Fragile. A Ghost Story: DVD Movie Review

Horror Movie Starring Calista Flockhart & Richard Roxburgh

Mar 15, 2009 Roberta Goli

Fragile: A Ghost Story is a creepy ghost story set in Mercy Falls Children's Hospital where a ghost haunts the second floor and terrorizes staff and patients.

This 2005 movie stars Calista Flockhart (Ali McBeal, Brothers & Sisters) as nurse Amy Nicholls and Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) as Dr Robert Marcus. Directed by Jaume Balaguero (Darkness, 2002), this a creepy ghost story set in an old children’s hospital (Mercy Falls Children’s Hospital), that is in the process of closing down. The hospital is down to only 8 children but due to a local railroad accident, the main hospital is full so transferring the remaining children is postponed.

Calista Flockhart Plays Night Shift Nurse with a Past

Strange occurrences begin to happen on the nightshift. Loud noises and the mysterious bone fractures of one of the children cause fear and confusion among the staff. Enter new nurse Amy (Flockhart) a women with a past, to replace the night shift night shift nurse that has quit.

She bonds with one of the children, Maggie (Yasmin Murphy), who tells her about Charlotte, a child she communicates with who lives on the 2nd floor, a floor that has been closed off and abandoned for several years. Upon questioning the staff about Charlotte, Amy is advised that this story is simply an urban legend and that Maggie is prone to letting her imagination run wild. But soon Amy too begins to see and hear frightening occurrences during her shift, which intensify as she tries to unravel the mysteries of the hospital.

Review of Fragile: A Ghost Story

A classically creepy ghost story, it builds suspense from beginning to end. While the beginning is a little slow to progress to the scary events, this simply adds more tension for the viewer. The pace of the second half of the film continues to increase in suspense as the Amy begins to decipher clues about Charlotte and the reasoning behind her haunting. This movie will have your stomach tense with anticipation and asking the usual questions of the actors, such as “Why would she go in there?” Or “Why doesn’t she just quit?”

The tension continues to build as the story unfolds and there is an interesting (and of course, creepy) twist towards the end. The film shows enough of the ghost to fulfill the ‘creep factor’ but not too much as to lesson its creepiness, as you venture through the abandoned and darkened halls of the hospital.

The main actors do well to make believable and likable characters and the story unfolds nicely. Overall, an enjoyable and spooky film, well worth the couple of dollars it would cost to hire the DVD.