Moving neatly along the cinematic conveyor belt labelled 'unnecessary', Mirrors 2 debuts on DVD this week.

A follow-up of sorts to the Keifer Sutherland-starrer from a few years back, which in itself was a Hollywood remake of Korean shocker Into The Mirror, this opus has all the hallmarks of a classic straight-to-DVD modern-day sequel – a laboured rehash of a plot, no cast members from the original and no fanfare over its release.

In fact, considering the fact that I know of no one who wanted a follow-up to the original, you wonder just why they bothered.

The studios obviously think if they can release something and get a little bit of extra publicity by linking it to an earlier hit some of that success might stick.

And the truth is Mirrors 2 is far from the worst film I have seen this year, just not really memorable in any way whatsoever.

Nick Stahl takes the lead, playing borderline suicide case Max Matheson, who is still coming to terms with his fiancee dying in a car crash some months ago.

Withdrawing himself from society, Matheson is coerced into taking a job as a security guard at a soon-to-be-opened large department store owned by his father.

The store is the Mayflower, which as viewers of the original will know, was the setting for the Sutherland original.

This is now the New Orleans branch though, allowing another set of spooky (and near identical) goings on as various visions and apparitions plague the staff, who have a dark secret to harbour.

Stahl is actually pretty good in this, playing the near down-and-out Max with enough sympathy to make you root for him.

Having seen his career stall after Terminator 3, this is highly unlikely to see him back in the big time, but it is a positive step.

The rest of the cast though leave a lot to be desired, and a couple of irritating police officers further up the frustration quota.

The effects are quite neat and considerably bloody with lots of slashed flesh, decapitations and other nasty glass-based torments.

There is also the ubiquitous shower scene with copious nudity for those that like that type of thing.

To summarise there is absolutely no way this will feature in any end-of-year top-10 lists.

But with slick production values, a decent lead performance and a pleasantly nasty streak running throughout, horror fans will find something to hold their interest - just do not expect anything original.