* CultClassic: Like ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' before it. Funnily enough, this was actually predicted in Stephen Holden's review in The New York Times.
* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: For real, this time. The whole thing is extremely psychological.
* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/StephenFry [[VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet delivering a voiceover about creating an imaginative fantasy world]].
* NightmareFuel:
** "Why do birds / Suddenly appear?" with some intentional UncannyValley for good measure.
** Note that the UncannyValley just topped it off, it wasn't by ''far'' the most disturbing part of the scene. The [[MindRape symbolism and literalism]], especially with the SoundtrackDissonance [[MagicMusic thrown in]], was the most disturbing part of the scene.
** "Hungry. ''Still'' hungry."
** "And dear, ''don't let them see you're afraid.''"
** The puppets in the below entry. There's just [[StepfordSmiler something about them]] that makes you wonder what's going on in their heads...
* SignatureScene: The wind-up statues singing "Close To You" and hypnotizing Helena into becoming a replacement Princess.
* SpiritualSuccessor:
** The Henson Company asked Gaiman for a movie that's "[[GenreBuster whatever genre]] ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' [[GenreBuster is]]."
** In 2006 and 2009, ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', ''Labyrinth'' and ''[=MirrorMask=]'' were released together on DVD and Blu-Ray as "Jim Henson's Fantasy Film Collection", acknowledging them as a Spiritual Trilogy (Creator/GuillermoDelToro's films ''Film/{{Cronos}}'', ''Film/TheDevilsBackbone'' and ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' got the same treatment in 2016).
** ''Mirrormask'' was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Dave [=McKean=]. Would you like to know what else was written by Gaiman, with illustrations by [=McKean=], a few years earlier? ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'', where Gaiman visits a few of these same themes -- an alternate universe with an alternate, oppressively-affectionate mother figure who has strange black eyes. This makes ''Mirrormask'' a sort of spiritual successor to ''Coraline''.
* ToyShip: Helena and Valentine have a bit of ShipTease going, particularly when he shows up in the real world at the end. But since it's implied she's early-to-mid teens (though [[DawsonCasting played by a 21-year-old actress]]) and he's late-teens-to-early-twenties, they might want to wait a few years.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Many people compare this film with ''Labyrinth''; being written by Neil Gaiman it's not surprising that most of the story is a complete MindScrew that even the adults will find confusing... also, it is filled with some creepy moments.
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