Mirror Scare: A supercut

You know how I do! It's gotten to the point where if I'm not working on a supercut, I feel kind of anxious. Anyway, this might be more pointed and ridiculous than even No Signal. Cell phones not working is a cliche that feels lazy, but you understand why it's necessary. Closing mirrors (or whatever) and having someone standing there (or not) as a jump scare (or sigh of relief) is, like, something that should have only worked once. Horror cinema trots it out so often, it's like beating a dead horse for the pure spectacle of horse-beating. Whatever, I obviously love it.

Funnily enough, when I told Gabe about my idea for this a few months ago, he brought up comedian Paul F. Tompkins' recent bit about this very phenomenon (and why it wouldn't work for him because his bathroom is too small). For a second, I thought maybe thought this wasn't worth putting together since it'd already been noted on such a comedic scale. But again, whatever. I think this context really helps convey how big of an epidemic we're dealing with.

Edited to add: Here's the complete list of the sampled movies:

1. Phantasm
2. Halloween II (2009)
3. The Omen (2006)
4. Shaun of the Dead
5. An American Werewolf in London
6. Prom Night (2008)
7. Prom Night (2008)
8. Orphan
9. Mirrors
10. Halloween: H20
11. Nadja
12. Stir of Echoes
13. Saw III
14. What Lies Beneath
15. The Ring Two
16. The Ring
17. Ringu
18. Ringu 2
19. V for Vendetta
20. Lust, Caution
21. Candyman
22. What Lies Beneath
23. Hot Fuzz
24. The Unborn
25. The Grudge (2004)
26. The Return
27. Ju-on
28. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
29. From Beyond the Grave
30. Orphan
31. Dark Water
32. Metro
33. L4yer Cake
34. The Unborn
35. The Broken
36. Phantasm (after tag)

Also, glaring omissions have resulted in an addendum.

Comments

[Jessica]

I'm such a weak, easily spooked individual that these little clips of mirror reveal scenes scared the bejesus out of me. Thank you Rich, I won't sleep for a week.

[Nik]

i love you

[J.R.]

You forgot all of Poltergeist III. The whole movie was one mirror jump scare after another.

[Jay]

Oh my god, the horror doesn't even lie in the revelation of a mysterious face behind you projected in the mirror but the fact that it's a never ending cycle of mirror horror. How vile. I don't think Dario Argento ever used this in his films.

[Dave Roz]

Brilliant as always, Rich.

[Drew]

This is amazing. Thanks so much for putting this together, Rich.

[torrinpaige]

I'm not sure which embarrasses me the most, the fact that recognized all of these movies except for one, or the fact that the Tall Man still scares me the most. I finally re-watched Phantasm now that I'm a grown up person, and wondered what on earth I was possibly afraid of when I was a kid. After having nightmares about the Tall Man that night, I remembered, LOL. Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Rich.

[Question??]

What was the movie of the second to last movie scene with the girl in the mirror who dropped the pills?

[Lara]

Oh fuck... this is my biggest fear! Why you gotta make this?! (I still watched it).

[DawninDenver]

Great compilation love it!

[nocklebeast]

There's a pretty good mirror/shadow scene in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of Nosferatu... but I don't think there's a mirror scene in the original 1922 Nosferatu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KO55JBuFE

[Liza]

The cliff hanger of the last Episode of Twin Peaks is a mirror scare. The entire series ends on that note!

[Amanda]

This scared me! I just bought some cute mirrors and now I'm afraid to put them up. haha

[Faffie]

You forgot Donnie Darko. There's a long pill-fiddling, mirror scare scene in it.

[spazmo]

At first I was like "What the hell is Jack Bauer doing in this compilation"? And then I remembered "Mirrors". That fucking movie was just one long mirror gag, wasn't it?

[Karen Sugarpants]

Dude. I'm WAY too much of a pussy to watch this.

[Lindsay]

This is awesome!

[Diddly]

Great mirror scene was in Fatal Attraction - bathroom scene.

[Bryan]

Shoot, you know how, like, ghosts and murderers and monsters and evil boyfriends and what not be all up in the bathroom mirror when a sista' in there tryin' to get her shower on. That's just rude! Give a girl some damn privacy! Jeesh!

[MS]

"What was the movie of the second to last movie scene with the girl in the mirror who dropped the pills?"

It's "The Broken," which is - surprise - centered around evil mirror people. It's one of the better offerings from the "8 Films to Die For" series.

[John]

Could you film titles for each scene?

[HatchetFace]

FYI, this got featured in Chicago's NBC 5 morning news today. I totally remember seeing your cell phone supercut there as well. You gotta give the 6:30 am crew something to talk about.

[Krista]

Great video! But no Poltergeist III? That's criminal! (That movie made me afraid of mirrored hallways as a child.)

[Joe G]

SNL did a funny skit with Ellen Paige and Andy Samberg appearing in the mirror as well. But this was good. You should identify all the movies.

[John R.]

This might outdo the genius of "no signal" -- it's more universal! Also, +100 for Nadja. Bravo!