Sucked in by the trailer that seemed reminiscent of The Ring and distaining all the poor reviews I had read previously, last night I subjected myself to Gothika. It is a psychological horror/ghost story/mystery, which usually I love and it’s the latest vehicle for Halle Berry, the 2001 Best ... Read review
The title ofGothikaprepares you for a spooky, atmospheric thriller with an emphasis on ... more
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. Makin...
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A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is an ... more
expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane.But Miranda's comfortable and stable life are thrust into terrifying jeopardy after a cryptic encoun...
The title ofGothikaprepares you for a spooky, atmospheric thriller with an emphasis on ... more
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. Makin...
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The title ofGothikaprepares you for a spooky, atmospheric thriller with an emphasis on ... more
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 thrillerThe 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, butGothikaserves up a few good shocks for ghost-story connoisseurs. --Jeff Shannon
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Advantages: erm... It's only 98 minutes long. Disadvantages: The list is endless
...The most horrifying thing about Gothika is that the storyline made it past the planning stages. This is the scriptwriter, Sebastian Gutierrez, first real Hollywood movie and it really does show. The dialogue is more wooden than Pinocchio. The line “I don’t believe in ghosts but THEY believe in me” sums this film up so perfectly. Gutierrez may have well have just written a map to show me where the story was going, as it was so transparent. The twists ... ...well! Part of the reason Gothika seemed so flat and one dimensional was due to this movie school style direction.
Having said this though, I did like the special effects and make up. They certainly gave this rather lacklustre film some much needed polish. Although the make up effects used do give the film some much needed chills, it is so reminiscent of Samara from Hollywood version of The Ring that again I cry out about the total ... more
Sucked in by the trailer that seemed reminiscent of The Ring and distaining all the poor reviews I had read previously, last night I subjected myself to Gothika. It is a psychological horror/ghost story/mystery, which usually I love and it’s the latest vehicle for Halle Berry, the 2001 Best Actress Oscar winner.
Dr. Miranda Grey (Berry) is a psychiatrist in a criminal asylum. She seems happily married to the head psychiatrist of the facility (Charles Dutton). Treating one of the prisoners, Chloe Sava (Penelope Cruz) she hears stories of rape and marks it all down as hallucinations. On a stormy night she crashes her car trying to avoid a girl in the road then wakes 3 days later as a patient in her own facility. Miranda is told by her friend Dr Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jnr), who is now her doctor why she is there. She has slaughtered her husband with an axe and doesn’t remember a thing about it. She’s now prisoner in the same facility she worked at, eating and sleeping with the patients she had previously treated. As if this isn’t bad enough there are mysterious happenings and it seems her patients aren’t so deluded after all. Is there something supernatural going on, is the prison corrupt or is Miranda losing her mind?
Well, don’t go losing any sleep over this because we are talking strict formula with this film. Cliché after cliché makes this film one of the most predictable I have seen in recent years. It tries to have so many plot elements within it that the story lacks any cohesion or depth. In its attempts to intellectualise it forgoes any elements of suspense or entertainment.
The most horrifying thing about Gothika is that the storyline made it past the planning stages. This is the scriptwriter, Sebastian Gutierrez, first real Hollywood movie and it really does show. The dialogue is more wooden than Pinocchio. The line “I don’t believe in ghosts but THEY believe in me” sums this film up so perfectly. Gutierrez may have well have just written a map to show me where the story was going, as it was so transparent. The twists and turns practically have beacons above them. The plot is formulaic and unsurprising, with the exception of the errors they have made and the plot holes. Some of the errors completely annoyed me, such as the misinterpretation of insanity laws. Possibly to someone without an interest in criminal psychology the film would have been judged better on its dubious merits.
It is also the Director, the French Mathieu Kassovitz, first English language movie. Previously he has appeared in Amelie and The Fifth Element but has never directed a movie of this type of budget before. I’m very sorry to say that it does show. The direction was completely uninspired. The shots had been used so many times before in much better movies. I would say this was a horror movie by the numbers as long angles rapidly moving to close ups, and shots of Halle Berry up close through glass were completely overused. As was the traditional stormy weather with juxtaposed lighting strikes with action. This was probably meant to build the tension of the film but I just found it irritating and clichéd. I know they say if you are to copy do it from the best, but add a little imagination as well! Part of the reason Gothika seemed so flat and one dimensional was due to this movie school style direction.
Having said this though, I did like the special effects and make up. They certainly gave this rather lacklustre film some much needed polish. Although the make up effects used do give the film some much needed chills, it is so reminiscent of Samara from Hollywood version of The Ring that again I cry out about the total lack of imagination or originality in this film. There was a limited amount of visible violence and gore, but those weak in the stomach might be inclined to look away at some scenes. The music as very much in the same vein as the directing. The ‘rules’ of filmmaking were followed to the letter. The music isn’t intrusive, but more imagination could have been used than the typical sliding scales building to a crescendo for the scary moments. Or should I say, so called scary moments.
Having had Oscar success from Monsters Ball you would have thought Halle Berry would have chosen a better movie to follow up on as her next lead role. Unfortunately the terrible dialogue did not give her chance to expand her range. I have always felt she is a rather limited actress anyway, having little expression and only some degree of emotional depth. I can’t say her performance here changed my mind. Her acting skills were not stretched as all she had to do was run around looking terrified, with the occasional change when she had to act perplexed. I’m also of the same opinion of Penelope Cruz. The way she delivered the dialogue was cringeworthy and at times laughable. She dressed down for this part and sadly it showed that her screen presence and charisma is down to her looks.
The rest of the cast is solely supporting and a total disappointment due to being underused. I would have liked to have seen more of Charles Dutton as Berry’s husband. John Carroll Lynch is typically typecast as an angered sheriff. I could have watched him all evening though due to the comedy performance he put in. Obviously, this wasn’t intentional with this film being a psychological horror, but the terrible dialogue combined with dreadful acting made me chuckle a great deal.
Robert Downey Jnr, a very fine actor when he isn’t seeing pink elephants, is woefully miscast as the dull psychiatrist wanting an affair with Halle Berry. For a start, Downey Jnr as a man in charge of a drugs cabinet??? Seriously, his strength is playing quirky and interesting characters. Dr Graham is a jumper wearing nobody without any force of personality at all. It’s sad to see his mainstream film career on this level as he is so talented.
This film fails on so many levels. It tries to indulge in social commentary and tries to bring in interesting plot developments but is unable to link these up into a cohesive film. It is about as scary as an episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em with just as many laughs, although in Gothika’s case it is totally unintentional. The only times I felt like jumping out of my seat was not in terror, but because the film is so shambolic and well… rubbish. Really rubbish. It is easily one of the worst psychological horrors I have seen, and as a fan of the genre I have seen quite a few.
They intended to make a psychological horror and ended up making a comedy. Gothika is laughably bad on all accounts. Acting, casting, direction and most vitally, script. It’s all just a big mishmash of ideas that doesn’t hold together. Add the vital ingredient of factual inaccuracies and you have the biggest stinker of a movie I’ve seen this year. Not even the gratuitous womens shower scene can save this turkey. Thank goodness it is only 98 minutes long. Stick it in the oven, have it for Christmas. Just don’t watch it first.
Advantages: Quite stylish, will probably appeal to fans of jumpy horror flicks Disadvantages: Absolutely nothing new or original, tired format
...of what has happened.
Gothika starts off well. The dark, brooding mental asylum, with its imposing grey architecture, raging thunderstorms and frequent power cuts and flickering, buzzing electric lights is the ideal backdrop for a chilling, suspenseful movie. There is always something chilling about these kinds of places anyway, and it is used to full effect with it being clear from the outset that something sinister is going to happen. Unfortunately, ... ...is absolutely nothing new as the director forsakes the opportunities to build the suspense through visual effects in the asylum and resorts instead to the now over-used formula of making the audience jump through ghostly images appearing where we (supposedly) least expect it. The problem is that this formula has been done to death since films such as “The Sixth Sense” and “What Lies Beneath” and anyone who is used to watching these kinds of films ...
Pumpkin 13.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Gothika (DVD)
Advantages: Some quite creepy bits Disadvantages: All a bit obvious in the end
...she is NOT ALONE….
Gothika is a mediocre film crying out to be a good one. There are lots of good ideas and some nice creepy touches that will certainly entertain and startle in equal doses. But when the final act is played, you are left with the overwhelming feeling that you’ve seen it all before.
Gothika is a ghost story and ghost stories will go one of two ways. In films, ghosts are either malevolent, mischievous spectres who do ... ...That would be telling…
Gothika suffers terribly from clichés. They are everywhere. Throughout the film, it seems to be a dark and stormy night. The loony bin is a huge sprawling building standing in the middle of nowhere like a huge tombstone rising out of the trees. Former friends and employees suddenly seem intent in believing the worst and despite having worked with her for years, they seem quite content to believe that Miranda Grey has ...
LostWitness 29.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Gothika (DVD)
Advantages: A few surprises Disadvantages: Predictable in other places
...instead of the doctor?
Gothika does contain the occasional surprise but it is hardly a scare-a-minute movie. To be honest I would say it is more of a psychological drama than a horror. The story does follow the usual horror road and rarely strays from the well beaten track made by other unimaginative directors. The atmosphere and suspense is at best mediocre and the story itself is little more than average. A seasoned film watcher will be able to ... ...The dull personalities of the characters were down to the writing rather than the actual acting of the roles. If you're looking for a proper scare-fest I wouldn't get this film but, as hard as it may sound, if you have time to kill you could find worse than Gothika ...
jimothyjim00 12.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Gothika (DVD)
Advantages: Starts with a few good ideas Disadvantages: Pretty much everything, cast, director, story
I seem to be going through one of those phases where if a DVD is given to me I feel the urge to watch it. It doesn’t matter what the film is or whether I’ve heard people say its good or bad before. I just seem to be in a frame of mind where I will pretty much watch anything. Or at least that’s the only reason I can think of as to why I sat down and withstood the torture that is Gothika. I will admit now I had been warned it was ... ...The plot is fairly standard; Dr Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is a psychiatrist at a mental institution for criminally insane women. She works with her husband Dr Douglas Grey (Charles Dutton) who is the senior psychologist at the hospital. Having finished a gruelling day at work Miranda is heading home to be with her husband. The main road is closed and she’s diverted a different way. After crossing the bridge a girl seems to be standing in the ...
Andy.mack 11.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Gothika (DVD)
Advantages: Powerfully acted and supremly stylish Disadvantages: Slightly stale script
...corny and cheesy
Style:
Gothika is a very stylish movie. Supremely stylish actually, is very easy on the eye. I like the slick production design, the atmosphere, and the interesting symbolism, with keeping continuous themes, throughout the whole film.
Overall: A chilling, stylish and powerfully acted romp, with all the shock factor and added cheesiness needed! ...
Josh-Applegate91 24.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Gothika (DVD)
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Advantages: A fairly interesting concept for a film. Disadvantages: Does not feel at all like a Horror film and takes itself far too seriously.
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 ...
RazzaLazza 16.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Gothika (DVD)
Advantages: 3 great scary movies in one! Disadvantages: Don't watch alone ! (Scary!)
The box set itself:
Three fantastic scary films in one! And for a pretty decent price too! If you're a fan of scary movies then this is the set for you. Containing three scary movies from the years 2003 - 2004.
The DVD's come in a cardbard box, enclosed inside is a cardborad case, silver, looks pretty nice actually. The case unfolds into 3, each 3rd holding one DVD. Unfortunately the only information you receive about the films themselves is on the small blurb at the back of the box.
I am now going to look at each of the DVD's seperately, I have given each a "scare factor" and a "jump factor". The difference? As most horror movie fans will know there's a difference between being made to jump and being scared, "jump factor" is how much the film makes you jump, scare factor is how scared you'll be after watching it ...
Advantages: Paris Hilton get;s bumped off Disadvantages: Nothing new, No scares, Another lame Dark Castle film
Dark Castle Entertainment was set-up to produce some great horror genre pictures based on horror from the fifties. The men behind such as visionary company are Joel (The Matrix/Lethal Weapon) Silver and Robert (Back To The Future/Roger Rabbit) Zemeckis. Now between them they've produced or directed some good movies. So why is it that all the films they've produced so far under this banner have pretty much sucked or been incredibly under-whelming?
After such MTV-inspired dreck such as 13 Ghosts and Gothika we now get House of Wax. On the DVD the producers come up with the line that it's based on the incredibly fun Vincent Price film of the same name. Well it shares the same name and the idea that some of the waxworks are actually corpses. Apart from that everything in it is from 'Hollywood Horror Movie 101'.
Bunch of American teens ...
Dr. Miranda Grey is a psychiatrist who becomes a patient in her own mental hospital after she is accused of murdering her husband. Grey's only initial memory of the incident involves a chilling encounter with a distraught girl on a rain-soaked road.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
09/08/2004
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
CDR 36083
Barcode
5035822608337
Screenwriter
Sebastian Gutierrez
Editor
John Ottman
Cinematographer
Matthew Libatique
Composer
John Ottman
Director of Photography
Matthew Libatique
Languages
Main Language
English
Dubbed Language
Polish
Subtitle Language
English, Polish, Turkish
Technical information
Special Features
Director And Crew Commentaries, Patient Hall 3 Inmate Interviews, Mirandas Office Patient Notes And Drawings, Interview Room Painting With Fire Featurette, On the Set Of Gothika Featurette, Music Video Behind Blue Eyes Limp Bizkit
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English Polish Turkish
Professional reviews
Review
"...Full of jump-out-of-your-seat moments...." (News of the World, )
"...The best armrest-gripper so far this year..." (Uncut, )
DVD Description
GOTHIKA stars Halle Berry as Dr. Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist who becomes a patient in her own mental hospital after she is accused of murdering her husband (Charles S. Dutton). Grey's only initial memory of the incident involves a chilling encounter with a distraught girl (Kathleen Mackey) on a rain-soaked road. The incarcerated and medicated Grey is now haunted by the same apparition, and she must convince her former colleague Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jr.) that she is not insane or guilty of murder. Meanwhile, the seemingly mad ramblings of Chloe (Penelope Cruz), one of Grey's former patients, now make more sense, and Grey must throw aside clinical logic to solve the supernatural murder mystery. Kassovitz, who is already a capable actor (AMELIE) and director (CRIMSON RIVERS), makes the leap to Hollywood filmmaking with GOTHIKA. Drawing from heavily from the Japanese horror renaissance that began with RINGU in the late 1990s, Kassovitz conjures up a forebodingly stark and shadowy tale. Berry continues her remarkable string of success (after her Oscar-winning role in MONSTER'S BALL, along with DIE ANOTHER DAY and X-MEN 2), portraying Grey as a traumatized and vulnerable yet determined woman who must unravel the brutal and bizarre knot of her own lost memory. As Grey's work colleague, Downey Jr. adds an intriguing element to the film, and Cruz, as a frustrated inmate, gives an unusual quirky performance. A scare-laden thriller that delights in the strange and the frightening, GOTHIKA proves to be one of the finest of 2003's many horror films.
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