Month: January 2022

Horror Cinema: Into the Mirror (2003)

When I discover a horror movie that is a remake of another version, I make sure that I have seen the original before I watch the latest production. I learned about Mirrors that was made in 2008 and featured Kiefer Sutherland and was based on the South Korean 2003 movie Into the Mirror.

Into the Mirror had many satisfying spooky scenes where what was seen in the mirror was not what was happening in front of it.

The film’s premise was interesting, although I found that the narrative got a little wandering near the end when it was trying to make the spiritual horror make sense, which I did not think was completely necessary. Nevertheless, the movie had a good share of scary moments, and I would recommend it.

Sung-ho, Kim. Into the Mirror, Cinema Service, 2003.

IG Spotlight: Terror Detective

My favorite Instagram account these days is Terror Detective. It features reviews and recommendations on gory horror movies. At least once a week, I learn about a new movie that I promptly watch.

This week, I watched Joe D’Amato’s Beyond the Darkness (1979). I was intrigued by this comment on a post by Terror Detective about this movie: “Joe rode the wave of sleazy gorefests that flooded Italian cinema from the late 70s to mid 80s. This Italian Gothic flick was intentionally made with lots of gore to make people sick. D’Amato didn’t consider himself very good at creating suspense, so he figured he would go for the gross.”

There was certainly lots of gross, from bizarre sexual relations to an embalming to the chopping up of a body and putting it into an acid bath. From beginning to end, it was a bizarre movie, but, I’m glad for having watched it. For all the years of horror movies I’ve seen, I like that I am still discovering more!