’’I’m not gonna hurt you. Wendy, darling, light of my life, I’m not gonna hurt you. You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I said, I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m just gonna bash your brains in.’’
--Jack to Wendy (Shelley Duvall) -
The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick
Two of most important elements in a horror movie are unpredictability and fear.If the story isn’t unpredictable, then the viewers wouldn’t be impressed at all. The Sixth Sense was hugely successful because of its climax which was difficult to guess. And there should be an element of fear that should be induced in the minds of the viewers through visuals, dialogues and the story. The Shining is considered to be a masterpiece of modern horror because of these elements. “Gothika “, which is advertised as a spine-chilling horror movie, has Halle Berry, an Oscar winner in the lead role .This is her first major lead role after “Monsters Ball”. So, obviously there are a lot of expectations on the movie. Does this movie live up to our expectations? Does this have the right mix of unpredictability and fear? Let us see…
Dr Miranda Gray (Halle Berry) is a criminal psychologist working in the psychiatric ward in the Woodward Penitentiary for Women. She happens to interview a mental patient, Chloe (Penelope Cruz) who claims that a ghost is torturing her. But, she is not ready to believe it as it opposes her rational thoughts…The next day, she wakes up in a room in the psychiatric ward as a mental patient .She is not able to recollect what happened last night. Her friend, Dr Peter Graham (Robert Downing Jr) explains to her that she is now accused of murdering her own husband (who is her boss too) with an axe and that she is insane now. When she tries to recollect what happened last night, she realizes that she had met a young woman on the road .She escapes from the hospital and goes to her house. There, she realizes that she had indeed killed her husband with an axe. But there is no reason for her to kill him! She investigates her further into this matter and comes to know that she was possessed by a dead girl who wanted to take revenge on the men who killed her …When she sees the words “NOT ALONE” on the wall, she realizes that one of the guys who killed that woman is still alive and is waiting to kill her so that she doesn’t let out this truth!!!
Dr Gray is able to clearly know what is rational. In fact, when she comes across Chloe, she thinks that Chloe is insane and is repressing her feelings about her past. Her character is such that she believes in only what she sees and experiences .She has very strong views on paranormal behavior and considers it as a hoax. When she sees the spirits, she is not able to come to terms with herself .So, it takes time for her to accept the situation as such , bring her thoughts together and then tackle the situation successfully.Halle Berry as Dr Gray excels in this character. I particularly liked the scene where she escapes from the hospital in order to find the truth. Penelope Cruz is brilliant as Chloe.
The first half of the film was very engaging. The scene where she recollects the events that happened that fateful night has been picturized very well and the visuals are great and stylish too…Questions about repression, ghosts and possession makes the first half even more interesting…I expected that the second half would answer these questions in a fitting way. But the problem with this film is that it is very predictable…Even before the end of the first half, one can easily guess who the killers are .Also, the supporting characters are not very interesting. Even though the performances of the actors are great, the dialogues let them down... It doesn’t add to the mood of the film at all.
The director should have focused more on the second half of the film and should have prevented things from becoming too predictable. There are some moments that shock you but then, that is it. The story is not very interesting. ..The BGM for this film is good though. The film would have been better if Mathew Kassowitz (director) had focused on substance more than the style.” The Shining” was a great film because it was great in using the fear element to manipulate the minds of the audience. That is why many consider it as a classic even now. Gothika has a very good cast and a good premise. The guy in charge of the story could have focused more on the story and could have made it unpredictable and entertaining.
Disappointing!!!