess what it takes to be a good horror/ghost story. I shall not give out any spoilers at all because the unexpected twists in the movie are essential to its enjoyment, but rest assured, there were plenty of shock-moments in the first half of the film to satisfy even the most sated audience member. The second half however, suddenly took a turn into police-detective cum fantasy genre and this was where some of the more impatient individuals in the cinema might have dozed off as the pacing became abit draggy at certain parts. Nevertheless, the momentum picked up again somewhere near the end and culminated with a bewildering cliffhanger.
On the whole, Into the Mirror isnt your run-of-the-mill scare-fest at all but rather an intellectual stab at an already tired formula; so if you're looking to be scared out of your wits from start to finish, you better look elsewhere. UNfortunately though, director Kim Seong-Ho's attempts to intrigue me with unconventional and highly imaginative plot-reversals fall flat because of his inconsistency in keeping to the finer details of his story. Whatever the case, the film still offers some very excellent visuals and cinematography especially in the use of mirrors to create a perpetual atmosphere of eeriness. Not entirely engaging but not so bad a watch afterall. ~ my ratings: 3/5 stars! scare-factor: 3/5 stars!
