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Content
Whether or not you liked movies like Blair Witch Project
or The Sixth Sense, you have to admit that suggestive
horror is almost always more effective than blatant blood
and gore. Those things (sometimes quite small) that the
audience sees and the character usually never does, help
build the tension immensely, and this film makes great
use of this. For example, at one point, Tim is addressing
one of the cameras and is facing away from the mirror,
which has been covered by a large sheet. We see the POV
of the camera through the monitor, and behind Tim, a pair
of bloodstained bare feet are visible just beneath the
sheet. As Tim continues talking, the feet slowly walk
forward, and begin pulling the sheet with it, revealing
a silhouette of a man. Then Tim, still oblivious, turns
around to point to the mirror, and there's nothing there.
And while no bloody corpse crawls out of the mirror and
Tim never gets sucked into the mirror, there is a constantly
growing anticipation that something bad is definitely
going to happen.
Adding
to this is Scott Graham's phenomenal acting; it is very
demanding for an actor to have to carry an entire project
all by himself, even for 32 minutes. Scott's portrayal
of the determined Tim at the outset is very strong and
focused, and draws us in immediately. This in turn makes
his descent into madness even more powerful, because he
starts out so "together". Hats off also to writers
Mike Flanagan and Jeff Seidman for putting together such
a smooth, creative, and compelling story. The pacing is
perfect, not too rushed and not too tedious.
The
ending is in a sense both resolved (because he dies…
don't get your hopes up) and unresolved (you're not exactly
sure how he dies, since everyone else has apparently died
in some obvious, horrific way). Then again, this story
is, according to Flanagan, "the first installment--but
third chapter--in what's intended to be a [nine-part]
horror anthology"; so there's a good chance we'll
find out what happened to Tim from a perspective other
than his own delusional state.
Visual
Look
The film is set in a bare white-walled room, which adds
to the feeling of separation from reality. Clothing and
props are very simple, thus returning attention to the
focus of the story: the mirror. While there aren't a whole
lot of special effects, the ones that are used are done
well, particularly a semi-transparent apparition that
flashes briefly by Tim as he is trying to rouse himself
from a nap. Similar subtle effects touches appear at other
times, and are very effective. Additionally, the lighting--which
could have been problematic because the whole room is
white--was very well done with no noticeable white-balancing
problems.
The
camerawork is by and large very well done. I especially
liked the camera POVs as seen through the monitors; it
adds an element of objectivity and honesty, which is especially
helpful when dealing with a character whose sense of reality
is constantly shifting. However, there are several instances
at the beginning where the camera movement is fairly shaky,
and in one place, where it is re-centered on the actor
while he is speaking. These are rather jerky, mechanical
movements that jolt the viewer out of the feeling that
they are the only ones in the room; it reminds them that
there's a cameraman there, which makes it slightly more
difficult for them to get sucked in to the story. These
camera movements and jolts are fine in the second part
of the film, as the storyline has built up the suspense
by that time to make sudden movements feel intentional
and frightening.
To
further add to the visual look, the intro and outro credits
are extremely professional, feeling very much like the
credits in an M. Night Shyamalan film, with a nice distortive
dissolve in and dissolve out.
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