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Special Features
- Making-of documentaries "On the Set" and "Painting with Fire"
- Enter Woodward Penitentiary, Visit Dr. Greg's Office, Tour the Infamous Psych Ward and Review Inmate Case Files
- MTV "Punk'd" featuring Halle Berry
- Limp Bizkit music video and making-of featurette
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The title of Gothika prepares you for a spooky, atmospheric thriller with an emphasis on supernatural mystery. The best way to appreciate the movie itself is to understand that it's a waking nightmare that needn't make sense in the realm of sanity. Making a flashy Hollywood debut after his superior 2000 thriller Crimson Rivers, French actor-director Mathieu Kassovitz pours on the dark and stormy atmosphere, trapping a competent psychologist (Halle Berry) in the prison ward where she treated inmates (including Penelope Cruz) until she was committed for killing her husband (Charles S. Dutton), who was also her boss. Did a car crash cause her to suffer ghostly delusions, or is a young girl--dead for four years--sending clues from beyond the grave? Berry has to prove her innocence while Kassovitz keeps everything--including the viewer and costar Robert Downey Jr. (as Berry's colleague)--in the dark about just where the nonsensical plot is leading. There's a better movie in here somewhere, among the catwalks and crannies of the impressive prison-castle setting, and Berry gives 100% in a performance that's consistent with the movie's overwrought tone. Attentive viewers will identify the killer early on, and the ending is anticlimactic, but Gothika serves up a few good shocks for ghost-story connoisseurs. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
In this creepy thriller, Halle Berry is a psychiatrist at a New England hospital for the criminally insane. Returning home after a difficult session with patient Penelope Cruz, Berry nearly runs over a young woman on the road. Disturbing events begin to unfold as Berry finds herself a patient in her own hospital, accused of murdering husband Charles S. Dutton. Robert Downey, Jr., John Carroll Lynch also star. 98 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; audio commentary; documentaries; interviews; music video; theatrical trailer. Two-disc set.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Miss Halle portrays a prison psychiatrist, Charles S. Dutton her boss, husband & love of her life, Robert Downey, Jr. as her peer/collegue, & Penelope Cruz as an inmate/patient with some schizophrenic delusions of the devil, himself, burning/entering her body.
As it starts - It was a dark & stormy night...
From there things get really creepy & all mixed up. What is true? What is imagined? Who is crazy? Who is not? A dead girl, a tatooed man, an invisible being, blood written messages on a wall, an axe...Lots of really graphic images PLUS totally spooky lighting all add to the experience.
This film has you trying to figure out the plot from the get go & has many "red herrings"... Once the plot is alluded to, however, the film starts to unravel faster and faster to it's eventual, but not totally predictable end.
The only thing that I couldn't figure out is why they titled this movie, GOTHIKA. It is only said a total of ONE time in the whole of the film.
Regardless, this movie has plenty of punch, a couple of jumpy parts, some sado-masochism and at the end it is actually left open for a possible sequel, which I wouldn't mind seeing...
If you liked Stir Of Echoes, The Sixth Sense, or The Others, you will certainly enjoy this gem! Happy Watching!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I was really looking forward to watching and liking Gothika, since I enjoy good ghost stories on one hand, and have a soft spot for French directors in general on the other. And being Mathieu Kassovitz's first English language film as a director (the same director who brought us the excellent La Haine and The Crimson Rivers),my expectations were built even more.
But I have to admit that I was sorely disappointed with the film, and this is why,
Although Kassovitz's direction was not bad , the main problem I believe, lies firmly at the hands of screenwriter Sebastian Gutierrez (who has directed Judas Kiss and is now writing the remake of the masterpiece The Eye). He managed to write a script that is totally predictable,lacking any originality or a fresh treatement of old plotlines.
In any horror film, there is a moment early on,when the tension starts to build up, gripping the viewer increasingly until the end. I kept looking for that moment in Gothika to start, where I would be totally immersed and involved in the story, but it never came.
Moreover, I am surprised how bland the whole film is..The evil girl/ghost who has comeback to seek revenge on her killer through someone else is a concept that is still very fresh in viewer's mind from quite recent films, (The Ring, What Lies Beneath, The Eye!!), while the girl looks exactly like the ghost in The Ring but with blond hair..She even has the same expressionsand look!!!
The script also has unforgivable flaws..For instance the ambiguous relationship between Berry and Downey Jr was badly treated, and at the end he just disappears when I expected a proper conclusion that will clear it.
The ending was quite silly!! (and I thought De Niro's tattoos in Cape Fear were over the top!!!)...the Scream reference was quite obvious but very weakly done.
There was also a reference to Sixth Sense right at the very last scene, but it was too predictable and also very silly..So was the supernatural writing on the arm (Not Alone) straight from the 'Help Me' in Exorcist..
Halle Berry 's acting was good as you expect from this wonderful actress, and it is always good to see such a fine actor and actress like Bernard Hill and Penelope Cruz who is gorgeous and sweet in whatever role she is in, but all these talents were sadly wasted.
I know Mathieu Kassovitz can deliver a much better film than this with a good solid script, which unfortunately he did not have.
If you love ghost stories as much as I do, then by all means stick to the classics of the genre like The Innocents, The Others, The Eye or even BWP and forget about this one because the only tension and anxiety you will feel is through constantly looking at your watch, hoping time might pass just quicker.
But I have to admit that I was sorely disappointed with the film, and this is why,
Although Kassovitz's direction was not bad , the main problem I believe, lies firmly at the hands of screenwriter Sebastian Gutierrez (who has directed Judas Kiss and is now writing the remake of the masterpiece The Eye). He managed to write a script that is totally predictable,lacking any originality or a fresh treatement of old plotlines.
In any horror film, there is a moment early on,when the tension starts to build up, gripping the viewer increasingly until the end. I kept looking for that moment in Gothika to start, where I would be totally immersed and involved in the story, but it never came.
Moreover, I am surprised how bland the whole film is..The evil girl/ghost who has comeback to seek revenge on her killer through someone else is a concept that is still very fresh in viewer's mind from quite recent films, (The Ring, What Lies Beneath, The Eye!!), while the girl looks exactly like the ghost in The Ring but with blond hair..She even has the same expressionsand look!!!
The script also has unforgivable flaws..For instance the ambiguous relationship between Berry and Downey Jr was badly treated, and at the end he just disappears when I expected a proper conclusion that will clear it.
The ending was quite silly!! (and I thought De Niro's tattoos in Cape Fear were over the top!!!)...the Scream reference was quite obvious but very weakly done.
There was also a reference to Sixth Sense right at the very last scene, but it was too predictable and also very silly..So was the supernatural writing on the arm (Not Alone) straight from the 'Help Me' in Exorcist..
Halle Berry 's acting was good as you expect from this wonderful actress, and it is always good to see such a fine actor and actress like Bernard Hill and Penelope Cruz who is gorgeous and sweet in whatever role she is in, but all these talents were sadly wasted.
I know Mathieu Kassovitz can deliver a much better film than this with a good solid script, which unfortunately he did not have.
If you love ghost stories as much as I do, then by all means stick to the classics of the genre like The Innocents, The Others, The Eye or even BWP and forget about this one because the only tension and anxiety you will feel is through constantly looking at your watch, hoping time might pass just quicker.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Director Mathieu Kassovitz pours on the atmosphere (literally) in this sci-fi thriller set in a dreadfully gloomy mental institution that needs a serious makeover. It seems to never stop raining or lightning - ever! It's dark and scary and the lights are always on the kaput. Can't someone change those light bulbs! Won't somebody check those darn circuit breakers? Halle Berry acts herself crazy (again, literally), but hey, Halle, lay off that Botox if you want some more facial expressions! Halle sees a beaten woman driving home one (stormy) night and crashes into a tree. She wakes up in the same hospital as a patient and a criminal for killing her husband (her boss). Is she really crazy or is this a plot? Did some coworker inject her with mind-altering drugs? Why is Robert Downing, Jr. playing a smaller role here? Why is he speaking with that weird accent? Did Halle imagine that girl on the road? Oops! - remember "What Lies Beneath? I think it's the same girl! The rest of the film is a run and chase sequence where Halle discovers who is really dead and who should be. There are also some really disgusting revelations as to what happened to some missing people and it's all gleefully recorded on film! Remember the movie, "8MM"? Eeewww! There is somewhat of a happy ending (if only because it finally stops raining!), but then Halle sees another child in a dangerous situation - or is it a ghost? Or, is it Haley Joel Osment? Is she seeing `dead people' too? Why do their first names sound the same? Is that part of the plot too? Remember "The Sixth Sense"? Remember every other horror movie cliche from the last ten years? What in God's name is happening here???
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Movie
This is an exciting movie. I enjoy watching it. How crazy it is to be married to a man thinking he is a great person. But he has a secret life. A horrable secret life. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sugga40827
Inferior Variation On A Hackneyed Theme!
Silly, forgettable non-thriller of the dime-a-dozen potboiler variety, whose only redeeming attraction is the lovely face and give-it-all-ya-got acting of Halle Berry. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Joel Kovacik
Don't overthink it and you'll be fine...
I enjoyed this movie, and regardless what you read from other reviewers, it was a chilling experience. Read more
Published 8 months ago by jrusovich
GREAT!!!
ORDER CAME IN AWESOME TIMING. BOUGHT USED BUT BRAND NEW. NO SCRATCHES OR TEARS . WILL DEFF. ORDER AGAIN FROM GO HASTING
Published 8 months ago by LISHA
excellent
I love this movie. By far my favorite horror movie of all time. I have seen many, I hate bad acting and fake props etc. This had a plot I couldnt predict as well as good acting. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Random_customer
Not Alone...In Thinking "Gothika" Is Godawful!
I just watched this movie again after not seeing it since I bought it used a few years ago. Talk about a fkg mess! I was cringing through this, and for all the wrong reasons, LOL. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Scott R. Brooks
SORELY UNDERRATED! 9.25 OUT OF 10
I really don't understand the beef people have with this film. Sure, the plot may not make sense entirely, but it's a damn fine thriller that is certainly more engaging than a good... Read more
Published 18 months ago by ACEMAN1
Clichés, clichés, clichés...
...and even more clichés. I have a problem with clichés, especially when they can't seem to back themselves up with anything substantial as a form of recompense. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Andrew Ellington
Nothing to Rave About
Halle Berry is brilliant as a doctor who ends up imprisoned for murder in the very mental institute where she works. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Calamity Jane
Logic is overrated
Gothika is a thriller starring Halle Barry and Robert Downey Jr.. This is a review of the Blu-ray edition. Read more
Published on April 6, 2010 by L. Andersen
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