Fragile

Saw Fragile, a horror film set at a hospital. The protagonist, a new nurse, arrives to replace another nurse who recently went gaga. The hospital is closing down and is completely empty save for the children's ward, an evasive co-nurse, an orderly who listens to deafening metal on his walk-man, and a doctor who is dashing but don't believe in no ghosts. The hospital's second floor, we are quickly told, has been sealed off since time immemorial (since the nine-teen fifties!) Yes, it's shaping up to be a boilerplate horror. These pieces are clearly the wheels and cogs of the scare-machine.

The scare-machine takes a very long time getting started. I think that what was presented here chronologically would have been presented as flashbacks in another film. As such, the film spends a lot of time teasing the protagonist's sleeping pills and bad dreams and one little girls imaginary friend (or is it!?) This was expected and not terribly inspired. The film (finally) really gets going once we get into that mysterious second floor, but by then the film's almost done.

Very frustrating, but oh well. The film is kind of sleepy and not too terribly scary. Also, I really didn't like the protagonist. She wasn't terribly written but, well, she petulantly hurls pill-bottles around and smacks herself in the head as she relives some past trauma (sleeping pills and bad dreams, remember!) For a woman who works with children, she sure seems fragile. Maybe I'm just misremembering my grade-school teachers.

Uninspired plot and wonky performances aside, it has some interesting things going on: for example, there's a repeated image of butterflies. This is meant, I think, to symbolize a soul, freed from its earthly body. A pretty image. Also, there's a royalty-avoiding animated version of snow white shown to the kids. As a man with a sick love for cheap animation, I felt as though I were seeing a rare treat. So, the film is a little crazy in parts but not too obnoxious. It's fairly boilerplate but not inept and not badly done. Bad in parts, but what was I expecting anyway?