Despite my aspiration to be a cultured member of society, foreign horror films are hit-and-miss for me, especially Asian horror. I’ve seen some good ones (Ichi the Killer, Audition, Battle Royale) and I’ve seen some pretty lame ones (most of the Ju-on series). Maybe I’m picking a fight here, but how many times can we see the same pale-skinned, long-black-haired spirit before it gets old?
I went into Shudder’s The Mimic expecting more of the same old tropes. I saw that it got some great ratings, but I’ve learned to ignore most ratings on Shudder—unless you’re giving a solid explanation for your one-star or five-star “review,” or at least say more than “it ruled” or “it sucked,” I just can’t take you seriously.
Fortunately, The Mimic had an interesting story and great pacing. There were quite a few jump scares, but I didn’t mind them too much since they were delivered in an interesting way. One example of a good jump scare involved an armoire and a mirror…solid stuff, or at least better than I was expecting.
The story involves grieving parents who’ve spent over a year searching for their missing daughter. When they find a girl who appears similar to their daughter in almost every way, they let her into their lives without much thought to the peculiarities. However, as you may have guessed, not all is as it seems…and there’s something nefarious at work that preys on human vulnerability.
Unlike many other stories involving supernatural entities, The Mimic doesn’t get overly wrapped up in the horror aspects of the story. At its heart, this movie is about grief and desperation following tragedy. In my opinion, this is what makes a good scary story. Anyone can make a monster jump out and scare me, but very few skilled storytellers can pull at my heartstrings and build their art from my empathy. This is where The Mimic truly succeeds.
My only beef with this movie is the same one I have with many other horror movies: human stupidity. I know it’s ridiculous to expect characters to make the right decision every time, but there were instances where I rolled my eyes and asked “Who the hell would really do that?” It’s not a problem exclusively with The Mimic, and I’ve heard it argued that a good horror movie is made up of several dumb character choices. Maybe I’m wrong on this one, and it’s really my only negative critique.
Without spoiling much, I can tell you The Mimic subverted many of my expectations and made me feel hope for Shudder’s review system. Perhaps all you five-star people are on to something with this one.
7/10
Staring Monday, I’ll be doing seven straight days of zombie movie reviews as a part of my 31 Days of Horror Reviews series. Do you have a favorite zombie movie? Tell me in the comments and I’ll add it to the roster.
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