Halle Berry sees dead people in lackluster 'Gothika'

By Bill Muller
The Arizona Republic

GOTHIKA (R) Two and One-Half Stars (Fair-to-Good) Halle Berry goes "The Sixth Sense" route in this not too scary horror movie. Despite its shortcomings, "Gothika" provides a decent number of thrills and chills, though it wilts before the payoff. Also starring Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Warner Bros. 95 minutes.

In making "Gothika" — a sometimes scary but unimaginative film starring Berry as a prison psychologist who ends up in her own institution — vital horror-movie guidelines are ignored. To wit:

If you're going to reveal a surprise bad guy in the end, supply a clue or two along the way. Otherwise, it's as if the screenwriter leaned back in his chair, took a swig of coffee and said, "Heck, I'll just make this guy the killer."

In searching for a plot, avoid the helpful (but not quite as friendly as Casper) ghost thing. They ran this number in "The Sixth Sense," "Stir of Echoes" and "What Lies Beneath," which, like "Gothika," features the memorable ghoul-in-the-road bit, perhaps leading to a cottage industry of bumper stickers that read, "I swerve for dead people."

As for those flickering lights — once is atmospheric. Twice is spooky. But a dozen times is desperation.

Same goes for the "she's right behind you" camera trick — a character turns around and a scary apparition fills up the frame, with an accompanying burst of loud music. The first few times, it makes you jump, but after awhile, you half expect Berry's character to shrug and ask, "So, you want to watch 'Law & Order?"'

Despite these shortcomings, "Gothika" provides a decent number of thrills and chills, though it wilts before the payoff. Berry ("Monster's Ball," "X-Men 2") proves that she can carry a film, and Robert Downey Jr. provides a good foil as a fellow psychologist.

The movie features some slick visuals, including a time-in-reverse sequence in which raindrops freeze in midair and then start moving again. How very "Matrix" of them.

It's unclear why Penelope Cruz shows up in this movie, cast as an inmate in the prison, which bears a striking resemblance to Arkham Asylum in the Batman films. Cruz is given such lines as, "He can have my body, but he'll never have my soul." What is this, a Revlon commercial?

Berry plays Miranda Grey, who works at the prison for her husband (Charles S. Dutton), who is very loving and sensitive until she chops him up with an ax. Or does she? Was she possessed? Was she hallucinating? Did she confuse him with the guy who wrote "The Last Boy Scout?"

We don't really know, but Miranda wakes up in a cell, and her pal Pete (Downey) tells her that she, oops, somehow put hubby in the blender. Miranda is haunted by a ghostly figure, who seems to be trying to tell her something like, "We really saved a lot of money by borrowing the set dressings from 'Don't Say a Word."'

Actually, the apparition in "Gothika" seems spry even by movie standards, running about, leaving clues for Miranda, and letting her out of her cell. This allows Miranda to jog through the prison in a T-shirt and then, of course, dive into a swimming pool, which is vital to the plot.

Given this apparition's ability to open doors, operate machinery and randomly possess people, it's a wonder she doesn't just show up at FBI headquarters with a manila folder under her arm.

But that really would be breaking the rules.

Rated R for violence, nudity, and profanity.