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

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!

What could I say about "Fragile"? Well... it was a rainy evening in my town (totally true, not to give effects), and instead of going to the town party I decided to go to the cinema. I had a good idea because I've always admired Balagueró (Los Sin Nombre... great), and I love horror films too, but, like I've said, I had seen three horror movies before and none of them really frightened me. So I got to the cinema and waited for it to start. The atmosphere is very good, it seems they worked a lot to make it, but not only the atmosphere was right like in other films, the story is convincing too, not just "killing-screaming-the end". It starts about a nurse who goes to work in a hospital in an English island. The hospital is about to be closed and the few children who are still there are supposed to be out of there soon. But it's not as easy as it seems, strange things happen in that hospital, one of the girls see somebody who lived and died there, and that "somebody" hurts the kids, by breaking their bones most of the times. The real interest is in what is behind that story, who is that somebody, and why he or she behaves like that. The acting is correct, Elena Anaya, Richard Roxburgh (finally a good role for him!), Calista Flockhart and the kids work efficiently. And most... I'd never been so frightened for a long time. I think that good stories are that which scare me. The same happened with "The Changeling" (somehow similar, somehow different). But worth seeing both of them. I recommend it.

The reviews coming out of Venice were not kind. Indeed some reviews on this site in the message boards were not kind.....OK we are not talking about Oscar material but this film is scary in a non-gory, blood-on-walls, way and is entertaining. If cinema should be fun and a time to suspend belief then this film is OK. If you want challenging subject matter or top drawer acting look elsewhere....if you want to be scared and entertained then go for it. Flockhart is fine, the kids are good, Roxborugh is good, Anaya is good.....just don't expect too much. The sound and cinematography are very good and Jaume Balagueró holds it all together well enough....the story ticks along and builds to the final showdown and you begin to feel some empathy and understanding of the characters but we never dwell long enough on any one character....and we don't really care how or why they are in the hospital all we want to know is well they ever leave? PS:Please I Want to know the name of the soundtrack in the end(or Where i can download It) it's very good and i can't find it anywhere pls help me:]

The reviews coming out of Venice were not kind. Indeed some reviews on this site in the message boards were not kind.....OK we are not talking about Oscar material but this film is scary in a non-gory, blood-on-walls, way and is entertaining. If cinema should be fun and a time to suspend belief then this film is OK. If you want challenging subject matter or top drawer acting look elsewhere....if you want to be scared and entertained then go for it. Flockhart is fine, the kids are good, Roxborugh is good, Anaya is good.....just don't expect too much. The sound and cinematography are very good and Jaume Balagueró holds it all together well enough....the story ticks along and builds to the final showdown and you begin to feel some empathy and understanding of the characters but we never dwell long enough on any one character....and we don't really care how or why they are in the hospital all we want to know is well they ever leave?