As
a horror fan, I can say that I’ve really liked all of the previous Dark
Castle Entertainment productions- they were efficient, creepy and pushed
all of the right fright buttons. As for their latest film, GOTHIKA
($27), it sure is entertaining enough, however on the visceral horror
level, the movie is something of a letdown. Starring Academy Award winning
actress Halle Berry, GOTHIKA tries to go too upscale and loses the
lurid quality that a production such as this requires to please horror
fans and be truly successful. Mining the best elements of films such as HUSH...
HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE, STRAIT-JACKET and THE SNAKE PIT, GOTHIKA
melds them with a ghost story to weave an entertaining spell, but the film
could have used a bit more of a hard edge to make it an out and out fright
fest.
In
GOTHIKA, Halle Berry portrays Dr. Miranda Grey, a prison
psychologist dealing with the neurosis of some of the most disturbed and
violent female inmates. While driving home during a furious thunderstorm,
Miranda is forced to take a detour onto a less frequented road where she
has an accident, after swerving to avoid a young woman standing in the
middle of the road. Emerging from her car to check on the teenager she
nearly ran down, Miranda is aghast when the obviously drenched girl bursts
into flames right before her eyes. Awakening three days later from this
bizarre incident, Miranda is horrified to discover that she is now an
inmate in the mental ward of her own prison.
After
she is medicated into a state of calm, fellow prison doctor, Pete Graham
(Robert Downey Jr.), informs Miranda why she has been incarcerated. It
seems that when Miranda arrived home three nights earlier, she took an axe
and hacked her husband, Dr. Douglas Grey (Charles S. Dutton), to death.
With no memory of the gruesome crime, Miranda tries to piece together the
events of the evening. Making matters worse, Miranda is also being
repeatedly visited by the apparition of the girl from her automobile
accident, which only seems to make the imprisoned psychologist appear
crazier to everyone around her. The cast of GOTHIKA also features
John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill and Penélope Cruz.
Warner
Home Video has made GOTHIKA available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide
screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays. This is a generally excellent transfer that is only limited by
the intended dark an indistinct look of individual shots. While, most of
the film is incredibly sharp and richly defined, there are instances where
the picture is dark and moody, which is where the image becomes less
highly defined. Colors are a bit variable; there are instances where the
colors are strongly rendered and attractive, but much of the film goes for
a bleak chromatic scheme, plus prison interiors that rely on fluorescent
lighting tend to display skewed hues. Blacks are very accurate, whites are
crisp and contrast can be a bit harsh, which accentuates the films mood.
The film elements are virtually pristine and occasionally display a mild
grain structure. Digital compression artifacts are always kept in check.
GOTHIKA
comes with a great sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. While it
isn’t the most aggressive mix out there, the sound designers hit all the
right marks, creating an eerie, atmospheric soundtrack with a number of
sonic highlights. Of course, the standouts are the film’s thunderstorm
and car wreck sequences, but I also like some of the smaller moments that
involve the prison’s faltering electrical system. The sound design
itself proves to be cohesive from front to back and completely enveloping.
Dialogue is crisp and always completely understandable. The bass channel
packs a wallop, but never seems artificially pumped up. A French 5.1
channel track is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French, and
Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as a few extras. Director Mathieu Kassovitz and
director of photography Matthew Libatique are on hand to provide a running
audio commentary for GOTHIKA. While it is not the most consistently
talky yabber-fest, this is a fairly interesting commentary track; with the
participants imparting a good deal of technical information on the
production. The other extras are a theatrical trailer and music video for the Limp Bizkit
performance of the Pete Townsend composition Behind Blue Eyes.
GOTHIKA
is a good rainy evening’s entertainment for those who enjoy genre films.
It isn’t the best production to come out of Dark Castle Entertainment,
but I liked GOTHIKA nonetheless. As for Warner’s DVD, the
presentation is first rate, so if you are interested in checking out GOTHIKA,
there is no better way than with the wide screen DVD.
As
a horror fan, I can say that I’ve really liked all of the previous Dark
Castle Entertainment productions- they were efficient, creepy and pushed
all of the right fright buttons. As for their latest film, GOTHIKA
($27), it sure is entertaining enough, however on the visceral horror
level, the movie is something of a letdown. Starring Academy Award winning
actress Halle Berry, GOTHIKA tries to go too upscale and loses the
lurid quality that a production such as this requires to please horror
fans and be truly successful. Mining the best elements of films such as HUSH...
HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE, STRAIT-JACKET and THE SNAKE PIT, GOTHIKA
melds them with a ghost story to weave an entertaining spell, but the film
could have used a bit more of a hard edge to make it an out and out fright
fest.
In
GOTHIKA, Halle Berry portrays Dr. Miranda Grey, a prison
psychologist dealing with the neurosis of some of the most disturbed and
violent female inmates. While driving home during a furious thunderstorm,
Miranda is forced to take a detour onto a less frequented road where she
has an accident, after swerving to avoid a young woman standing in the
middle of the road. Emerging from her car to check on the teenager she
nearly ran down, Miranda is aghast when the obviously drenched girl bursts
into flames right before her eyes. Awakening three days later from this
bizarre incident, Miranda is horrified to discover that she is now an
inmate in the mental ward of her own prison.
After
she is medicated into a state of calm, fellow prison doctor, Pete Graham
(Robert Downey Jr.), informs Miranda why she has been incarcerated. It
seems that when Miranda arrived home three nights earlier, she took an axe
and hacked her husband, Dr. Douglas Grey (Charles S. Dutton), to death.
With no memory of the gruesome crime, Miranda tries to piece together the
events of the evening. Making matters worse, Miranda is also being
repeatedly visited by the apparition of the girl from her automobile
accident, which only seems to make the imprisoned psychologist appear
crazier to everyone around her. The cast of GOTHIKA also features
John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill and Penélope Cruz.
Warner
Home Video has made GOTHIKA available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide
screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays. This is a generally excellent transfer that is only limited by
the intended dark an indistinct look of individual shots. While, most of
the film is incredibly sharp and richly defined, there are instances where
the picture is dark and moody, which is where the image becomes less
highly defined. Colors are a bit variable; there are instances where the
colors are strongly rendered and attractive, but much of the film goes for
a bleak chromatic scheme, plus prison interiors that rely on fluorescent
lighting tend to display skewed hues. Blacks are very accurate, whites are
crisp and contrast can be a bit harsh, which accentuates the films mood.
The film elements are virtually pristine and occasionally display a mild
grain structure. Digital compression artifacts are always kept in check.
GOTHIKA
comes with a great sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. While it
isn’t the most aggressive mix out there, the sound designers hit all the
right marks, creating an eerie, atmospheric soundtrack with a number of
sonic highlights. Of course, the standouts are the film’s thunderstorm
and car wreck sequences, but I also like some of the smaller moments that
involve the prison’s faltering electrical system. The sound design
itself proves to be cohesive from front to back and completely enveloping.
Dialogue is crisp and always completely understandable. The bass channel
packs a wallop, but never seems artificially pumped up. A French 5.1
channel track is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French, and
Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as a few extras. Director Mathieu Kassovitz and
director of photography Matthew Libatique are on hand to provide a running
audio commentary for GOTHIKA. While it is not the most consistently
talky yabber-fest, this is a fairly interesting commentary track; with the
participants imparting a good deal of technical information on the
production. The other extras are a theatrical trailer and music video for the Limp Bizkit
performance of the Pete Townsend composition Behind Blue Eyes.
GOTHIKA
is a good rainy evening’s entertainment for those who enjoy genre films.
It isn’t the best production to come out of Dark Castle Entertainment,
but I liked GOTHIKA nonetheless. As for Warner’s DVD, the
presentation is first rate, so if you are interested in checking out GOTHIKA,
there is no better way than with the wide screen DVD.
