Scottish actress Karen Gillan is clearly a believer in the words carpe diem, as she has certainly seized the day in terms of the opportunities that have come her way since walking away from the Tardis as the Doctor's assistant Amy Pond.

After all, how many ex-assistants – or even Doctors themselves – get to star in a pilot for their own US TV series? That's what Gillan has done, starring in the forthcoming comedy Selfies that's to air in September in the States.

Instead of just sitting on her laurels until then, she's been busying herself starring in a few films, with this one being her most recent. On this evidence, perhaps she's over-seizing as far as her career is concerned.

It's been a while since Kaylie (Gillan) has seen her brother Tim (Brenton Thraites): eleven years, to be precise. She's picking him up from the psychiatric hospital he's just been released from. Things happened in their past that he struggled with mentally; watching your father kill your mother would do that to you.

The family had just moved into a new house. And moving into something new suggests buying new things for it. Their dad Alan (Rory Cochrane) has taken a shine, as it were, to an antique mirror, much to his wife Marie's (Katee Sackhoff) disappointment. Still, it's going to be kept in his office, so at least it will be out the way.

Not long after moving in, the strangest things began to happen. Just little things, but odd all the same. After a while young Kaylie (Annalise Basso) gets the distinct feeling that the mirror has a lot to do with it, like it has a strange hold over them all. Their dad soon starts to act weird too, and before you can say "mirror mirror on the wall", he kills their mum.

Eleven years on and Kaylie still believes that the mirror is evil and had the power to play with their minds. And now with her brother out, she wants to go back and prove it, once and for all.

This story is obviously one that director Mike Flanagan has some affinity with; he directed a short Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan in 2006 and clearly thought that there was a bigger idea there. He was wrong.

Its pretentious title is fooling no-one; this really should have gone by the straight-to-DVD name of Killer Mirror. And yes, it's as silly as it sounds. What makes it worse, perhaps, is how serious the director takes the material.

The mirror itself has very little to do; it doesn't move, it doesn't speak, it just hangs there looking reflective. So the fear factor has to be generated by its cast. Oh dear. There's a chance that Gillan isn't quite ready for the jump from children's' TV character sidekick to international star, as she clearly struggles with the concept of acting for grown-ups.

It appears that emoting fear for her equates to not blinking. And to be fair, she's not bad at not blinking. But that vacant stare that drapes upon her face is one that is fearful of letting out a fart and being heard, and nothing more.

But in truth, it can't be easy trying to act scared by a mirror. It's just not a very scary piece of furniture. It would be like having an evil wooden spoon on the rampage, or a demented bookcase on the loose.

It's not all bad news for Gillan; she has a role in Marvel's summer blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy which shouldn't do her career any harm. And there is her very own TV series that may just save the day. We'll know soon enough, particularly if we see her down for Oculus 2: the Manic Mirror's Return which would definitely take the shine off of her career.