Kiefer's creepers

Mirrors (18)

4/5

Hello, you

The pulsating South Korean supernatural chiller Into the Mirror was one of the most gripping horror movies to come out of South Asia in recent years.

Made in 2003, it quickly became a cult classic. So here is the inevitable Hollywood remake.

Before you sigh and roll your eyes, read on.

Instead of shamelessly transposing the original story to an American setting – one of Tinseltown’s tried-and-tested recipes for failure – producer Alexandra Milchan saw the potential to adapt the story into a multi-layered psychological thriller in the tradition of The Shining.

Signalling the return of Kiefer Sutherland as a leading man on the big screen, and another chance for writer-director Alexandre Aja to redeem himself after the disaster that was The

Hills Have Eyes, this is a credible tale of a troubled ex-cop who must save his family from a malevolent otherworldly force using mirrors as a gateway into their home.

Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a fiery ex-detective booted out of his job for accidentally killing an undercover cop.

After hitting rock bottom, Carson takes a job as a security guard, working night shifts in the burned-out shell of a once-grand department store.

He begins to notice something sinister about the ornate mirrors on the walls. Soon, he is being maddened by gruesome images, including his own reflection being tortured.

Sutherland gives an intense performance but it’s not a simple recycling of his Jack Bauer character from 24.

Although the ending defies logic, it’s a credible and pulsating effort.

Clubbed (18)

2/5

Clubbed is a journey through the violent world of 1980s nightlife.

Danny – a lonely factory worker intimidated by life and on the verge of a breakdown – becomes involved with a group of doormen, who give him the confidence to stand his ground.

But as he is pulled further into their world, he gets embroiled with the local gangland boss, and the film builds to a frightening and brutal climax.

Nothing in the film rings true; from the obediently silent queues of punters outside clubs, to the lack of any real sense of brooding violence.

Which is odd, really, as the film is based on the warts’n’all memoirs of Coventry bouncer Geoff Thompson.

But the first clue that all isn’t as it should be with Clubbed is in the location.

Director Alan Thompson set it in Birmingham instead. I’m not exactly sure why, but it was an error. It robs the film of its sense of place.

It’s a minor point perhaps, but I feel it’s a symptom of a wider malaise – a looseness in properly understanding and transmitting some effective source material.

Sex Drive (15)

1/5

Every new generation thinks it invented sex. So every new generation of film-goers needs a sex comedy to go with it.

They’re not pitched at adults; they’re not aiming for Oscars. I understand all that.

But after enduring countless moronic attempts to create Generation Z’s Porky’s, I’m starting to lose the will to live.

This is yet another one of those mindless movies where dunderheaded lads go on a road trip in search of nookie.

Josh Zuckerman plays Ian, a teenager who fears he’s about to start college as a virgin.

He’s taunted by his older brother, shown up by his younger one and he’s getting nowhere fast with the girl he fancies.

So he gets on the web, searches for sex, finds a blonde who calls herself Ms Tasty and heads off on a 500-mile drive for some rumpy-pumpy.

Along the way he has car trouble, has a brush with an acerbic Amish mechanic and gets slung in jail.

Will he get to his destination in time for the date?

Who cares? This is utter drivel with no redeeming factors at all.