The Ward (2010)
Starring: Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker
Written by: Michael and Shawn Rasmussen
Directed by: John Carpenter
****Spoilers****
The story takes place in 1966. After burning down a farmhouse, Kristen is picked up by police and delivered to a psychiatric center. After meeting the doctor, staff and other patients, she begins seeing visions of a ghost walking the halls at night. While she is determined to escape the ward, as well as getting some of the other girls out with her, there is a mystery that needs to be uncovered in the process.
After almost a ten year hiatus from directing a feature film, John Carpenter brings us The Ward. Is it an epic return? Eh, no... it's just different. Plus, I think the bulk of Carp's truly awesome work was in the 1980's, the 90's were pretty hit-and-miss if you ask me.... I didn't care for Memoirs of an Invisible Man, but he apologized with In the Mouth of Madness. I simply hated his take on Village of the Damned, and while Escape From L.A. was a blast of cheesy good fun, it wasn't up to par in comparison to its predecessor. I enjoyed the hell out of Vampires, but then he gives us Ghost of Mars before going on break. With that being said, I don't think The Ward is a bad movie, at all, but it is pretty run-of-the-mill. There is not much in the way of originality, in fact, there have been quite a few films that touch of the exact same subjects. But hey, he didn't write the story, and I kept that in mind. And yes, I know he wasn't the writer of many of his previous films that are awesome, but I still think it's fair to point out.
As far as looks go, The Ward is pretty solid. From the opening credits, this film is beautiful and as it progresses, there are all kinds of nifty angles and shots that brilliantly segue into other scenes. But, it is a departure from what we're used to from Carp; definitely more of a glossy and clean style, though, not flashy in some gimpy Mtv type way. It was eye-candy for me, and I didn't find any faults in this department. Interesting note; The Ward was filmed in an abandoned building that is located between a prison for the criminally insane and a hospital for the mentally insane. That's fucking INSANE, pun intended!
You wanna know what I missed most? A Carpenter film score! You've spoiled me, hoss! The music he provided for his older films ruled. Hell, even the music he gave to films that weren't his created a great moody atmosphere (Halloween III, for instance), making chase scenes that much more amazing. I noticed this was missing from his Masters of Horror episodes, too. But on MOH his son served as the composer, and it was obvious he had taken some notes from Pops. As much as I wanted a Carp score in The Ward, the music isn't all that bad. There's actually some resemblance to John's style (single note bass-synth, similar to opening of a Halloween chase scene), mixed with something you might hear from Danny Elfman while working on a Tim Burton picture. It works well, building tension when it needs to. So, good job, Mark Kilian.
Whole lot of ladies with messed up problems in this film, YAY! There's actually only three dudes with lines, and only two of them earn more than five minutes of screen time. Can't say I had any problem with the hotness all over the place for during nearly the entire runtime!
Character rundown:
Kristen (Amber Heard, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Drive Angry) - Newest resident at the ward. Has no recollection of her past, but doesn't think she's crazy. Simply will not stop her attempts of escaping the looney-bin.
Emily (Mamie Gummer, Meryl Streeps' daughter, All Saints Day) - Whacko that repeats what people say in way of a song. Fucking weird, but entertaining.
Sarah (Danielle Panabaker, Friday the 13th and The Crazies remakes) - Crazy hot, kinda slutty, stuck-up one of the bunch that thinks she's better than everyone else. Also convinced she isn't crazy.
Iris (Lyndsy Fonseca, Kick-Ass) - Sweetheart of the group, basically nice to everyone, also an artist.
Zoey (Laura-Leigh) - Acts like a 3-year old trapped in a young woman's body. Sucks her thumb, wears pigtails, dresses like a school-girl... best friend is a stuffed rabbit. CREEPY.
Dr. Stringer (Jared Harris, Mad Men, Fringe) - Psychiatrist at the institution. Pretty mysterious. Hard to decipher whether he's really trying to help of if he's part of the problem.
Roy (D.R. Anderson) - The ward's main orderly. Can't tell if he's a creeper asshole or just an asshole. Keeps the girls in check, but also kinda taunts them and seems to have little respect for their well-being.
There's a few other characters, but that's the main support. Not much in way of solid breakdown, but everybody does what's needed. Amber Heard is all kinds of 'dirty hot' here, hair matted and messy and she's sportin' a sexy pair of 'Mom jeans' for a large portion of the film. Love it!
Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger from K.N.B. fame provide the makeup FX, which the lot of it is an oldschool approach... Thank you! We don't get a bloodbath or anything, but it all still looks really good. I'm gonna remain hush on it, though.
The Ward will definitely divide the audience, and I expect the majority to dislike it, and it's understandable. I can't say I wasn't entertained, though. I can't even say I didn't jump a few times; I certainly did. The main thing I fault the film for is its lack of originality, but this is not Carp's worst, and I'd say it's far better than some recent films from other iconic directors.
