Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I don't get the hate for this film... I find it a very good mystery ghost story. Halle Berry really shows what a fine actress she is here - she brings out the emotions of her character Miranda Grey very well.Miranda is a psychiatrist working in a asylum, works closely with one prisoner named Chloe. Chloe seems "out there" and Miranda think she's in denial of what has happened to her, what she has done. Miranda is married to the Dr. Douglas Grey - a man many call "The Boss". Dr. Grey's best friend is Sheriff Ryan, while Miranda's closest friend seems to be Pete Graham (who is also a psychiatrist at the asylum).One dark and stormy night, Miranda is driving home - there is sinkhole in the road and the police tell Miranda she should go home by the way of the little white bridge. Miranda heads over that bridge and the next thing she knows, she's in a cell at the very asylum she works at.I won't give away what happens to first time viewers... but if you like a good ghost story then give this film view.9/10

The wife of eminent psychologist Dr. Grey has apparently murdered him in a twisted tale of horror, suspense, and ghostly possession. It's an escape movie, wherein Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is accused of a crime she committed "by proxy" as the unwilling victim of ghostly possession. She must run for her life. Is it badly written? As a horror story, it succeeds. As a who (or what) done-it, it's quite elementary, as I guessed the accomplice half-way through the film, based on awkward clues. Both men, the Chief of Police and Dr. Grey have their own little Satanic Cult going-on, involving S&M, torture, and the death of innocent women, while videotaping them. (sick) Miranda is an inmate in the "Psycho Ward" of her own ghastly prison. It's a monstrous, evil place. She is carved-up and attacked by a ghost and inmates in a nightmarish shower sequence, and accused of being both "a cutter" and suicidal. She is guided by the ghost of the Head Administrator's daughter, as she was also murdered by Dr. Grey and mistakenly thought to have died by suicide as a bridge jumper. In the end, Miranda is exonerated of all crimes, which is very hard-to-believe, as her hands, if not her body, did kill her evil husband. However, she still sees ghosts. I enjoyed Halle's good performance in spite of the somewhat predictable storyline. "Gothika", as explained by "Chloe", is the realm of Satan. Graphic, confusing, unsettling, and certainly not for the squeamish.

Whilst hardly being a very good horror film, it's not exactly the stinker some would have you believe.The problems with it are that it becomes overblown, after initially pulsing away as a very moody and atmospherically tight spooker, set to a superbly eerie asylum backdrop, it gets away from itself in the final third. The makers never quite grasp the concept of keeping the mystery aspects of the plot still cloaked in scary tints. Tech credits are dandy, though an impressive cast list are not asked to stretch themselves. It's not ever overtly frightening and lacks suspense in some key areas, but there's still enough of a creepy vibe here to not waste the time of first time viewers. Repeat viewing prospects, though? Unlikely. 6/10

Saw this on cable. Might be the worst script I've ever read in contrast to the level of talent in this movie. When you can make Robert Downey Jr., Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz look this bad and take name actresses and create an awkward dialogue throughout the movie, you know it has to be putrid.The problem - the story is a random bunch of nonsense that is supposed to come together. Well, it does when it's convenient to the story, which is nothing but "how many red herrings can we create until we get into the big reveal?" The bigger problem: there is no payoff. I won't give away the ending but it's enough for me to say that whatever redeeming aspects about the movie that exist, perhaps some of the atmosphere, is undermined by the colossally stupid payoff.Every time Downey Jr is on the screen, he seems to want to run off and wash the dialogue away. He's clearly trying to get into his character and make the dumb, illogical dialog work, but it doesn't. Cruz doesn't really have much to do and Halle Berry is in just one muddled scene after another with stilted dialogue that is nonsensical. Nobody acts this way, even in dumb horror films. The only thing that kept me watching was that I was working and had it on in the background. The payoff was so bad that I had to roll my eyes and ask whether the writer could have been any lazier. And the answer was "no, he could not be lazier." This is a serious waste of time and you'll regret listening to any of the reviews here that even try to rationalize why you should watch this tripe. Read a synopsis of the film to understand what you're getting into. This is a loser that never should have been made.