Ward, The (2010) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Thriller
Welcome to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital, an isolation ward for disturbed women that holds a terrifying secret. Kirsten (Amber Heard), a beautiful but volatile young woman finds herself bruised, cut, drugged and held against her will at the sinister
asylum. Trying to gain control of her memory and figure out how she got there, Kristen discovers that a savage ghostly figure roams the halls at night. One by one, the other patients begin to disappear. To survive, Kristen must discover the horrifying
truth of the ward. Legendary director John Carpenter - the mastermind behind Halloween, The Thing and Escape From New York - is back in this suspenseful psychological shocker.
User Comment: murnank from Ireland, 22 January 2011 • I'm 36 years old and in 1981 the first horror movie I saw was John Carpenters "Halloween". I was 6 year old and subsequently I became an úber fan of the Director. I've
worshiped the great ones (Assault on precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Prince of Darkness) enjoyed the good (Christine, Star Man, Big Trouble in little China, They Live, In the mouth of madness, Vampires) and stomached the
bad (Escape from L.A, Village of the damned, Memoirs…, Ghosts of Mars). "The Ward" seems to fall into all of these categories. Sometimes it's great, more often than not it's good but regrettably when it's bad it's really bad. Perhaps it was the lack of a
traditional Carpenter score (although the score by Mark Kilian is suitably haunting, memorable and atmospheric) or maybe it was the somewhat derivative "jump" scares or could it have been the inconsistent overall tone because to me it felt like I was
watching a movie made by someone trying to emulate Carpenter rather than a movie by "The Master" himself. Don't get me wrong, technically it's excellent and it contains a few moments of genuine tension but there was something missing from the ingredients
that make a great Carpenter movie and I think that something is called suspense. It's a shame really because with its eerie location, its linear, albeit uninspired storyline and its quirky characters this had the potential to bring the Director back to
the top where he truthfully belongs but throughout I couldn't help feel that Carpenter's become jaded within the genre. His techniques that were groundbreaking during his prime have been exploited by every other Horror Director of the last 20 years. So
instead of evolving above this and carving a revolutionary way forward as he once did so gracefully, Carpenters now imitating his old self and his techniques just don't seem to cut it anymore. To be fair it's an enjoyable and fast moving 88 minutes but
from an old Pro like John Carpenter I was expecting something a lot more terrifying. When Carpenter reviewed his initial cut of "The Fog" back in 79 he found it plodding and just not scary enough so he went back and re-shot scenes then re-cut it into the
classic it is today. I think if Carpenter had taken the same approach with this movie it could've been up there with the best of the best but something tells me that he's become indifferent, lost his passion and dare I say "only in it for the money". Over
time I may grow to love this like I grew to love "Prince of Darkness" but as of right now it's left me feeling somewhat dis-satisfied.
Summary: Cloning Carpenter.
User Comment: *** This review may contain spoilers *** Chickensmoke from United Kingdom, 21 January 2011 • As a big fan of horror and also of John Carpenter, I was very much looking forward to 'The
Ward'. The first half of the film is a typical set up for a creepy 'ghost in the hospital' film, but is made less enjoyable by all the mental hospital clichés. There's the stubborn old nurse (always with her pills and syringe), the electric shock
treatment and multiple lines like "I'm not crazy" (which, of course, nobody believes). It's nothing we haven't seen before. Also, the trouble with having a slow first half is that the second half seems to address the failure to create any real tension or
mystery and therefore turns to more action-filled slasher territory. This is when the film became more enjoyable. It feels like Carpenter has returned to the big screen with some fun traditional horror, as characters sneak through air vents, get murdered
one by one in brutal (yet still too mild for real gore hounds) and creative ways and the story of the ghost is finally revealed. On top of that, the ghost is incredibly creepy and remains frightening throughout the whole film. Some scenes are very tense,
the film is filled with 'jump!' moments and many shots of that darkened corridor (with rain, thunder and lightning outside too, obviously). The acting is okay, the score is fairly creepy (though it's no 'Halloween') and the script's only big let down is
it's desperate twist ending, which is more silly than it is clever. However, it all adds up to make a neat little horror flick that isn't perfect -nor the scariest or most imaginative film ever- but is a nice change from the ton of remakes that are
spilling into our cinemas at the moment. Overall, an average horror film, but enjoyable none the less. Don't take it too seriously, don't expect to be petrified or vomit at the gore, but expect an entertaining bit of easy old-school horror from a master
of the genre.
Summary: Enjoyable enough, but not a Carpenter masterpiece.
[CSW] -4- I thoroughly enjoyed this film. For me it maintained tension throughout and the music was excellent. If the audience starts out with the belief that any story told from the point of view of a mentally ill person cannot be trusted to be the truth
or even what is actually happening in reality then they would be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this film. I think the director got it right but many of the audience had the misconception that everything they saw was somehow real. It was real but
only from one point of view and that point of view was excellently portrayed. If you are a thinking person that really enjoys a psychological horror-thriller then you should not miss this movie.
[V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.
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