All I had to hear was the name Alex Aja and I was immediately interested. The fact that the latest film (Mirrors) from the director of High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes also offers the added bonuses of Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart, Paula Patton, and Jason Flemyng got me doubly intrigued. Then I learned that Aja's Mirrors was set to be a seriously harsh R-rated horror thriller -- and I was hooked.

So this morning I attended a very cool breakfast / press conference that Fox put together for Mirrors. We were fed fine foods, introduced to Mr. Sutherland, Ms. Smart, and Monsieur Aja, treated to four rather compelling clips from the film, and then the floor was opened to questions. We didn't actually learn all THAT much about the upcoming film -- which I consider a good thing, as I don't want the whole thing spoiled before I see it -- but the room was more or less buzzing after it witnessed a sequence known as "jaw rip." Suffice to say that Ms. Smart suffers through one hellacious bathtub experience, and then we'll just leave it at that. Really nasty stuff, but in a very cool way.

Topics covered in the event included: Where Aja thinks horror is going (he's not sure, but he really hopes we're not due for another Scream-style irony session), what Ms. Smart has on the horizon (another horror flick called Seventh Moon and, of course, Crank 2), and why Kiefer chose to do a dark horror flick on his extended hiatus from 24. (He appreciates the fact that horror movies can really "strike" an audience in a way that other genres generally can't.) Mr. Aja also dropped just a few little hints about his remake of Piranha -- but all he did is reassure us that is was going to be "fun gore!"

All in all, a very cool Comic-Con event for what certainly looks to be a rough, tough, and challenging horror flick. Mirrors hits theaters on August 15.