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Mirrors

 Mirrors
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TVTItem
 Mirrors
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Mirrors
 Mirrors
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Mirrors
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Mirrors is a 2008 horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, and stars Kiefer Sutherland. The film was first titled Into the Mirror, but the name was later changed to Mirrors. Filming began on May 1, 2007, and it was released in American theaters on August 15, 2008.The film was originally scripted as a straightforward remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film Into the Mirror, which is rated PG. However, once Aja was brought on board and read the script, he was dissatisfied with the particulars of the original film's story. He decided to retain the original film's basic idea involving mirrors, and to incorporate a few of its scenes, but otherwise crafted a new story and script for his version of the movie. Mirrors is the first Aja film to achieve an R rating without the need for scenes to be cut.The movie follows Ben, a former police officer, as he takes an overnight security guard position in a burned-down department store. As might be expected, an evil force in the mirrors takes the form of your reflection, and whatever harm it imposes on itself happens to the real person. Now Ben has to figure out how to stop it before it kills his family, then him.A direct-to-DVD sequel was released in 2010, apparently unrelated to the events of the first one. When Max, who is recovering from a traumatic accident, takes a job as a nighttime security guard, he begins to see visions of a young mysterious woman in the store's mirror.The 1979 album by the Blue Öyster Cult, called Mirrors, is an entirely different thing even though some peculiarities of TV Tropes' formatting appear to have linked the two.
 Mirrors
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2023-10-08T09:46:07Z
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2023-10-08T09:46:07Z
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Dropped link to Fanservice: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Dropped link to GlasgowGrin: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to Halloween1978: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to Jawbreaker: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to NegimaMagisterNegiMagi: Not a Feature - ITEM
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DBTropes
 Mirrors / int_141a6acb
type
Madness Mantra
 Mirrors / int_141a6acb
comment
Madness Mantra: Gary Lewis, and all the night watchmen before him, either created a Room Full of Crazy, left a Dying Clue, or tried to pass on verbal messages (of varying degrees of sanity) to both explain their actions and get someone to help free the trapped spirits: Esseker. It isn't until Ben with his policeman's skills (and his friend on the force doing some clandestine digging in the records) that anyone is able to figure out what it actually means, then put the pieces together and track it down so they can resolve the Unfinished Business/Ghostly Goals of Mayflower. On a related note, Gary at least seems to have come to the erroneous conclusion that what the mirrors want is to be properly taken care of, since just before his death he tries to apologize for trying to "escape" them and then proceeds to madly clean and polish the mirrors to make amends. Lorenzo later explains he became obsessed with polishing and cleaning the ones in the store.
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Mirrors / int_141a6acb
 Mirrors / int_177a6464
type
Genre Shift
 Mirrors / int_177a6464
comment
Genre Shift: Most of the movie is a horror film, plain and simple. However, the 15 minutes where Ben holds a nun at gunpoint, saying, "My family will not die today," then engaging in a gun/fistfight with the demon yanked from the mirror, seemed far more like a cross between 24 and Mortal Kombat. Also, much of the story which is not action or horror plays off as a cross between a mystery and a psychological thriller. (The latter is especially apparent when, apart from the scenes the viewer sees of Angela's death and Michael seeing the burning woman in the mirror, it isn't clear whether the supernatural events are real or all in Ben's head, and those of each of the night watchmen before him.)
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Mirrors / int_177a6464
 Mirrors / int_17d55c6e
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Nuns Are Spooky
 Mirrors / int_17d55c6e
comment
Nuns Are Spooky: This gets taken to an extreme during the climax after Anna is re-possessed, since the character in question had gone into seclusion and become a nun to try atone for her past, only to then become a horrific monster courtesy of the mirror demon.
 Mirrors / int_17d55c6e
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Mirrors / int_17d55c6e
 Mirrors / int_19102429
type
Twist Ending
 Mirrors / int_19102429
comment
Twist Ending: After killing demon-possessed Anna, saving his family, and freeing the spirits trapped in the mirrors, Ben ends up trapped in them himself. Alone. Forever. Originally there was also going to be another twist where Ben's body sits up in the ambulance, now possessed by the demon since his soul is in the mirrors. This would have made the ending a complete Downer Ending, considering what would have happened when 'he' went home to his family...
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Mirrors / int_19102429
 Mirrors / int_1994ba0b
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Gone Horribly Right
 Mirrors / int_1994ba0b
comment
Gone Horribly Right: Dr. Kane's experiments at St. Matthew's hospital. He just wanted to rid Anna of her demons. He did, all right, literally—but what he didn't realize is they were real, not merely a psychological disorder, so that when the demon became trapped in the mirrors, it was able to force all the inmates to kill each other and cause the closure of the hospital. By implication this even leads to his own death while awaiting trial for his unethical practices (with a shard of mirror, of course).
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Mirrors / int_1994ba0b
 Mirrors / int_1b65dfad
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The Cameo
 Mirrors / int_1b65dfad
comment
The Cameo: Julian Glover as Anna's older brother who tells Ben her history.
 Mirrors / int_1b65dfad
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Mirrors / int_1b65dfad
 Mirrors / int_1cfd9ec9
type
Never Recycle a Building
 Mirrors / int_1cfd9ec9
comment
Never Recycle a Building: Both subverted and played straight. Originally when St. Matthew's was closed due to the slaughter of its inmates (and the arrest and death of one of its doctors), the hospital was in fact recycled, bought and transformed into a department store by the Mayflower Corporation. (Plaques and friezes from it are even incorporated into the new design, and the psych ward in the basement is retained too, albeit sealed off.) But then after the fire the building is allowed to stand vacant, unrepaired and undemolished, despite being in New York City; the explanation given is that the insurance company is still fighting over whether and how much to pay for it.
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Mirrors / int_1cfd9ec9
 Mirrors / int_1d8f9329
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Deadly Bath
 Mirrors / int_1d8f9329
comment
Deadly Bath: Or deadly shower, as it turns out.
 Mirrors / int_1d8f9329
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Mirrors / int_1d8f9329
 Mirrors / int_1fdaf8ff
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Ominous Latin Chanting
 Mirrors / int_1fdaf8ff
comment
Ominous Latin Chanting: During the opening credits.
 Mirrors / int_1fdaf8ff
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Mirrors / int_1fdaf8ff
 Mirrors / int_24321e44
type
Only Sane Man
 Mirrors / int_24321e44
comment
Only Sane Man: Nobody believes Ben. Angela gets killed because she didn't listen.
 Mirrors / int_24321e44
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Mirrors / int_24321e44
 Mirrors / int_2e5e04c0
type
Must Make Amends
 Mirrors / int_2e5e04c0
comment
Must Make Amends: Although it was the fault of the Mad Scientist psychiatrist, not her, Anna was well aware that the demon within her had escaped into the mirrors, and learns that this has led to countless deaths, and might cause Ben to lose his family too. Although she initially refuses to help Ben, after he forces her to go at gunpoint, she eventually agrees to return and absorb the demon back into her again. Helped along by her already being The Atoner (and having joined the church) for the things the demon made her do when she was possessed the first time.
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Mirrors / int_2e5e04c0
 Mirrors / int_2f329e3c
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Tomato in the Mirror
 Mirrors / int_2f329e3c
comment
Tomato in the Mirror: Literally (in the case of the mirror aspect, not being a tomato) for Ben discovering at the end that he is trapped in the mirror world.
 Mirrors / int_2f329e3c
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Mirrors / int_2f329e3c
 Mirrors / int_3b451101
type
Leaking Can of Evil
 Mirrors / int_3b451101
comment
Leaking Can of Evil: Although the Mirror Monster is confined to the mirror world, it can influence the real world in malevolent and deadly ways from there. Also, though it seems to mainly reside in the abandoned Mayflower building, when it's stalking someone, it can appear in mirrors wherever they are.
 Mirrors / int_3b451101
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Mirrors / int_3b451101
 Mirrors / int_3fe2b13f
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Ungrateful Bastard
 Mirrors / int_3fe2b13f
comment
Ungrateful Bastard: After regaining form in the real world, the Mirror Demon immediately savagely terrorizes and attempts to murder Ben.
 Mirrors / int_3fe2b13f
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Mirrors / int_3fe2b13f
 Mirrors / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
 Mirrors / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending/Downer Ending: On one hand, Ben's family is safe from harm. On the other hand, Ben himself is trapped in the mirror world.
 Mirrors / int_40cc0c7e
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Mirrors / int_40cc0c7e
 Mirrors / int_49f20c6a
type
Gory Discretion Shot
 Mirrors / int_49f20c6a
comment
Gory Discretion Shot / Sound-Only Death: Whatever Eleanor does to her killer once she gets her hands on him, it's apparently so ghastly that all we're allowed to see are blood splatters on the other side of the mirror accompanied by his blood-curdling screams. The mirror shatters soon after.
 Mirrors / int_49f20c6a
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Mirrors / int_49f20c6a
 Mirrors / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Mirrors / int_4e3d253b
comment
Originally there was also going to be another twist where Ben's body sits up in the ambulance, now possessed by the demon since his soul is in the mirrors. This would have made the ending a complete Downer Ending, considering what would have happened when 'he' went home to his family...
 Mirrors / int_4e3d253b
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Mirrors / int_4e3d253b
 Mirrors / int_4e7f703c
type
Wham Shot
 Mirrors / int_4e7f703c
comment
Although the very last shot of the movie is one of these as well, that's just the ultimate denouement. The real Wham Shot begins when Ben, after escaping from the battle with the demon, tries to get the cops, firemen, and emergency workers to pay attention to him...and then sees the backward text on one cop's badge. The camera lingers on this before flashing to all other signs and text in the scene, showing the same thing.
 Mirrors / int_4e7f703c
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Mirrors / int_4e7f703c
 Mirrors / int_504a1991
type
Body Horror
 Mirrors / int_504a1991
comment
Body Horror: All deaths the Mirror Demon caused. Oh, and the nun/Esseker thing.
 Mirrors / int_504a1991
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Mirrors / int_504a1991
 Mirrors / int_524f94d3
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Rape as Backstory
 Mirrors / int_524f94d3
comment
Rape as Backstory Rape and Revenge
 Mirrors / int_524f94d3
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Mirrors / int_524f94d3
 Mirrors / int_5735378d
type
Haunted House Historian
 Mirrors / int_5735378d
comment
Haunted House Historian: Played with. While Lorenzo tells Ben about the fire and even drops the helpful hint about it once being an Abandoned Hospital, he otherwise only vaguely mentions "the things that happened here" to make people not want to shop at the Mayflower if it were restored. It's up to Ben and his ex-partner to actually learn the true history of the place.
 Mirrors / int_5735378d
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Mirrors / int_5735378d
 Mirrors / int_5b47c8c7
type
Magic Mirror
 Mirrors / int_5b47c8c7
comment
Magic Mirror: Played with. The mirrors themselves aren't magic, other than their ability to remain unbreakable (or, sometimes, to reform after being cracked/shattered), since this is only thanks to the demon and the murdered souls trapped within them—but this is also what allows the ghosts to haunt Ben and the demon to torment him/kill anyone whose reflection appears in them. Whatever it is that allowed the imprisonment (perhaps due to the nature of the room Dr. Kane built—see Shown Their Work), it isn't until the souls are freed and the demon is destroyed that the mirrors can finally be broken and their curse lifted.
 Mirrors / int_5b47c8c7
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Mirrors / int_5b47c8c7
 Mirrors / int_5cc25ed
type
Not-So-Imaginary Friend
 Mirrors / int_5cc25ed
comment
Not-So-Imaginary Friend: In a deleted scene, Amy learns from Daisy that Michael has an imaginary friend "inside the mirrors." The implication remains in the scene where he's talking to his reflection, but the deleted scene is creepy on its own, and makes the former scene even more so in retrospect.
 Mirrors / int_5cc25ed
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Mirrors / int_5cc25ed
 Mirrors / int_5d86966a
type
Man on Fire
 Mirrors / int_5d86966a
comment
Man on Fire: Ben's body is on fire in one of his mirror visions at Mayflower.
 Mirrors / int_5d86966a
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Mirrors / int_5d86966a
 Mirrors / int_5d8e871d
type
Sympathetic Magic
 Mirrors / int_5d8e871d
comment
Sympathetic Magic: The Mirror Demon inflicts harm on people in the real world by possessing their reflections and inflicting harm/self-harm on them, which their physical bodies immediately mirror. Alternatively, it can torture people by causing harm to their reflections which stimulates their pain receptors, without the physical harm translating onto their bodies.
 Mirrors / int_5d8e871d
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Mirrors / int_5d8e871d
 Mirrors / int_5f91efd9
type
Creative Closing Credits
 Mirrors / int_5f91efd9
comment
Creative Closing Credits: Inverted. All the scenes of New York shown during the opening credits are depicted as mirror images constantly shifting, changing shape, joining, and splitting apart, with the text also appearing both backwards and forwards. This could be considered Foreshadowing of what happens to Ben at the end.
 Mirrors / int_5f91efd9
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Mirrors / int_5f91efd9
 Mirrors / int_6404635
type
Dramatic Shattering
 Mirrors / int_6404635
comment
Dramatic Shattering: As might be expected in a movie about (evil) mirrors. Both the normal version (when Anna lets herself get re-possessed in the Mad Scientist's mirror chamber) and a version with a Moment of Silence (when all the spirits are freed) occur.
 Mirrors / int_6404635
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Mirrors / int_6404635
 Mirrors / int_6439de78
type
Heroic Sacrifice
 Mirrors / int_6439de78
comment
Heroic Sacrifice: In the alternate ending, Michael is saved because Ben encounters him in the water and pushes him back out to the real world. It is implied this might be why he ends up in the mirror world at the end, because he took his place. Anna too, by agreeing to let the demon back into her in order to free all those trapped in the mirrors (and then destroy the demon, hopefully, with her death).
 Mirrors / int_6439de78
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Mirrors / int_6439de78
 Mirrors / int_6654b17b
type
Facial Horror
 Mirrors / int_6654b17b
comment
Facial Horror: Angela's death. The audience is treated to a gory, many-minutes long scene in which first the mirror reflection, then Angela herself, literally gets her jawbone ripped off.
 Mirrors / int_6654b17b
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Mirrors / int_6654b17b
 Mirrors / int_6941e30b
type
Room Full of Crazy
 Mirrors / int_6941e30b
comment
Gary Lewis, and all the night watchmen before him, either created a Room Full of Crazy, left a Dying Clue, or tried to pass on verbal messages (of varying degrees of sanity) to both explain their actions and get someone to help free the trapped spirits: Esseker. It isn't until Ben with his policeman's skills (and his friend on the force doing some clandestine digging in the records) that anyone is able to figure out what it actually means, then put the pieces together and track it down so they can resolve the Unfinished Business/Ghostly Goals of Mayflower.
 Mirrors / int_6941e30b
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Mirrors / int_6941e30b
 Mirrors / int_6b2b3b59
type
The Reveal
 Mirrors / int_6b2b3b59
comment
The Reveal: That dead woman in the mirror? You know, the one who's going around torturing/slaughtering everyone to death? She's the vengeful spirit of the new employee who died thanks to several characters trying to slander her by drugging and raping her, with one of them strangling her to death and then conspiring with the others to cover it up.
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Mirrors / int_6b2b3b59
 Mirrors / int_6bf93fc7
type
FanService
 Mirrors / int_6bf93fc7
comment
Fanservice: Christy Carlson Romano is completely naked and taking a shower. Fan Disservice: What happens to her soon after.
 Mirrors / int_6bf93fc7
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Mirrors / int_6bf93fc7
 Mirrors / int_6ee10e0
type
My Greatest Failure
 Mirrors / int_6ee10e0
comment
My Greatest Failure: The reason Ben needs a night watchman position in the first place, the accidental shooting that led to his removal from the force (until Angela and his old partner from the force do a bit of an intervention).
 Mirrors / int_6ee10e0
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Mirrors / int_6ee10e0
 Mirrors / int_6f572188
type
Another Dimension
 Mirrors / int_6f572188
comment
Another Dimension: And everything is backwards.
 Mirrors / int_6f572188
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Mirrors / int_6f572188
 Mirrors / int_77315f4f
type
You Have to Believe Me!
 Mirrors / int_77315f4f
comment
You Have to Believe Me!: The whole scene where Ben is first covering the mirrors and trying to explain to his wife, but especially when he shoots a mirror, thinking it will repair itself like the ones in the store.
 Mirrors / int_77315f4f
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Mirrors / int_77315f4f
 Mirrors / int_77c9a628
type
Your Soul Is Mine!
 Mirrors / int_77c9a628
comment
Your Soul Is Mine!: According to Esseker, the Mirror Demon collects the souls of the people it murders, putting it in the Drained After Death variety. Makes you wonder how many of the times Ben saw dead people if it was really them rather than the Mirror Demon mirroring them.
 Mirrors / int_77c9a628
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Mirrors / int_77c9a628
 Mirrors / int_7a2aba81
type
Exposition
 Mirrors / int_7a2aba81
comment
Exposition: The shooting that took Ben off the force (another cop he killed while undercover, as it turns out) is first revealed through a headline on a newspaper stuffed among his belongings, then hinted at with Lorenzo. This is to replace a deleted scene where instead his former partner explained about the shooting (and directed Ben to the job offer at Mayflower).
 Mirrors / int_7a2aba81
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Mirrors / int_7a2aba81
 Mirrors / int_7cc3f425
type
Moment of Silence
 Mirrors / int_7cc3f425
comment
Moment of Silence: Used very effectively for Ben's reaction to Angie's death. Appears again, oddly enough, near the end when all the mirrors shatter, with the only sound being either a sad orchestral piece or a haunting chorus.
 Mirrors / int_7cc3f425
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Mirrors / int_7cc3f425
 Mirrors / int_7e07f634
type
Paranoia Fuel
 Mirrors / int_7e07f634
comment
Paranoia Fuel: In-Universe, Ben's reaction to mirrors being everywhere around him, particularly during the breakdown scene where he tries to cover them all, is considered this by everyone else, especially his wife. Of course as the audience knows and his wife discovers, he's Properly Paranoid.
 Mirrors / int_7e07f634
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Mirrors / int_7e07f634
 Mirrors / int_7e577db
type
Slashed Throat
 Mirrors / int_7e577db
comment
Slashed Throat: This is how the Mirror Demon kills Gary Lewis in the opening scene. In the Unrated cut, Amy narrowly prevents her mirror duplicate from doing this to Daisy.
 Mirrors / int_7e577db
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Mirrors / int_7e577db
 Mirrors / int_7e6c0522
type
Off with His Head!
 Mirrors / int_7e6c0522
comment
Off With Her Head!: Jenna's death in the shower.
 Mirrors / int_7e6c0522
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Mirrors / int_7e6c0522
 Mirrors / int_7eebe99c
type
The Alcoholic
 Mirrors / int_7eebe99c
comment
The Alcoholic: Ben, thanks to the accidental shooting that torpedoed his career.
 Mirrors / int_7eebe99c
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Mirrors / int_7eebe99c
 Mirrors / int_823c6e3e
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Large Ham
 Mirrors / int_823c6e3e
comment
Large Ham: Ben, at times.
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Mirrors / int_823c6e3e
 Mirrors / int_8560c16f
type
Fatal Family Photo
 Mirrors / int_8560c16f
comment
Fatal Family Photo: Played with. By the time Ben shows his family photo to Anna, we already know they are in grave danger; showing her the photo was meant to garner her sympathy so as to prevent their deaths. At first it doesn't seem to work, but eventually it does.
 Mirrors / int_8560c16f
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Mirrors / int_8560c16f
 Mirrors / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Mirrors / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: An early scene plus a deleted scene shows the Carsons have a pet cat, which does not like the Mirror Demon. It's not seen again beyond these scenes, so it's unknown what happened to it when the Mirror Demon attacked.
 Mirrors / int_863fa679
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_863fa679
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_863fa679
 Mirrors / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Mirrors / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim / Karmic Death: All of the mirror's victims in the sequel died because their attempt to slander/rape a new employee backfired, leading to her murder at the hands of one of them. The girl in the mirror is her spirit trying to get revenge.
 Mirrors / int_8ed5c6e4
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_8ed5c6e4
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_8ed5c6e4
 Mirrors / int_906365a2
type
Demonic Possession
 Mirrors / int_906365a2
comment
Demonic Possession: Anna's original issue, which she must face again in order to free the souls of the trapped spirits. Is likely a nod to the once widespread belief that people with mental disorders were possessed by demons. Only here, it's true.
 Mirrors / int_906365a2
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_906365a2
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_906365a2
 Mirrors / int_90965cc7
type
Hive Mind
 Mirrors / int_90965cc7
comment
Hive Mind: Possibly. It's unclear if there's only one of the Mirror Demon, if there's multiple (it does appear to be able to produce multiple apparitions and be in many mirrors at different locations at once, towards the climax), or if the souls of the Demon's past victims are acting as its slaves in the mirrors.
 Mirrors / int_90965cc7
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_90965cc7
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_90965cc7
 Mirrors / int_9bee1a7f
type
Eldritch Location
 Mirrors / int_9bee1a7f
comment
Eldritch Location: The Mayflower department store has become an otherworldly prison for the demon which originally inhabited Esseker. While the store itself doesn't have any strange geometry (though being burned out it is quite creepy), The Maze of tunnels beneath it is rather unsettling and the Demonic Possession allows for many strange and disturbing visions, images, and effects throughout it.
 Mirrors / int_9bee1a7f
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_9bee1a7f
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_9bee1a7f
 Mirrors / int_9c1f758a
type
Kill It with Fire
 Mirrors / int_9c1f758a
comment
Kill It with Fire: The department store was burned down in an attempt to defeat the evil in the mirrors, with the logic that fire is the only way to truly destroy a mirror. It doesn't work, although it does do a pretty good job of nearly killing re-possessed Anna.
 Mirrors / int_9c1f758a
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_9c1f758a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_9c1f758a
 Mirrors / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Mirrors / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: The very first time the audience sees Ben, it's in a reflection (on his TV screen). Ben's reflection appearing inside the mirrors as an overlay while he's standing outside looking at the building. When Ben says goodbye to Amy before heading off to find Esseker he puts his hand up on the car window just like the mirror handprint.
 Mirrors / int_9d12bbc1
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_9d12bbc1
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_9d12bbc1
 Mirrors / int_9f6fb586
type
Leitmotif
 Mirrors / int_9f6fb586
comment
Leitmotif: "Asturias" appears at various points throughout the movie to emphasize the ominous and disturbing nature of events, each iteration a bit more frantic...
 Mirrors / int_9f6fb586
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_9f6fb586
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_9f6fb586
 Mirrors / int_a0c7f4e9
type
Abandoned Hospital
 Mirrors / int_a0c7f4e9
comment
Abandoned Hospital: What Mayflower was before it became a department store. Complete with rooms sealed in the basement where disturbing psychiatric experiments were carried out, and a massacre of the inmates which led to its closing.
 Mirrors / int_a0c7f4e9
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_a0c7f4e9
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_a0c7f4e9
 Mirrors / int_a25b0db9
type
Murderous Mannequin
 Mirrors / int_a25b0db9
comment
Murderous Mannequin: While none of the Mayflower dummies come to life, even in their reflections, that doesn't stop them from being extraordinarily creepy.
 Mirrors / int_a25b0db9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_a25b0db9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_a25b0db9
 Mirrors / int_a87b7e81
type
Scenery Dissonance
 Mirrors / int_a87b7e81
comment
Scenery Dissonance: While most of the movie's plot, and especially its scariest scenes, takes place at night as is true of most horror movies, the assault on the Carsons' house where Ben and Amy have to try and save their children from the demon after Michael gets possessed takes place in the daytime, as does the later scene where Amy is desperately trying to pull Michael out of the flooding water. At the very end of the movie, in the middle of what seems a normal street scene of cops, firemen, and emergency workers cleaning up after the battle with the demon is over, the most disturbing moment comes when Ben, unable to get anyone to pay attention to him or even hear him, suddenly realizes all the signs and text he can see are backwards, which then leads into the very last shot of the movie...just another normal, bustling street scene with people going about their business, completely unaware of Ben's handprint on the window...
 Mirrors / int_a87b7e81
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_a87b7e81
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_a87b7e81
 Mirrors / int_a8a04f6f
type
And I Must Scream
 Mirrors / int_a8a04f6f
comment
After killing demon-possessed Anna, saving his family, and freeing the spirits trapped in the mirrors, Ben ends up trapped in them himself. Alone. Forever.
 Mirrors / int_a8a04f6f
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_a8a04f6f
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_a8a04f6f
 Mirrors / int_aabb956
type
Mirror Monster
 Mirrors / int_aabb956
comment
Despite all of the gory deaths, the Mirror Monsters with their Mirror Scares, the disturbing imagery and the Demonic Possession, it's Ben's long, slow, quiet explorations of the burned-out Mayflower store (and the hidden tunnels from its Abandoned Hospital days) that provide some of the scariest and most suspenseful moments in the movie.
 Mirrors / int_aabb956
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_aabb956
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_aabb956
 Mirrors / int_acf33d00
type
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
 Mirrors / int_acf33d00
comment
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: While it's clear the demon was doing so in order to frighten Amy and ratchet up the tension (as well as taunt her), allowing her to see Michael's reflection remaining in the mirror after he moved away convinced her Ben was telling the truth so that she would help him cover all the mirrors—something that made it much harder for it to get at her and the kids later. Although maybe the demon just liked the challenge, and the idea of them waiting in fear...
 Mirrors / int_acf33d00
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_acf33d00
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_acf33d00
 Mirrors / int_ad459d78
type
Write Back to the Future
 Mirrors / int_ad459d78
comment
Write Back to the Future: Somehow, before he dies and before Ben ever applies for the night watchman job, Gary Lewis gets hold of Ben's address and sends him a package (delivered posthumously) containing clippings about the Mayflower fire. invoked Or else he was made to send it by his reflection, using future foreknowledge the demon possessed...
 Mirrors / int_ad459d78
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_ad459d78
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_ad459d78
 Mirrors / int_adfd3165
type
For the Evulz
 Mirrors / int_adfd3165
comment
For the Evulz: The Mirror Demon revealing itself to Amy and tormenting the other Carsons seems like this, especially since Ben was getting closer than anyone before him to the truth in the search for Esseker.
 Mirrors / int_adfd3165
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_adfd3165
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_adfd3165
 Mirrors / int_b1346878
type
Fate Worse than Death
 Mirrors / int_b1346878
comment
Fate Worse than Death: Ben ends up trapped in a mirror world, seemingly unable to return, where nobody can sense him.
 Mirrors / int_b1346878
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_b1346878
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_b1346878
 Mirrors / int_b2b2093c
type
Rape and Revenge
 Mirrors / int_b2b2093c
comment
Rape and Revenge
 Mirrors / int_b2b2093c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_b2b2093c
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_b2b2093c
 Mirrors / int_b352279a
type
Attack of the Killer Whatever
 Mirrors / int_b352279a
comment
Attack of the Killer Whatever: The mirror demon, especially when it is yanked into the physical world.
 Mirrors / int_b352279a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_b352279a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_b352279a
 Mirrors / int_b39d5719
type
Sadist
 Mirrors / int_b39d5719
comment
Sadist: The Mirror Demon, in spades.
 Mirrors / int_b39d5719
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_b39d5719
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_b39d5719
 Mirrors / int_bc1faa80
type
Mirror Scare
 Mirrors / int_bc1faa80
comment
Mirror Scare: And of course (it's even obligatory here because of the premise), there are plenty of scenes where someone (usually Ben, and the audience) is terrified by one of the ghosts or the demon's images suddenly appearing within the mirrors.
 Mirrors / int_bc1faa80
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_bc1faa80
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_bc1faa80
 Mirrors / int_bd4264a3
type
Slasher Smile
 Mirrors / int_bd4264a3
comment
Slasher Smile: The Demon gives a few terrifying ones when possessing reflections.
 Mirrors / int_bd4264a3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_bd4264a3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_bd4264a3
 Mirrors / int_c5835f29
type
Ghostly Goals
 Mirrors / int_c5835f29
comment
Ghostly Goals: Of both types. Type A are the ghosts trapped in the mirrors who only wish to be freed so they can move on to the Afterlife; although disturbing and frightening (particularly when recreating their deaths for Ben), they mean no harm and are mostly innocent.note "Mostly" because they are well aware that the only way to get free is for the demon that killed them to also get free and begin wreaking havoc in the real world again. Type B is the demon who killed and trapped them, which simply wants to get free and possess a body so as to once more torment and murder with impunity (although it also wants, perhaps even needs, a particular person to possess).
 Mirrors / int_c5835f29
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_c5835f29
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_c5835f29
 Mirrors / int_c660bc15
type
Fan Disservice
 Mirrors / int_c660bc15
comment
Fan Disservice: What happens to her soon after.
 Mirrors / int_c660bc15
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_c660bc15
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_c660bc15
 Mirrors / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 Mirrors / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: In Michael's room, there is a poster of Negima! Magister Negi Magi and in Daisy's room, there is a poster of Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-. It raises some strange questions as to why a six-year old would be watching or reading heavy Ecchi... The fact the son in the family is named Michael, is only six years old, and spends the latter part of the movie controlled by his reflection so as to run around with a knife...
 Mirrors / int_c75df49a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_c75df49a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_c75df49a
 Mirrors / int_c93a6560
type
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
 Mirrors / int_c93a6560
comment
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Happens to the demon possessing Anna in the end.
 Mirrors / int_c93a6560
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_c93a6560
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_c93a6560
 Mirrors / int_ca22ca46
type
Madwoman in the Attic
 Mirrors / int_ca22ca46
comment
Madwoman in the Attic: When Ben speaks to Anna's brother to find out how she came to be at St. Matthew's hospital, he learns she was originally held chained in the basement of her family's rural home to prevent her from mindlessly attacking anyone.
 Mirrors / int_ca22ca46
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_ca22ca46
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_ca22ca46
 Mirrors / int_ca967579
type
Torture Cellar
 Mirrors / int_ca967579
comment
Torture Cellar: It turns out the Mayflower department store, having been built on top of an old mental hospital, still has the old hospital's mirror room — where Esseker's doctor attempted to cure her Demonic Possession (mistaken for schizophrenia) by tying her to a chair and leaving her with nothing to look at but her own reflection in every direction for days — intact in its underground levels.
 Mirrors / int_ca967579
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_ca967579
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_ca967579
 Mirrors / int_caf89e54
type
Taking You with Me
 Mirrors / int_caf89e54
comment
Anna too, by agreeing to let the demon back into her in order to free all those trapped in the mirrors (and then destroy the demon, hopefully, with her death).
 Mirrors / int_caf89e54
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_caf89e54
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_caf89e54
 Mirrors / int_cdfe12c3
type
Nothing Is Scarier
 Mirrors / int_cdfe12c3
comment
Nothing Is Scarier: Despite all of the gory deaths, the Mirror Monsters with their Mirror Scares, the disturbing imagery and the Demonic Possession, it's Ben's long, slow, quiet explorations of the burned-out Mayflower store (and the hidden tunnels from its Abandoned Hospital days) that provide some of the scariest and most suspenseful moments in the movie. It's unknown what exactly the Mirror Demon is or where it came from before originally possessing Esseker, or even if it's a single entity or actually Legion. A lot of its characteristics — Esseker's Demonic Possession symptoms, an extreme sadistic streak — befit your classic Hollywood demon, but apparently exorcists and faith-healers were completely useless at curing Esseker's possession. Suggesting the Mirror Demon is a non-Christian devil. Esseker likewise didn't answer when asked what the entity is. For all the audience knows, "demon" is only the most accurate way to describe its characteristics and malevolence, and the entity might actually be something else entirely.
 Mirrors / int_cdfe12c3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_cdfe12c3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_cdfe12c3
 Mirrors / int_cf92fea8
type
Cassandra Truth
 Mirrors / int_cf92fea8
comment
Cassandra Truth: "You'd never believe me."
 Mirrors / int_cf92fea8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_cf92fea8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_cf92fea8
 Mirrors / int_d5daa5ca
type
I Am Legion
 Mirrors / int_d5daa5ca
comment
It's unknown what exactly the Mirror Demon is or where it came from before originally possessing Esseker, or even if it's a single entity or actually Legion. A lot of its characteristics — Esseker's Demonic Possession symptoms, an extreme sadistic streak — befit your classic Hollywood demon, but apparently exorcists and faith-healers were completely useless at curing Esseker's possession. Suggesting the Mirror Demon is a non-Christian devil. Esseker likewise didn't answer when asked what the entity is. For all the audience knows, "demon" is only the most accurate way to describe its characteristics and malevolence, and the entity might actually be something else entirely.
 Mirrors / int_d5daa5ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_d5daa5ca
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_d5daa5ca
 Mirrors / int_dfd18c4
type
Typecasting
 Mirrors / int_dfd18c4
comment
Typecasting: You have to believe the writers did this to Kiefer Sutherland, given that the character he played basically turned into Jack Bauer in the final 20 minutes.
 Mirrors / int_dfd18c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_dfd18c4
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 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_dfd18c4
 Mirrors / int_e431c24c
type
Not Quite Dead
 Mirrors / int_e431c24c
comment
Not Quite Dead: The re-possessed Esseker at the end of the film, and she/it bounces back at Ben from a lot of punishment. For all we know, she/it might still be alive in the rubble at the film's end and that body being taken out might've been Ben's.
 Mirrors / int_e431c24c
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1.0
 Mirrors / int_e431c24c
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_e431c24c
 Mirrors / int_ef255df8
type
High Turnover Rate
 Mirrors / int_ef255df8
comment
High Turnover Rate: The night watchman position at Mayflower is certainly cursed. While we don't know exactly how many employees they went through before Ben, there were at least two: Gary Lewis, whose death begins the movie, and Terrence Berry who burned down the store because the mirrors murdered his family. Occurs because none of them until Ben manage to decipher the name "Esseker" so as to figure out how to end the haunting.
 Mirrors / int_ef255df8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_ef255df8
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1.0
 Mirrors
hasFeature
Mirrors / int_ef255df8
 Mirrors / int_f25493f4
type
Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here
 Mirrors / int_f25493f4
comment
Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: The day watchman actually says this when giving Ben a tour of the ruins. Although at the time he said this he didn't know the fate of Gary Lewis, the fact he speaks of "the things that happened here" and that he had to know the story of Terrence Berry probably makes this a case of downplaying the truth to keep from scaring him away.
 Mirrors / int_f25493f4
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 Mirrors / int_f25493f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_f25493f4
 Mirrors / int_f2dadf81
type
Evil Twin
 Mirrors / int_f2dadf81
comment
Evil Twin: Everyone's reflection. Special mention though must go to the menacing, sinister one for Angela just before it gives her a Jawbreaker and Michael's when Amy sees it in the water.
 Mirrors / int_f2dadf81
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mirrors / int_f2dadf81
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1.0
 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_f2dadf81
 Mirrors / int_ffad4e9f
type
Shown Their Work
 Mirrors / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: The Torture Cellar used in St. Matthew's Hospital to cure Anna of possession is based on a spiritualist invention called a Psychomanteum, meant to be used for meditation to help one communicate with the spirits of the dead. At the same time it's an In-Universe example of Artistic License since Dr. Kane not only didn't consider what might happen if such a room were used on someone who was possessed, he didn't build it properly. note The mirrors are supposed to be angled in such a way as to reflect nothing but darkness, and the lighting is supposed to be very dim to facilitate this; the bright lighting and array of vertical mirrors were intended to force the person in the chamber to "confront themselves", but that is completely against both the original use of such a room and Anna's problem. Even aside from him not understanding or believing in the real explanation for her condition, however, the simple fact a man of science was attempting to use a spiritualist concept would probably explain why he either didn't do the research or deliberately altered what he learned. This may explain why matters did not turn out well, to put it mildly, although even if it had been done right, trying to communicate with the spirit realm while suffering Demonic Possession probably would not have had happy results anyway.
 Mirrors / int_ffad4e9f
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Mirrors / int_ffad4e9f
 Mirrors / int_name
type
ItemName
 Mirrors / int_name
comment
 Mirrors / int_name
featureApplicability
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 Mirrors / int_name
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 Mirrors
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Mirrors / int_name
 Mirrors / int_name
itemName
Mirrors

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Mirrors
hasFeature
Deadly Bath / int_4afa33da