Truly Dreadful Film

best movie i've ever seen.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I hovered between 6 and 7 because it is good but not much better than average. As IMDb doesn't allow 6.5, I have given it a 7.I watched this because I was a huge fan of Ally McBeal and wanted to see what Calista Flockhart was up to otherwise I would normally give films like this a miss.As with most films, my level of enjoyment often depends on my mood and my expectations. I wasn't expecting much of this film and was fairly bored. So I finally got around to watching it and was entertained throughout. It was very much a "standard" horror film, not much effort put into the background story of the "horror" aspect (sorry for being vague, I don't want to give anything away!) but the story moves at a good pace and the acting is good and...it's just good.Nothing special but good. It's hard to explain why one film in a genre is better than another e.g. why did I care about these characters but not about any in another horror film? Probably because I like at least three of the actors in this film; that always helps! But it was more than that. The film never seemed low budget (until a couple of so-so special effects towards the end), there was an overall 'professional' feel to the film and it was obvious that a lot of effort had been put into it.Once the horror finally kicks in to full gear, it is genuinely scary and it's rare that I get an adrenaline shock (even if it was just for a second). Without wanting to explain what exactly was scary, the "thing that was scary" was genuinely done well and I was impressed.The only real critique (other than the standard couple of clichéd script moments) was...well...not sure why no-one has mentioned it but...something really inappropriate happened at the end that literally left my jaw on the floor. It could have been more "innocent-slash-tasteful" but I can't believe I have to say that about this particular scene because I don't think it even made sense nor should have been filmed(!). I think it should have been the man.That's all I'll say and anyone who hasn't seen it will understand what I mean when it happens.Anyway, good film but standard stuff and that's after watching with no expectations and wanting to pass the time.6.5/10

Troubled American nurse Amy (a fine, credible, and affecting performance by Calista Flockhart) gets a job working the night shift at the crumbling Mercy Falls Children's Hospital in Britain. The place is being closed down. Amy discovers that there's a dangerous and possessive spirit known as Charlotte the mechanical girl (a genuinely creepy portrayal by Karmeta Cervera) on a disused floor who refuses to let the child patients leave the hospital. Director Jaume Balaguero, who also co-wrote the thoughtful script with Jordi Galceran, relates the compelling story at a deliberate pace, does an expert job of creating and sustaining an eerie and unsettling atmosphere of pure dread and unease, makes wisely judicious use of both excessive graphic gore and flashy special effects, and pulls out all the harrowing stops for the thrilling climax. Moreover, Balaguero brings a classy and subtle sensibility and sensitivity to the material that kicks the overall quality of the movie up a few extra notches. The excellent acting from the tip-top cast rates as another substantial asset: Flockhart brings a touching and appealing vulnerability to her sympathetic character, with sterling support from Richard Roxburgh as the skeptical Dr. Robert Marcus, Elena Anaya as stern nurse Helen Perez, Gemma Jones as hard-nosed head administrator Mrs. Folder, Colin McFarlane as amiable handyman Roy, and, most impressive of all, the adorable Yasmin Murphy as frightened and precocious little girl Maggie. Xavi Gimenez's shadowy cinematography gives the picture an appropriately gloomy look. Roque Banos' shivery score does the elegantly uncanny trick. A real sleeper.

FRAGILE is one of those ghost stories that turns out to be heavily indebted to modern Asian horror in its story of a haunted hospital and a malicious ghost that preys on the sick children living therein. At first, when I noticed the presence of Spanish director Jaume Balaguero (he of the outstanding REC) I thought we might be in for something a bit above the average, but even good directors can only do so much with average source material and much of FRAGILE screams average.The somewhat unusual backdrop for the film is the Isle of Wight, but sadly as this is a low budget production virtually none of the scenes take place outside of the abandoned hospital (one sub-plot follows an ex-nurse as she talks to some characters who apparently stepped off the set of DON'T LOOK NOW, but this storyline vanishes shortly afterwards). The various haunting-type stuff feels pretty predictable – after all, there are only so many ways that a vengeful spirit's actions can be portrayed – and other than the unexpectedly harsh viciousness toward the child victims, this is all very much par for the course. The ghost itself may be frightening to some, but I was too much reminded of the way the Grudge films, for instance, shoot around the ghosts to make them more frightening and this movie follows suit.Calista Flockhart is the imported female star, delivering a slightly more expletive-ridden performance than you'd expect for this actress. Flockhart has never been one of my favourites, and she's occasionally shrill and over the top here, which doesn't help very much. Richard Roxburgh, playing a dashing doctor type straight out of the pages of a Mills & Boon Medical, is much better, even if once again I mistook him for Sean Pertwee for half the running time. Nobody else in the cast list makes much of an impression, particularly the unimpressive child actors, although Colin McFarlane (BATMAN BEGINS) does well in a minor role (even if he does take the clichéd role you'd expect to see a black actor in a horror film cast in).FRAGILE is a pretty predictable film for horror fans; it's certainly not badly made, and it passes the time, but I do expect greater effort from my horror films these days instead of movies which end up delivering yet more of the same.

It's nice to stumble on a decent, under the radar horror movie now and again. Fragile isn't amazing, but it did surprise me with how watchable and well-made it is. Calista Flockhart stars as a nurse recently arrived at Mercy Falls Hospital, which is almost 100 years old and full of history. The hospital is about to be closed, though, and as the inhabitants of the children's ward are leaving unexplainable, malevolent events are beginning to occur. One of the children speaks of seeing a "mechanical girl", and the mystery of that ghostly apparition may be the key to it all. Fragile is more creepy than frightening, but it kept my interest throughout. There's a bit of a mystery woven within it that matches well with the atmosphere the movie cultivates, and even a bit of a twist to keep things from being entirely predictable. There's some occasional over-acting from the numerous child actors (which is understandable), as well as some from Flockhart and Elena Anaya (which is less so), but that's all I can really complain about. I liked Fragile. It takes the time to establish mood and characters while managing to never teeter into boredom. If you're in the mood for a solid ghost story, you could do much, much worse.