HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 4: JOHN CARPENTER'S THE WARD

In a lot of ways I own my love of modern horror to a director named John Carpenter. He was the first director I actively followed and through his films I learned more about what happens behind the camera. The man has created some of the greatest horror spectacles in cinema history, landmark films of the genre, ushering in the modern era of horror.

Okay, now that I got that nerdgasm out of my system you all know how much I love this director's films. For the reality of it, I am sad to say, Mr. Carpenter isn't the director he once was. His later efforts in film making haven't been exactly stellar. But still I follow his work. And that includes the 2011 film THE WARD.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Kristen is the new girl at the troubled women psychiatric ward. Her memory is hazy and she doesn't know why she's there. All she can remember is setting an old farm house on fire, burning it to the ground. In the ward are four other young women like herself, Emily, Zoey, Sarah, and Iris. Among them are whispers of other girls, girls who've gone missing. Late at night Kristen feels a presence in her room, someone else in there with her. One by one the girls in the ward disappear but the doctors and orderlies don't seem to notice or care. Kristen gathers the remaining girls and attempts an escape. But what she doesn't realize is that she cannot escape her own mind.

Have you ever seen the movie IDENTITY starring John Cusack? It's essentially that but on a smaller scale and smaller budget. Kristen and all the other women in the ward are multiple personalities of the same person, all being killed off to heal her fractured psyche. The murdering personality appears as a zombified slasher ghost. The film didn't seem terribly impressive as I was watching it. The acting was fine and the story was good but certain aspects didn't feel right, like the doctors and orderlies not caring about the deaths of the girls. But it all came together at the end.

The ending is what saved the film. The only bad thing about it, and it's also what's wrong with Identity, is that once you know the ending it takes some of the thrill out of it. But yet without knowing the ending the film feels off somehow like I described earlier. It's a catch twenty-two. The ending is so strong and so essential to the film and such a twist that the first half of the film doesn't work without it but now that you know the ending it seems both heightened and lesser for it, if you follow me.

Anyway, maybe I'm being too harsh on it. Amber Heard plays Kristen and she does a good job. Jared Harris stars as the doctor and he delivers another strong performance. This is definitely a stronger film than Ghosts Of Mars and I feel it is a worthy entry into the John Carpenter cannon. It feels like a classic late 70's horror film which is great! If it would've come out say between Assault On Precinct 13 and Halloween then it would probably be a favorite of mine. Bottom line if you're a Carpenter fan (all the cool kids are) then you need to see this.

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 1 out of 10