Do any of you hardcore horror fanatics remember Mirror Mirror from 1990? It had a theatrical release, but garnered much of its popularity on the shelves of Blockbuster Video stores nationwide and became a late-night cable staple for several years throughout the decade. And yes, it should be considered somewhat “popular” since it spawned three sequels. If you haven’t seen the original Mirror Mirror, don’t worry because Dark Force Entertainment, headed by Demon Dave, has released it in 4K UHD. That means you OG fans of this B-movie classic can relive some sense of nostalgia from that decade, now in 4K clarity.
Let’s dive into the film’s plot. Megan Gordon (Rainbow Harvest, Old Enough) and her mother Susan (the legendary Karen Black, Five Easy Pieces and Trilogy of Terror) move to L.A. and into a new home to begin their equally new lives. The previous residents left behind a lot of their belongings that are being sold by an auctioneer named Emelin (Yvonne de Carlo, The Munsters). One of the left behinds is a large, ominous, and mysterious mirror in Megan’s claimed bedroom, which she instantly becomes enchanted with.
William Sanderson (Blade Runner) also pops in for a small role (even though he is prominently promoted on the film’s original poster), shacking up with Karen Black’s character.
Being a goth and pretty timid, Megan obviously has a hard time fitting in with the beautiful people at her new high school, who proceed to torment her as bratty teens seem to do. The offending clique is headed up by class president-wannabe Charleen (Charlie Spradling, Puppet Master 2) and her boo Jeff (Tom Breznahan, The Brain). Megan has a mega man-crush on the latter, which plays into major events later in the film. The only people she has in her corner are Charleen’s competition for the class president seat, Nikki (Kristin Dattilo, Chris Issak Show) and her boyfriend Ron (Ricky Paull Goldin, The Blob), who is a bit reluctant to accept Nikki’s new connection to Megan.
While all this high school drama is going on, Emelin researches the history of the mirror and discovers that this reflector is no bueno and needs to be handled. This coincides with weird stuff happening to Megan, like her seeing the mirror oozing blood and having an unsettling zombie dream about her late father. Add in the fact that her teacher Mr. Anderson (Stephen Tobolowsky, Memento) almost has a fatal asthma attack and Charleen gets a wicked nosebleed, and Megan soon embraces the power of the mirror that she believes will help her right all of the horrible wrongs in her life. But we’ve seen enough of these films to know it is all going to go terribly wrong for her.
Is this film by director/co-writer Marina Sargenti (Lying Eyes) original? Eh, not really. Many detractors have criticized it for pulling in certain ideas from other better-made horror films and it’s hard to argue against that critique. Let’s check all the tropes. An antique containing evil? Check. Sympathetic outcast as the lead character? Check. Popular crowd being mean to the outcast? Check. Outcast getting powers that seem to help initially? Check. Outcast gets revenge against the mean popular crowd? Check. Outcast eventually gets overrun by the powers and things go completely off the rails? Check. Teenagers played by actors who are obviously in their late-20s? Check.
But in its defense, many horror films back then (and even in future decades) were very derivative and recycled each other because certain formulas worked and kept making money. It also seemed that people in general did not really make a fuss about the recycling of horror concepts, as long as they were having fun. Like many, this is one of those films that could only exist back in the ’80s. Yes, it was released in 1990, but it was filmed in the ’80s and it shows— with its vibe and especially the hairstyles.
The lesser-known Dark Force Entertainment might not be boxing in the same weight class as some other companies, being a younger company with a smaller staff and budget, but they do have a moderate selection with distinct packaging and presentation. And you can always tell they put a lot of love and effort into their transfer attempts, because they always look great. Their offering of Mirror Mirror is no different, with a 4K HDR scan from the original 35mm negative. This film’s last home media release was by Anchor Bay in 2004, and it has been OOP for quite some time before Dark Force decided to accept the challenge of giving it a much-needed upgrade.
There’s even a bonus feature of Demon Dave and John Rubin of Vinegar Syndrome providing a commentary worth listening to. The only disc included is 4K, no standard Blu-ray like other releases, so please be advised.
You can pick up a copy at Dark Force Entertainment. The limited edition, glow-in-the-dark slipcover sold out fast, but you can still grab a standard edition with the same great transfer.
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