Horror Movie Review: Into the Mirror (2003)

Into the Mirror is a South Korean horror film that was directed by Kim Sung-ho, releasing in 2003. The film focuses on a series of grisly deaths in a department store, all involving mirrors, and the troubled detective who investigates them.

After accidentally causing the death of his partner during a hostage situation, Wu Young-min quits the police force to work for his uncle as head security of Dreampia, a shopping centre. Dreampia is currently in the rebuilding stages as a fire destroyed parts of it five years ago. The re-opening was scheduled in a few days, until some strange murders begin to occur in the building. The victims, all employees of the mall, have committed suicide in very gruesome and unconventional ways.

Young-min is very suspicious about the police explanation, and starts his own investigation. The more clues they stumble on, the more strange and unnatural the truth becomes. Are the mirrors somehow involved?

Into the Mirror starts like a house on fire with a very strong opening third filled with creative kills, setting up the premise wonderfully. Unfortunately, it takes a swift turn towards something far less interesting beyond that strong start. It becomes less of a horror a more of a detective, soap opera. Everything slows right down with a number of scenes feeling like nothing more than padding. Worse still, there are a number of aspects surrounding the story and premise that are left unexplained.

The concept surrounding the killer mirrors is a great idea. There is certainly some creativity here but I cannot deny I would have liked to see even more.

There is nothing technically wrong with the aspects of Into the Mirror that I didn’t enjoy. The acting is good and the investigatory moments are nice enough. This just isn’t what I signed up for and I imagine many will feel the same way. In a lot of ways, it felt to me like there were two completely different movies at play which leads to a very middle of the road outcome. Additionally, the ending does provide a neat twist but it sort of falls apart the more you think about it.