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Gothika
After a car crash, a criminal psychologist regains consciousness only to find that she's a patient in the same mental institution that currently employs her. It seems she's been accused of murdering her husband—but she has no memory of committing the crime. As she tries to regain her memory and convince her co-workers of her innocence, a vengeful spirit uses her as an earthly pawn, which further convinces everyone of her guilt.
Release : | 2003 |
Rating : | 5.8 |
Studio : | Dark Castle Entertainment, |
Crew : | Art Department Coordinator, Art Direction, |
Cast : | Halle Berry Robert Downey Jr. Charles S. Dutton John Carroll Lynch Bernard Hill |
Genre : | Horror Thriller Mystery |
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Reviews
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
...even as you wonder why nothing really makes any sense, which is as much as I can ask for from any movie, really.I would not say you have to suspend disbelief, because that's a given in any horror movie, but there are an awful lot of little things that just seem "off" - an obviously well-liked doctor is suddenly treated like crap by the staff? The doctor is forced into general population with the rest of the patients? The patients are forced to take community showers but have state of the art cells? The doctor knows every inch of the hospital but nobody else does? One security guard is the only person in the entire hospital who unquestioningly helps the doctor escape? And let's not forget the biggest question of all: a ghost suddenly decides to appear four years after its death to attack, stab, threaten, possess and scare the crap out of the doctor, because that's exactly how ghosts get people to help them? among other riveting questions, but that's just me, I notice little things like that.Still, it's a nice time-waster, and although the end seems like a set-up for a sequel, thankfully there never was one.
The wife of eminent psychologist Dr. Grey has apparently murdered him in a twisted tale of horror, suspense, and ghostly possession. It's an escape movie, wherein Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is accused of a crime she committed "by proxy" as the unwilling victim of ghostly possession. She must run for her life. Is it badly written? As a horror story, it succeeds. As a who (or what) done-it, it's quite elementary, as I guessed the accomplice half-way through the film, based on awkward clues. Both men, the Chief of Police and Dr. Grey have their own little Satanic Cult going-on, involving S&M, torture, and the death of innocent women, while videotaping them. (sick) Miranda is an inmate in the "Psycho Ward" of her own ghastly prison. It's a monstrous, evil place. She is carved-up and attacked by a ghost and inmates in a nightmarish shower sequence, and accused of being both "a cutter" and suicidal. She is guided by the ghost of the Head Administrator's daughter, as she was also murdered by Dr. Grey and mistakenly thought to have died by suicide as a bridge jumper. In the end, Miranda is exonerated of all crimes, which is very hard-to-believe, as her hands, if not her body, did kill her evil husband. However, she still sees ghosts. I enjoyed Halle's good performance in spite of the somewhat predictable storyline. "Gothika", as explained by "Chloe", is the realm of Satan. Graphic, confusing, unsettling, and certainly not for the squeamish.
Halle Berry is in the lead as Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist at the psychiatric ward of Woodward Penitentiary in Connecticut. She was recently married to her boss, a fat man twenty years her senior, Douglas (Charles S. Dutton), who is of a leering sort. While swerving her car to avoid ghostly girl Rachel Parsons (Kathleen Mackey) on a dark and stormy night, she crashes into an embankment. When Miranda awakens, she discovers that she is now a prisoner in her own institution as she is accused of the brutal murder of her husband. Not only can Miranda not remember anything, but also she is considered insane. Meanwhile, a lunatic with a strange tattoo is raping Chloe, one of the women inmates (Penelope Cruz). So we are going to spend the bulk of the rest of the movie watching Miranda suffering, pleading, screaming, and getting unwanted drug pills and injections. Miranda's therapist is Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jr.), a former colleague who had a crush on her and who now seems to want to help her, but is doubting of her sanity. Once she says in exasperation, "I'm not deluded, Pete, I'm possessed!" The prison atmosphere is certainly stark as French director Mathieu Kassovitz has used blue fluorescent lighting as his footage medium. Then there are the dark and murky corridors and flickering lights, along with the obligatory suspenseful music. (At least at the denouement they will flicker at the right time.) Meanwhile, while Miranda tries to cope with prison hospital conditions, ghost Rachel carves the words "not alone" into Miranda's left arm. Over time Miranda does begin to regain some of her lost memory, and her flashbacks make her realize that she chopped up her husband Douglas with an ax. But she also seems to recognize that ghost Rachel had used her physical self as her instrument of revenge. With help, Miranda escapes from the hospital. Seeking clues to the mystery of why she killed her husband, she drives to a farmhouse in Willow Creek, where she opens the trap door of the barn and discovers previous gruesome happenings. No other spoilers will be given here but a hint: there is more than one bad guy. In short, Miranda's tale is a prison drama that morphs into both a supernatural story and a serial-killer thriller. The movie leaves some questions unanswered and plot holes. For instance, how could Miranda have possibly killed her husband after the auto accident? Maybe the ghost put her in a trance and then led her to kill her husband? Strange! In real life would Miranda be sent to the same prison that formerly employed her? Why does Rachel the ghost periodically burst into flames? Why does the ghost painfully burn "not alone" on Miranda's left arm? Why does the ghost threaten to kill Miranda when the car she's driving automatically moves uncontrollably at high speeds above 100 mph towards an approaching tractor-trailer? Although he favors style – shock value – over substance, director Kassovitz has a flair for maintaining suspense and mystery. After all his nonsense, he manages to keep the viewer guessing until the end, when most of the setup is explained. On the other hand, the confrontation at the conclusion is quite ridiculous. Here logic is indeed overrated!
Whilst hardly being a very good horror film, it's not exactly the stinker some would have you believe.The problems with it are that it becomes overblown, after initially pulsing away as a very moody and atmospherically tight spooker, set to a superbly eerie asylum backdrop, it gets away from itself in the final third. The makers never quite grasp the concept of keeping the mystery aspects of the plot still cloaked in scary tints. Tech credits are dandy, though an impressive cast list are not asked to stretch themselves. It's not ever overtly frightening and lacks suspense in some key areas, but there's still enough of a creepy vibe here to not waste the time of first time viewers. Repeat viewing prospects, though? Unlikely. 6/10