The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Dark Mirror
Thriller · Mystery · Horror · 1946
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Movie details
The Dark Mirror
“Twins! One who loves... one who loves to Kill!”
1946 Thriller · Mystery · Horror 1h 25m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.0 / 10
Community rating
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Dark Mirror?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Night Stalker
Mystery · 1972
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
The Lady Vanishes
Thriller · 2013
Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.
Maniac
Crime · 1963
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Mermaid Down
Horror · 2019
A mermaid is ripped from the ocean by a fishing crew only to be tortured and to have her tail cut off. A seemingly helpful stranger intervenes, but then locks her away in an institution for mentally disturbed young women, where no one believes she is a mermaid. With no way out, she is forced to count on her survival instincts, and fight for her life at all costs.
The Night Strangler
TV Movie · 1973
After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Thriller · 1948
When heiress Jean Courtland attempts suicide, her fiancée Elliott Carson probes her relationship with John Triton. In flashback, we see how stage mentalist Triton starts having terrifying flashes of true precognition. Now years later, he desperately tries to prevent tragedies in the Courtland family.
Z
Horror · 2019
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
The Glass Key
Crime · 1942
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
The Mean Season
Mystery · 1985
A routine investigation of a shocking murder takes a bizarre twist when the killer contacts the reporter and appoints him his personal spokesman. As the killer's calls and clues increase, the reporter is lured into a deadly trap.
Crossfire
Crime · 1947
A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of soldiers just out of the army. But which one? And why?
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Robert Siodmak
Written by
Nunnally Johnson
Olivia de Havilland
Terry Collins / Ruth Collins
Lew Ayres
Scott Elliott
Thomas Mitchell
Lieutenant Stevenson
Richard Long
Rusty
Charles Evans
Girard
Garry Owen
Franklin
Lela Bliss
Mrs. Didriksen
Court is in session
Put The Dark Mirror on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.