GOTHIKA
TWO DISC
 SPECIAL EDITION

GOTHIKA DVD Rating - C

STARS:
Halle Berry 
Robert Downy Jr.
Charles Dutton 
Penelope Cruz
John Carol Lynch
Bernard Hill 

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Written by Sebastian Gutierrez
Produced by Dark Castle Entertainment 
Producers - Joel Silver, Robert Zemekis, Susan Levin

A psychiatrist in a woman's penitentiary finds herself on the other side of the bars when she wakes up one morning, incarcerated for apparently having chopped her husband up. The doctor, unable to remember what really happened, finds herself in the unenviable position of trying to prove her innocence while most everyone around believes her to be nuts. 

Halle Berry is near the bottom of my list of quality actresses. Thanks to her looks the actress is on most peoples "A List". Her acting skills are barely perceptible on the screen and it's hard to cover it with any script. It was one of her better performances, but that doesn't make it good.

Gothika is loaded with old clichés fans have seen in just about any horror film. If they characters had been developed at all it could have generated more interest in the film. 

PACKAGING 
Warner Bros. has done a nice packaging job with the film. It comes in a hard plastic case that slides nicely into a coated cardboard slide. It's nice.

VIDEO
The video quality wasn't top notch. The entire film was filmed at night or in dark rooms. The blacks look a bit washed out. There just isn't enough offsetting color to show just how dark the blacks are.

AUDIO
It's Dolby Digital and DTS. It's loud on the surround. On a regular television setup the voices are low and the effects over powering. Man, I hate that. 

EXTRAS 
DVD Special Features:
    - Commentary by director Mathieu Kassovitz and cinematographer Matthew labatique
    - Limp Bizkit Behind Blue Eyes Music Video
    - Theatrical Trailer
    - Making of Documentaries on the set of Gothika and Painting With Fire.
    - Enter Woodward Penitentiary 
    - Visit Dr. Grey's Office, 
    - Tour the infamous Psych Ward 
    - Review Inmate Case Files
    - MTV's "Punk'd" featuring Halle Berry
    - MTV's  "Making the Video: Limp Bizkit "Behind Blue Eyes"
    - DVD-Rom PC Weblink. 

OVERALL VIEW 
Gothika is just an OK film. The talents of Robert Downy Jr. were wasted. Penelope Cruz was excellent. Halle Berry was... decent. The plot was predictable and held no surprises, but it was watchable. 

GOTHIKA - C

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