Gothika (DVD)

When 'Gothika' came out in 2004 I went to see it in the first week of its release. It wouldn't have been my first choice of film, however a friend of mine had been looking forward to its release for some time and therefore I was dragged along to the cinema by him, something I was not complaining too much about as it sounded like an interesting concept for a film and one that I would potentially enjoy a great deal. I am not the biggest fan of Halle ...
...exactly dislike the actress and have enjoyed some of the roles she has played in the past so that was not at all going to be a problem.

'Gothika' begins with great promise, however the storyline quickly deteriorates and the film is for the most part laughable and the narrative progression is really rather awful. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) works in an all female mental institution in New England as a psychologist alongside her husband ... more

When 'Gothika' came out in 2004 I went to see it in the first week of its release. It wouldn't have been my first choice of film, however a friend of mine had been looking forward to its release for some time and therefore I was dragged along to the cinema by him, something I was not complaining too much about as it sounded like an interesting concept for a film and one that I would potentially enjoy a great deal. I am not the biggest fan of Halle Berry in the world, that's for sure, but I don't exactly dislike the actress and have enjoyed some of the roles she has played in the past so that was not at all going to be a problem.

'Gothika' begins with great promise, however the storyline quickly deteriorates and the film is for the most part laughable and the narrative progression is really rather awful. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) works in an all female mental institution in New England as a psychologist alongside her husband who has the same job as she. What begins with Miranda working in the mental institution quickly turns around and soon she is inside the institution herself. She has no idea why she is here, but soon things take a turn for the worse as she hears of accusations being levelled against her. She is being accused of a crime she has no recollection of, is trapped inside the place she only a couple of days ago worked at, and to make things worse she has lost a couple of days of her life and has no recollection of what happened in those lost days. Miranda's life has quickly come crashing down around her and she must now try to make sense of what has happened and piece together the events of the days she has lost.

What I liked most about 'Gothika' is the freshness of the story. Whilst the plot progresses badly I feel, the idea of it is excellent and is one that I feel easily could have made for a good film. Sadly this is not so, and 'Gothika' is quite a non-event of a film that never really gets going and is in fact terribly tiresome. If you're a fan of Halle Berry then this may make you view the film from a more positive light, however this alone would not be enough to have you enjoy the film. There is not enough going on here to capture the attention and when watching the film I find my mind wandering extremely quickly. I have a very short attention span on the whole, and 'Gothika' is a film that does nothing to try and keep it.

The problem with 'Gothika' is that the film takes itself far too seriously. Had the film been a fun and gory thriller then I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. As it stands, the film is unexciting and bland, devoid of any real passion and consists of a storyline that you can't help but be tired of by the time the film comes to an end. I was in fact longing for the end to come when I watched 'Gothika' and although I have now watched it again since in order to refresh my memory and provide my opinion of it; 'Gothika' is not a film that I shall be sitting through for a third time in a hurry, never again will I be watching it in fact.

'Gothika' comes from the same Director as the great French film 'La Haine', and the cinematography is by Matthew Libatique who had the same role for the brilliant 'Requiem for a Dream'. With Mathieu Kassovitz as Director and such an excellent cinematographer also; 'Gothika' has no excuse for being as poor as it was. The film has got some brilliant backing and so much could have potentially been made of the film, however the fact that this was not so suggest that the script was perhaps too poor to have done anything spectacular with. Maybe this is not so though, neither of these names have any great history in horror and perhaps this is why 'Gothika' does not feel at all like a horror film. To make a horror film that shuns every horror convention going will just never work, and when those that are masterminding the film are not at all horror experts and instead have made names for themselves in another field; is this ever going to be able to work? The answer to this question is probably yes, however in this instance I do not feel that things work at all well as the film is extremely poor and not even the best acting parts in the world could have saved this film from flopping.

'Gothika' is in no way a film I would recommend to anyone. The film is far too dull and devoid of any real intelligence to make for a great film, or even a remotely watchable one for that matter. The film will pass you by without leaving anything of a lasting impression. The most powerful thing about 'Gothika' is the inclusion in the soundtrack of Limp Bizkit's cover of 'Behind Blue Eyes' and that has to be saying something. 'Gothika' is not a film that I feel will appeal to many, it certainly didn't appeal to me that's for sure and I fail to see how anyone could derive much enjoyment from the watching of it. Having watched the film twice, at 98 minutes a time that is 196 minutes of my life that I will never get back. I'm not at all happy about this and would advise you use your time more wisely than myself and spend the 98 minutes you could waste watching 'Gothika' in doing something a little more constructive. 

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