Dead of Night (1988) User Reviews

That old horror cliché, the evil spirit in the mirror...

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 13 July 2019]

After she is smacked about by her abusive boyfriend Bobby (John Reno), boyish 'plain Jane' Sara (Julie Merrill) goes to stay with her older movie-actress sister April (Janet Graham) and her partner Richard (Richard Fast). While recuperating, Sara finds a Haitian book of magic and performs some of the rituals, unwittingly unleashing the evil spirit of Egyptian empress Sura, who possesses the young woman, transforming her into a sexy man-killer.

Mirror of Death's trashy premise gives plenty of scope for gratuitous splatter and nudity, yet fails to deliver either (deaths are gore-free and a shower sex scene is coy, to say the least), leaving the viewer to wade through an hour-and-a-half of dreary supernatural twaddle enlivened only by a few cheap-jack visual effects in the closing moments, when spiritualist John (Bob Kipp) is called in to try and banish Sura. For the most part, this is instantly forgettable straight-to-video nonsense of the lowest order, a lifeless low-budget clunker with very few redeeming qualities.

Cheap and corny

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 30 March 2017]

MIRROR OF DEATH is a very low budget supernatural horror film put out by Troma. I doubt anybody else would have touched it because this is a very low quality piece of film-making that looks pretty grotty if I'm honest. The story isn't really up to much either so the whole production has a time-wasting feel to it.

The narrative involves a female protagonist whose cursed mirror invokes in her a second personality, a kind of demonic presence that goes around killing the men who have offended or taken advantage of her in some way. There's a lot of dumb character work, dumber dialogue, and various padded scenes that make this a patience tester till the end. It's one of the most boring '80s horror films I've seen.

Low-budget dreck saved by a few redeeming qualities

[polysicsarebest · 6/10 · 23 May 2008]

The reviews on this site are really out of date. This film HAS been transferred to DVD -- by Troma no less -- and this film was most definitely not made with a super 8! Though I do have to agree with one review, that I wonder if the person who wrote the back of the box had even seen this film. Anyway...

Here's a somewhat entertaining film about a housewife who gets beaten and choked and she decides to conjure up evil spirits and rip some throats. Really, the first half of this movie is hilarious and entertaining, with a chick killing people for the most random reasons ever. "Don't touch my mirror!" "Don't ever touch my candles!" After about 40 minutes, the film loses steam, though it picks back up in the fitfully bizarre and over-the-top finale which features some weird makeup, ridiculous special effects that have to be seen to be believed, and sloooooow moooooootiooooon. After the first 40 minutes there's really no gore to speak of, and my mind kind of wandered after that point.

Really, except for the gore, there's only two things that make this film worth sitting through: The main actress is extremely cute with her short and spiky red hair, and the movie focuses on her 100% of the time. Also, the acting -- especially the two male leads -- is probably amongst the greatest examples of overacting ever. Not a bad film but nothing special either.

mirror, mirror on the wall, witch movie is the worst of all?

[[e-mail] · 8 May 2003]

Of all the low budget, corny and and most forgettable, this one is one of the best. I liked it. I bought this movie cheap because the video store was switching to all DVD. I doubt if this film will be transfered to DVD. When I need some light diversion I will replay this film. I'm sure that all involved in this film did the best they can. I admire their guts. I was glad that there was no nudity to try to lure viewers to keep watching. There was a minimal plot. Did the person who wrote the description on the box see the movie?

"Rituals From Haiti, How Enchanting!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 7 June 2021]

DEAD OF NIGHT (aka: MIRROR OF DEATH) is about an abused woman named Sara (Julie Merrill), who happens upon a Haitian spell book that transforms her into a seductive murderer. Now, ditching the baggy jogging suits she wore, Sara dons her killer nightwear, and no shallow man is safe!

Sara is possessed by a demon / goddess, and hollow-headed men just can't resist her! Death is their reward!

While the rest of the movie is fun enough, nothing can beat the uproarious finale! It's THE EXORCIST mixed with POLTERGEIST, infused with CARRIE! This is late 1980's supra-cheddar at its zenith! Oh, the smell of it!...

Unsuccessful horror soap opera

[lor_ · 22 April 2023]

My review was written in February 1988 after watching the feature on Sony video cassette.

"Mirror of Death" is a made-for-video horror film that plays more like a daytime soap with special makeup effects. Team of actresses turned filmmakers displays little sympathy or understanding for the genre.

Julie Merrill tries hard but is miscast as the main protagonist, a young woman battered by her cruel boyfriend (John Reno). She reads an occult book left by a Haitian guy and by burning candles and chanting, manges to conjure up a spirit from a mirror that enters her body and makes her beautiful.

Thus possessed, she becomes a killer, picking up guys at a singles' bar and murdering them in very gory fashion. SWhen her older sister (Kuri Browne) comes home, there is a quite illogical plot twist to outwit the spirit and save Merrill.

Thesps' shrill acting approach is tough to take and the gore will be a turnoff for all but hardcore horror fans. Cliched dialog reduces supernatural goings-on to mere doggerel.