Fragile

Fragile (AKA: Fragiles) is directed by Juame Balaguero who also co- writes the screenplay with Jordi Galceran. It stars Calista Flockhart, Elena Anaya, Yasmin Murphy, Richard Roxburgh and Colin McFarlane. Music is by Roque Banos and cinematography by Xavi Gimenez.

Mercy Falls Children's Hospital, Isle of White, soon to be closed down and currently only housing the last few child patients and a skeleton crew of staff.. It is also home to something else, something sinister up on the second floor…apparently.

Supernatural spooker involving kids in peril, Fragile is quintessentially a ghost story movie for the undemanding like minded film fan looking for chills, jumps and atmosphere abound. Those in search of something new thrown on to the haunted building table are advised to steer clear, for in spite of a somewhat bonkers finale, where hospital apocalypse is the order of the day, this stays safely on the well trodden path.

Yet when done well enough clichés are not a problem, such is the case here. Flockhart's nurse has mental anguish in her past which she inevitably has to exorcise, and naturally she's going to be the heroine in some shape or form, we know this as she's the American come to the Isle of White to work, a new start. However, it's a nicely drawn characterisation that engages when the bond between nurse and one particularly troubled child is fully born.

With the back drop that of a Gothic hospital (exteriors really Bearwood College in Berkshire, England), complete with a closed ward straight out of Session 9, atmosphere is well maintained by Balaguero, and of course whenever there are sick and dying kids involved there's always a deep sadness dripped into film. The scares range from standard things that go clang in the night, lifts and beds that come to life, and edge of the seat inducing walks around dead silent parts of the hospital. Then there's that ending…

The story involving the reason for the haunting is a neat one, unfortunately the entity in its realisation is not. We are introduced to something monstrous, but it belongs in a different movie, perhaps a Clive Barker inspired one in fact. Some will (and already do) find it very freaky, but I feel it goes a bit away from the traditional ghost movie flavours previously sprinkled throughout the picture. However, there's a genuine surprise at film's closure, where not reverting to formula type is a major bonus.

Derivative? Yes more often than not. Good time assured for fans of haunted house like mysteries? Absolutely! 7/10

I first saw this in 2007 on a dvd which I own.

Revisited it recently.

I liked the movie cos it has plenty of atmosphere, few spooky scenes n a decent twist.

The movie's settings will remind us of The Shining, The Woman in Black, etc.

The performances are good but the end is a bit convenient.

I have enjoyed Jaume Balagueró's Rec series n Sleep Tight.

I like horror movies. "Fragile" is like nowadays "japanese-horror" movies, but with a bit of European soul added. Everything's set to get you some goosebumps. An old children's hospital that is about to being closed, moody soundtrack, great set decorations and props and makeup, and sound effects that make you jump out of your skin sometimes. The movie hit a bullseye for me. Hospitals and abandoned places scare the hell out of me so watching this movie was like my worst nightmare came true. It was definitively scarier than The Ring. If you get the creep from hospitals, abandoned places and stuff like that, I do recommend this movie.

An American woman (Calista Flockhart ) gets work in a rundown hospital where there are ill children which are suffering creepy events . She become clear that these are not normal kids . They're unsettling with a weird ghost is living in the hospital and the kids call the mechanical girl who has imperfect Osteogenesis . The nurse desperately tries to keep the children safe of mysterious spectres . A little girl (Ivana Baquero) begins afraid of the darkness and is terrorized asking for help but the nurse becomes threatened by vicious being that embarks upon a killing spree .

This thrilling picture displays mystery , suspense , restless terror including decent scares with tense horror sequences . It provides horrifying and hair raising images with a bit of blood and gore . The movie takes accent as the suspense as well as the terror with eerie scenes when the horrible ghost makes apparition . The narration is correctly developed with an imaginative , well-knit screenplay and striking , exciting ending . There are some scenes of an animated clip "Sleeping Beauty" it is not an excerpt from an animated film , but was created specifically for this movie . Filmmaker Jaume Balaguero is borrowing inspiration from the ghosts of ¨The sixth sense¨, demonic possession with poltergeist phenomenon with high grade FX as crack walls , rare sounds etc of ¨Amytiville¨ until his anterior films as ¨The nameless¨ and ¨Darkness¨.

The actors are top-notch , such as the little girl played by Ivana Baquero, (future star in Pan's labyrinth) as well as the adults , Calista Flockhart , Gemma Jones . Richard Roxburgh and Elena Anaya are pretty well , both of whom previously worked in ¨Van Helsing¨ as Dracula and his bride . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere is made by Balaguero's , usual cameraman : Xavi Gimenez . Shot on location in Bearwood College , Reading , England was used as the exterior location for the Mercy Falls Children's Hospital and Union Street in Ryde on the Isle of Wight . Musical Score adjusted to horror film , being magnificently composed by Roque Baños (The machinist , 800 bullets) . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Jaume Balaguero who came up with the idea for the plot after learning this rare illness : Osteogenesis . Slick movie aimed to terror fans and is one of the highest earning horror movie of the last years .

There is acting life (albeit horrific) after Ally McBeal! No kidding, I didn't know she could act. But Calista Flockhart can with fluid aplomb as demonstrated by this horror gem. Similar to "The Skeleton Key" in its plot and feel, this hospital horror boo-donit moves quickly into the murky depths of the strange goings-on at a children's hospital that is soon to be closed. When the new night nurse, Amy, played by Flockhart, arrives to take the place of the last (fleeing) night nurse, the creepy nature of the recent 'accidents' of the children and their subsequent fearful behavior give her pangs of heart-felt anguish at their suffering. Her protective instincts (heightened by a job related trauma she herself recently experienced) kick into high gear, and she begins stalking the underlying cause of these events, although the rest of the staff buttress the mystery with listless denial, or is their passivity a part of a larger, more sinister cover-up? The haunting music, sound and visual effects transparently blend together in a well spun intensity that doesn't require the more overtly obvious shock-factor 'bumps in the night' and miscues holding other less dramatically driven, cheap-thrills horror movies together. Hey, we all know its not real, but so is your money, and you won't be wasting it if you rent this movie!