I am a huge fan of John Carpenter's work. I did an entire documentary on his films for my high school film class and gave a copy to the man himself at Fan Expo. Since then due to my newfound respect, I do often continue to purchase and watch films of his when I find them for low prices. I found The Ward alongside Assault on Precinct 13 for five dollars each in a small Canadian town you probably never heard of. The reviews I'd heard for The Ward weren't the greatest, but I decided to buy it anyway and judge for myself. I think it was worth it. Of course I do have some unusual tastes (for the record I hated Halloween, in my opinion that is Carpenter's absolute worst), but I rather liked it.
The story itself is actually rather compelling. The acting is quite good and there's even a twist at the end I can honestly say I never saw coming. Yes, technically what goes on in the end has happened in other movies before, but it is still handled remarkably well here and manages to cast the whole film in a new light in a similar style to films like The Usual Suspects, Shutter Island, or Angel Heart. There's also some genuinely good scares, including several that will make you jump.
The atmosphere is also quite impressive. A major recurring theme in Carpenter's films going all the way back to the beginning is a sense of being trapped in a claustrophobic environment against more than one can normally handle handle- Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape From New York, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, among others. That idea returns here, with the protagonists in conflict both against the staff and the ghost that may or may not really exist. The ward itself is somewhat reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- I don't know if I want to call it realistic, as I don't know much about them myself, but there is a lot of thought put into the design.
As I've said before, it's not Carpenter's strongest film- if you'd like that I'd still suggest The Thing. However, if you want an interesting horror film or a modern horror film with some good scares that doesn't follow the same-old slasher formula like a lot of contemporary horror films seem to do, I'd definitely recommend taking a look. If you're a hardcore Carpenter fan like me, this is definitely a must-see.
For Carpenter's return to cinema, this wasn't too bad. Here's hoping he does more excellent movies in the near future.
The story itself is actually rather compelling. The acting is quite good and there's even a twist at the end I can honestly say I never saw coming. Yes, technically what goes on in the end has happened in other movies before, but it is still handled remarkably well here and manages to cast the whole film in a new light in a similar style to films like The Usual Suspects, Shutter Island, or Angel Heart. There's also some genuinely good scares, including several that will make you jump.
The atmosphere is also quite impressive. A major recurring theme in Carpenter's films going all the way back to the beginning is a sense of being trapped in a claustrophobic environment against more than one can normally handle handle- Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape From New York, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, among others. That idea returns here, with the protagonists in conflict both against the staff and the ghost that may or may not really exist. The ward itself is somewhat reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- I don't know if I want to call it realistic, as I don't know much about them myself, but there is a lot of thought put into the design.
As I've said before, it's not Carpenter's strongest film- if you'd like that I'd still suggest The Thing. However, if you want an interesting horror film or a modern horror film with some good scares that doesn't follow the same-old slasher formula like a lot of contemporary horror films seem to do, I'd definitely recommend taking a look. If you're a hardcore Carpenter fan like me, this is definitely a must-see.
For Carpenter's return to cinema, this wasn't too bad. Here's hoping he does more excellent movies in the near future.