Gothika (2003) DVD

Starring	Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch
Director	Mathieu Kassovitz
Genres	Thriller

Gothika

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.

Starring	Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Penelope Cruz
Director	Mathieu Kassovitz
Studio	COLUMBIA TRI-STAR HOME VIDEO
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 38 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 38 mins
Certificate
Collections	100 Horror Films
Genres	Thriller
Language	DVD: English Blu-ray: English, English Audio Description
Dubbed	Polish
Hearing-impaired	English
Subtitles	DVD: English, Polish, Turkish
Released	DVD: 09 Aug 2004 Blu-ray: 18 Jun 2007 Production year: 2003

Critics' reviews (5) of Gothika
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For this overblown horror effort, director Mathieu Kassovitz deploys every cliché in the book — and then moves on to volume two. Halle Berry plays a distinguished psychiatrist who, after a devastating car crash, finds herself incarcerated in her own asylum accused of the bloody murder of her husband. She has no memory of these events and, to make matters worse, is haunted by ghostly images of a young girl. Could there be a connection? As a rule, understatement is always more effective with horror movies, but it's a rule that is ignored here with endless, portentous thunderstorms and pale-faced ghouls that leap out of dark corners. Kassovitz seems happy to mix these clichés with elements pilfered from The Sixth Sense and Ring, among others. The result is mostly ridiculous and — with the exception of a couple of cynically engineered but effective jolts — resolutely unscary.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
'I'm not delusional, I'm possessed,' insists Dr Miranda Gray (Berry) - not a statement likely to inspire confidence in... read more on Time Out
- Time Out
- Posted 04 Nov 2008
Most helpful member's review of Gothika
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28 out of 43 people found this review helpful

Gothicrap...

The movie is dreadful. Halle Berry has had a makeover to look ugly, the plot is thinner than kate moss and the acting is filth. It's about as scary as ... more

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- - George Byrne from Hell
  - Posted 02 Mar 2005 14:18
Most recent members' review of Gothika
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6 out of 7 people found this review helpful

Not Berry Thrilling!

So-so chiller that didn't quite work for me. It looks suitably dark and foreboding but Halle Berry is too weak for the lead role in this type of film. In ... more

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- - Pinkers from London
  - Posted 29 Sep 2004 14:07
News and features
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Perfect Stranger
- 10 Apr 2007
It's six years now since Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Monster's Ball. In that time she's played a Bond girl in Die Another Day, reprised the role of Storm in two X-Men sequels, made Gothika, Catwoman, and now Perfect Stranger. And that's it. Not much to show for an actress at her peak (probably - Berry turned 40 last year). In Perfect Stranger she looks gorgeous. She always does. But there is absolutely nothing in her performance that says hard-bitten news journalist to me - not even ( Read more