Hey it's Sunday Streaming time again! The movie I'm recommending today, FRAGILE (2005), certainly deserves a more in depth examination on this site but for now let me just say that if you are a fan of ghost stories, you'll want to see it. It's directed by the hugely talented JAUME BALAQUERO who delivered the horrifying adaptation of RAMSEY CAMPBELL's THE NAMELESS, the flawed but atmospheric DARKNESS and the instant classic [REC]. As is frequently the case with Netflix Streaming, you'll do yourself a favor by ignoring the advertising art supplied which consists of a floating, half space alien looking face and a sadly more meaningless by the minute FANGORIA FRIGHT FEST banner. Do not be worried that ubiquitous late nineties menace CALISTA (ALLIE MCBEAL) FLOCKHART stars, she's quite good in it and the more you think abut it, the more her brittle, twitchy presence makes sense.
FLOCKHART plays nurse Amy Nicholls who has recently started working the night shift at an unnervingly grim children's hospital that is in the midst of packing up and closing down. The children speak of a ghostly presence that lingers on the abandoned second floor named Charlotte who is creepily described as a "mechanical" girl. By all appearances this spirit seems to be raging against being left behind and has taken to smashing bones and throwing people out windows. Of course, nothing is as it seems, there is a mystery that must be solved and Amy must separate the hospital's woeful history from the guilty baggage she brought with her. FRAGILE goes to some seriously dank, dark and convincingly eerie, seriously scary places and like all the best ghost stories it has a tragic heart that plays with your sympathies as much as your fears. File this one right between HOUSE OF VOICES and THE ORPHANAGE. If it's not as well regarded as those two flicks it's only due to its willingness to dive further into unpleasantness.
I saw this a few years back and really enjoyed it enough to pick up the DVD. It's worth a watch if anyone is curious.
I bought this DVD after watching it a few years back – I love the atmosphere and creepiness it evokes. I'm also a fan of House of Voices and The Orphanage as well, but you probably could have guessed that 🙂
Thanks for pointing this out – I really liked House of Voices, and probably would have skimmed right over it due to the terrible Netflix art.
Have not seen it but it sounds pretty great – thanks!
I would also direct the attention of your readers to "The FP" now streaming on Netflix. It is not horror or traumatizing, but I have never seen anything quite like it. Per the reviews, you will either like it or loathe it. You will know ten minutes in whether it is a film for you. The dialogue is nearly incomprehensible, the plot is absurd and the characters are generally despicable – but I liked it.