I found the film Fragile to be quite a scary horror film. It is about a new night nurse called Amy Nicholls, who arrives in the old Mercy Falls Children Hospital to work as night nurse as replacement of the former nurse who worked there called Susan. It is a soon to be abandoned children's hospital it becomes clear that these are not normal children. There is something living in the hospital, which the children call the "mechanical girl," the patients are being transferred to Saint James Hospital but due to a train crash, the closing of the hospital has been postponed. Amy is introduced to eight children with lung cases by the nurse Helen Perez, and she feels attracted to one of the girls called Maggie. Maggie likes to play with some letter blocks to talk with the "mechanical girl" called Charlotte that lives upstairs, on an abandoned floor. This seemed to be quite a strange and scary film to me. Recommended

Don't look, don't move and don't even breathe.............

Well this movie opened yesterday in Spain and I saw it and I have to say that I liked it. I have seen the directors two previous movies, LOS SIN NOMBRE and DARKNESS and I think he is one of the most interesting directors in Europe at the moment. Fragile is just like Darkness in English with an international cast, mainly with actors from the UK, but in the lead we see the American actress Calista Flockhart and Australian actor Richard Roxburgh.

The movie starts very slow but after 45 minutes it comes alive and you jump out of your seat a couple of times. The acting is not the best, Calista looks mostly tired throughout the movie and there is a scene between her and Richard that should be very moving but ends up laughable. (you will recognize it when you see the movie).

Spanish actress Elena Anaya is hot and very talented and should have had more scenes.

The best thing with this movie is the mechanical girl, the ghost living on the 2nd floor. She or IT is really scary and the make up artists have done a terrific job. Every time she appears you will definitely be sacred. This movie is not going to go down as one of the best horror movies ever made, but if you like movies like The sixth sense, the omen, the eye you will definitely enjoy this one. I hope Dimension films picks this one up for an US release cause with Calista in the lead I think the movie could gross at least 40-60 million at the box office.

I can't wait for the directors next movie. Viva España!

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