Rating: 
Summary: entertaining film...cast brings this film up a star
Review: My fiance, a friend, and I watched Gothika last night. The film was entertaining. It had it's scary, startling moments. The plot was your standard thriller/scary/ghost story, but it was enhanced by the performances of Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, and Robert Downey Jr. Halle Berry fans will appreciate this different role. She proves quite well that she can take the lead in a film and carry it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good "Goth"
Review: Halle Berry stars in an average thriller that might have faired better as an episode from "Tales From The Darkside", than a stand alone film. Berry stars as a psychatrist who becomes a patient in her own institution after she is accused of killing her husband, an act she can't recall. Things change to the bizarre when she actually starts to have nightmares of the event, and paranormal occurences start to take its toll on her mind. The questions is: Did she lose her mind & really kill her husband or is it something different entirely? The film does have some impressive twists and turns. But, once the pieces come together, you can figure out what's going on and the last quarter of the film is a by the numbers conclusion with and above average ending that might lead to a sequel. A good movie, but, not as scary as it is intended to be. The DVD has very little special features (a trailer, a below average music video, and film commentary). Rental only.
Rating: 
Summary: has something to say
Review: this movie has a provocative message (...)you have to read between the lines. this movie is a spooky atmospheric inventive horror movie and it's really just an awesome movie. Not Alone.
Rating:
Summary: Spooky & Superb
Review: Oh Man, I really liked this movie. I'm not one for movies but this was a real spooky one. Halle Berry was wonderful. Good mystery. Watch it and you'll enjoy it : )
Rating:
Summary: "Logic is overrated."
Review: This is a supernatural mystery that comes across like a mixture of "The Gift" and "The Sixth Sense." Halle Berry finally proves she can carry a film as a lead actor with her frantic performance of a woman who no one, not even the audience, is sure if she is insane or not. I was hoping throughout that she was sane and that her innocence would be made clear, thus I was trying to finger the real killer during the whole movie. The plot kept me guessing about a lot of things: her state of mind, who she could trust(if anyone), who could the killer be? I was actually interested all the way through. My advice is not to try and figure things out, for the plot will unfold. Trust me. The ending even presents the possibility for sequels. Overall, this was enjoyable, if not completely realistic or logical. But as Halle Berry states in the film, "Logic is overrated." So get yourself a bag of popcorn and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Yet another Ghost Ship....
Review: I always thought that the producers of Dark Castle Entertainment would actually bring us some original horror entertainment but apart from the wonderful Halle Berry and Robert Downey Jr., this flick just ends up with same taste in your pallet as you got from Thirteen Ghosts or Ghost Ship. Yes the locations, costumes, cinematography, lighting and set design are all on top form. The casting is done well. The first 30 minutes of this film will have you amused, maybe even scared at times as a psychiatrist (Berry) finds herself on the other side of the bars in an institution for the criminally insane with a somewhat overfriendly psychiatrist (Downey) probing her mind for reasons why she murdered her psychiatrist husband with an axe. Then the plot takes a turn and Berry starts to remember seeing ghosts before the murder and then the ghost appears for real and tries to help her escape and then the story just totally goes off the rails and becomes some sort of a twisted snuff film production murder mystery with missing women. Then the movie turns to total farce for a special effects grand finale as the murderer is unmasked in Scooby style and whatever may have been plausible is now well and truly just another direct-to-video story with some good acting and higher production values than what it really deserves. Does this mean you should not watch it? To be honest you have seen a lot worse than Gothika and maybe it is worth a look for Berry alone but when all is said and done this is still a poor movie with MTV production values. The bottom line is that Gothika is all special effects driven with a terrible third rate story that is more apt for television and not a movie. Berry looks great and does wonders but is wasted by a nonsense script. This is yet another nail in Dark Castle's coffin.
Rating:
Summary: Spousal Abuse...
Review: OK, I heard a lot of negative things about this movie, so I put off seeing it. What got me to finally watch it was the fact that I love Halle Berry. I could watch her in just about anything! In GOTHIKA, Miranda Grey (Ms. Berry) is a psychologist who has a head-on collision with the supernatural. On her way home from work (at Woodward Penitentiary for Women), she gets caught in a torrential rainstorm, is detoured, and almost hits a girl standing in the middle of the road. Miranda swerves around the girl and into a ditch. After climbing out of her car, she goes to the girl to make sure she's alright. The girl spontaneously catches fire and puts her flaming hands on Miranda, causing her to black out. Upon waking, Miranda finds herself incarcerated in the very penitentiary she works in, sedated, and accused of murdering her husband (Charles S. Dutton), who also happens to have been her boss. Things get really weird from here! Miranda is visited several times by the ghost-girl from the road and given clues to what's really going on. Can she put the pieces together before being tried for a murder she barely remembers? Robert Downey Jr. plays a subdued role as Miranda's doctor and former colleague. Penelope Cruz is Miranda's ex-patient turned fellow inmate, who has clues of her own to share. Why did Miranda kill her husband? How can she escape her prison in order to work out this mystery? The answers to these questions are the ice-cold backbone of this story. Bathed in darkness, rain, and blue-filtered light, Gothika wears it's forboding spirit on it's sleeve. However, it's well done and Halle bumps this movie up a few notches just because she's in it. She's a dominant force and carries the film well. A spooky thriller-chiller...
Rating:
Summary: It's Ok...only ok.
Review: The movie starts out pretty good and I thought I was in for original suspense thriller, I mean things certainly started out creepy enough. But as the film went along it quickly turned into a cliche filled "I'm trapped in a mental institution but I'm really sane but no one believes me cause I'm in a mental institution" type movie. There were some very noticable plot holes and certain things just make no sense at all. Like why does this spirit "ask" Halle Berry for help then beats the crap out of her? Why does the spirit unlock the door for her to get out of her cell, then scare her nearly getting her caught by the guards? It just seems like they needed to throw in scenes of the ghost girl lunging at the screen and decided to just put it in for a jump even if it makes no sense at all. Other things that were just thrown in to make the story move forward was the guard actually handing Halle the keys to his car and not ratting her out to the others that were looking for her, you can practially hear the writers wondering how they could get Halle to the house thus finding out about the cabin et al. But just made no sense. Overall, this movie is ok, some good creepy scenes but far from intelligent.
Rating:
Summary: Miss Halle Is BERRY Good In This Odd Thriller, Plot-Twister
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Chilling!
Review: I was expecting a horror movies and I got more than that.This was a great thriller with a smart script and a twist I never saw coming at all.I loves this movie .Halle Berry showed she is not a 1 hit wonder.
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