Mirror Mirror (Marina Sargenti, 1990)
Those connoisseurs of trash cinema over at Bleeding Skull compiled a list of their favourite indie horror films directed by women recently. The inclusion of Marina Sargenti's Mirror Mirror (1990) piqued my interest the most. Teen angst films, particularly those of the horror genre, serve as an allegory for the wider world. Consequently, celebrated horror films such as Carrie, Halloween and Scream continue to resonate today. Mirror Mirror is another teen angst horror which caught me unaware and impressed me.
The film opens with a sepia-filtered house in 1950s Iowa. In one room, Elizabeth Weatherfield is brutally murdered by her sister Mary in front of a large mirror. The narrative then shifts to the present day where Megan Good (Rainbow Harvest) and her widowed mother Susan (Karen Black) move into the house of horror. Unbeknownst to Megan, the ornate furniture in her new bedroom is a demonic mirror with supernatural powers.
Let's discuss the elephant in the room: Rainbow Harvest (with a name like that, her parents must have been hippies) is the mirror image (pun intended) of Winona Ryder. The resemblance is beyond uncanny. Obviously, the director of the film, Marina Sargenti, realised this having her star dressed like Winona's most iconic goth character, Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice (1988). Speaking of the Tim Burton classic, in a scene where Megan, Susan, and her new fella Mr. Veze (a pony-tailed William Sanderson), are dining on fried chicken, you're almost expecting them to burst into a possessed song and dance of Harry Belafonte's Day-O. Mr. Veze correlating visions of maggots on his chicken drumstick to a Vietnam flash back, is still entertaining, regardless.
The newcomer being a blight to the ignorant locals is a familiar cinematic trope. Therefore, it's unsurprising that the reserved goth is subjected to ridicule at her new high school. Her appearance attracts the mockery of the school’s bully queen Charleen Kane (Charlie Spradling) and her big haired, shoulder padded clique. One of the teachers, Mr Anderson (Stephen Tobolowsky), also exhibits unjustified hostility towards the new student.
Fortunately, Nikki Chandler (Kristin Datillo), a likeable student who is running for class president against Charleen, befriends the outcast. Much to the dismay of Nikki's boyfriend, Ron (Ricky Paull Goldin), who finds Megan's behaviour becoming increasingly disturbing, the pair become inseparable.
The high school scenes draw inspiration from another film starring Winona Ryder - Heathers (1989). Replace Christian Slater's teen psychopath J.D. with a free-standing, demonic mirror and that's essentially Mirror Mirror in a nutshell; which explains my appreciation for this film.
The mirror's demonic powers grow more nerfarious throughout the course of the film. At first, it's the family pooch being found bloody and dead in the house, by Susan. Bizarrely, she places the dead pooch on the kitchen counter. Even Megan questions her mother's action. This is immediately followed by the apparition of Megan's dead father in her bedroom. As they hug in the darkness, she screams at her father's horribly, disfigured face.
A notable scene is set in the school cafeteria. From across the tables Charleen and her companions laugh at the new student, with the exception of her boyfriend Jeff (Tom Bresnahan), who is exasperated by her pettiness. Evidently, the demonic mirror is also annoyed. Blood drips down the glass object simultaneously with Charleen’s epic nosebleed.
Yvonne De Carlo plays Emelin, an employee of the leasing agent letting out the Weatherfield house. She discovers a book revealing the significance of the mirror and its dark history. The character is the film’s equivalent of Dr. Loomis.
The kills are unexpectedly vicious, in what initially comes across as a fairly derivative and safe teen horror. The expected demise of Charleen is particularly nasty. The bully is scolded to death from the pipes above her in the school showers. Her death is intercut with her classmates playing in the swimming pool. The aftermath has Megan congratulating Nikki that she is the new class president since her rival has died. Tact isn't exactly Megan's strong point.
Ron is murdered in the bath by an evil mimic of his second love, Nikki. Not before serving up an epic sandwich. The irony of him saying "Oh, ladies and gentlemen! May I say, at this time, I may die a very happy man?" when sampling his culinary creation is not lost. The tragedy of it all being the poor lad never got to finish his snack.
Susan succumbs to the dreaded hand stuck in the garbage disposal. It may be a well worn cliché, but it's still a tense scene as the gruesome situation unfolds. Why on earth anyone would even consider installing such a dangerous contraption in their home?. It does make for great horror inside a kitchen, however.
Apart from the aforementioned films starring Winona Ryder, Mirror Mirror also bears some similarity to Christine (1983) in terms of its protagonist. Megan’s obsession with the mirror is strikingly reminiscent of Arnie Cunningham falling under the spell of his blood-red Plymouth Fury. While possession from a demonic force is not exclusive to both films, Mirror Mirror evokes John Carpenter’s effort with how it unravels over the course of the film. There also elements of Hellraiser (1987) in its finale inside the Weatherfield house. The score changing to a more orchestral one reinforces it further.
Based on a screenplay by Annette and Gina Gascone, the creators of the Deadtime Stories children books, Mirror Mirror is anything but a kid-friendly horror film; despite its early impression of a Young Adult story. It's considered something of a spiritual predecessor to Fisher Price horror, The Craft (1996), a beloved favourite for alt-girls, Tumblrinas, and Letterboxd hags but Mirror Mirror operates without a safety net, making it far edgier and mean-spirited offering than its coven-themed successor. The fact that it has the look and feel of a STV film, also caught me off guard. I assumed this would be some early '90s slop, fortunately that wasn't the case.
Amazingly, Mirror Mirror spawned three sequels. Which makes me even more disappointed with myself; not knowing there was a horror film franchise I wasn't aware of, until recently.
You can watch this largely forgotten horror for free on YouTube.
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