Dark Mirror (film)

Plot

A family of three, mother Deborah (Lisa Vidal), father Jim (David Chisum) and son Ian (Joshua Pelegrin) move to L.A. from Seattle after Deb is entranced by a house with beautiful glass pane windows. As the family settles in, Deb attempts to resume her career as a photographer while simultaneously taking care of her son as Jim is usually working late. After having some strange experiences with the mirrors and windows in the house, she talks to her chatty neighbor, who tells her a famous artist and his family used to reside there until they mysteriously disappeared. Her mother also visits and tells Deb that in Feng Shui window panes are used to trap evil spirits and stop them from harming anyone.

Yet, as Deb continues to experience strange occurrences and explores the dark history of the house, she becomes convinced that something evil resides in the mirrors and windows. When people she has photographed start dying, she is convinced that the evil spirit has infiltrated her camera lens and is killing people. First the interviewer who makes fun of Deb is killed, then a woman who shouts at Deb for damaging her car while parking, then the lurking old neighbour woman. Deb finds out that everyone she snapshots with her camera dies and the bodies go missing. She tells this to her husband but he thinks shes sick. She shows him a mysterious door that does not exist but is seen in the mirror only, Jim being tired gets confused and tells her to discuss it next day. Her mother however believes her and guides her. In her chimney she finds a painting of the previous owners wife along with a diary, reading which Deb finds out that the wife (Elenor) of previous owner Rupert Wills (a painter) was also a painter and his husband was selling her paintings in his own name because Ruperts painting were not good enough to sell. Elenor was scared of her husband and he made her a prisoner in the house. Elenor kept drawing things and the things soon started to become reality due to the evil trapping mirrors in the house. She kept looking for exit but couldnt find any. One day Jim is talking formally to the beautiful neighbour Tammy, but when Deb sees them through a glass window she sees them as flirting and gets mad at Tammy and takes a snap of her with her camera. At night she smokes and falls asleep. In her dream she sees Tammy dying. When she wakes up shes sure about the camera and looks for the camera. She finds it in her sons room with pictures of Jim and Ian. She freaks out and breaks the camera. When the camera lens still glitters, she realizes that it is the mirror that has evil. She looks for the diary and tries to find escape/exit. She finds a hidden safe in a wall and there is a gun in it. She sees someone around the house and shoots him, the person turns out to be Jim. He ties her and tells her that shes been killing everyone. Deb tells him about Elenor and Rupert but Jim does not believe. In morning when Jim and Ian are sleeping, Debs mother wakes and unties her and she goes to the mirror where she finds out that it is Elenor whos trapped in the mirror and killing people using Debs body. She kills Jim walking through the mirrors and is going to kill Ian when Deb stabs herself, killing Elenor as well. She takes Jims body and herself to the mysterious door and hence disappears like other bodies.

The police is confused by seeing blood trails ending into a wall. A female police officer takes picture of the mirror and sees a ghost, implying that Elenor still exists and has possessed the policewoman.

Release

The film premiered at the New York International Latino Film Festival in 2007 and was released by IFC Films on November 3, 2008 direct to video.