23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Miss Halle Is BERRY Good In This Odd Thriller, Plot-Twister, April 5, 2004
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!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Disappointing Film!!, June 10, 2004
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.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
GOTCHA! (Kind Of...), May 21, 2004
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???
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