Scream Factory Upgrades ‘Poltergeist II’ to 4K Ultra HD

Do any of you hardcore horror fanatics remember Mirror Mirror from 1990? It was released theatrically, but gained much of its popularity on the shelves of Blockbuster Video stores across the country and became a late-night cable staple for several years throughout the decade. And yes, it should be considered somewhat “popular” since it spawned three sequels. If you haven’t seen the original Mirror Mirrordon’t worry because Dark Force Entertainment, led by Demon Dave, released it in 4K UHD. That means you, the OG fans of this B-movie classic, can relive some sense of nostalgia from that decade, now in 4K clarity.

Let’s dive into the plot of the film. Megan Gordon (Rainbow Harvest, Old enough) and his mother Susan (the legendary Karen Black, Five easy pieces And Trilogy of Terror) are moving to Los Angeles and a new house to start their brand new life. The former residents left behind much of their belongings which are sold by an auctioneer named Emelin (Yvonne de Carlo, The Munsters). One of the remains is a large, menacing and mysterious mirror in Megan’s claimed bedroom, with which she becomes instantly enchanted.

William Sanderson (Blade Runner) also appears for a small role (although he is prominently featured on the film’s original poster), mingling with Karen Black’s character.

Being goth and rather shy, Megan obviously has trouble fitting in with the beautiful people at her new high school, who start tormenting her the way bratty teenagers seem to do. The incriminated clique is led by future class president Charleen (Charlie Spradling, Puppet Master 2) and her darling Jeff (Tom Breznahan, The brain). Megan has a mega crush on the latter, who plays a role in major events later in the film. The only people she has in her corner are Charleen’s candidate for class president, Nikki (Kristin Dattilo, Chris Issak show) and her boyfriend Ron (Ricky Paull Goldin, The blob), who is a little reluctant to accept Nikki’s new connection with Megan.

While all this high school drama is unfolding, Emelin researches the history of the mirror and discovers that this reflector is no good and needs to be tampered with. This coincides with strange things happening to Megan, such as seeing the mirror oozing blood and having a disturbing zombie dream about her late father. Add to that the fact that his teacher, Mr. Anderson (Stephen Tobolowsky, Memento) nearly has a fatal asthma attack and Charleen has a violent nosebleed, and Megan soon embraces the power of the mirror that she believes will help her right all the horrible wrongs in her life. But we’ve seen enough of these movies to know that everything is going to go horribly wrong for her.

Is this film directed by the director/co-writer Marina Sargenti (Lying eyes) original? Um, not really. Many detractors have criticized it for taking ideas from other, better-made horror films, and it’s hard to argue with that criticism. Let’s check all the tropes. An antique containing evil? Check. A sympathetic outcast as the main character? Check. The popular crowd is mean to the excluded? Check. Does an outcast get powers that initially seem to help? Check. Is Outcast taking revenge on the evil popular crowd? Check. Outcast ends up being invaded by the powers and things go completely off the rails? Check. Teenagers played by actors who are obviously in their twenties? Check.

But in its defense, many horror films at the time (and even in later decades) were very derivative and recycled each other because certain formulas worked and continued to make money. It also seemed like people in general didn’t really make a fuss about recycling horror concepts, as long as they had fun. Like many, it’s one of those films that could only exist in the 80s. Yes, it came out in 1990, but it was filmed in the 80s and it shows – with its atmosphere and especially its hairstyles.

Lesser-known company Dark Force Entertainment may not box in the same weight class as some other companies, being a younger company with a smaller staff and budget, but they offer a moderate selection with packaging and presentation distinct. And you can always tell they put a lot of love and effort into their transfer attempts because they always look great. Their offer of Mirror Mirror is no different, with a 4K HDR scan from the original 35mm negative. The last media release of this film was done by Anchor Bay in 2004, and it lasted for a while before Dark Force decided to accept the challenge of giving it a much-needed upgrade.

There’s even a bonus feature from Demon Dave and Vinegar Syndrome’s John Rubin providing commentary that’s worth listening to. The only disc included is 4K, not standard Blu-ray like the other releases, so be advised of that.

You can pick up a copy from Dark Force Entertainment. The limited edition glow-in-the-dark cover sold out quickly, but you can still get a standard edition with the same great transfer.