Review of The Ward (2010) by Nicholas W — 09 Jan 2012

Probably like many who grew up with Halloween, The Fog, The Thing, Starman etc there has been a real sad sense of "What happened to John Carpenter?" considering the horrors (bad pun) of later films.

I'm glad to say while this isn't perfect, perhaps the 1st act is too long, this was really enjoyable and was much more reminiscent of early days. It's nice to leave the cinema with the feeling you've not been ripped off and genuinely entertained in that wonderful B-movie way. Without risking spoilers, while it may seem to some clichéd, and yes the ending is fairly predictable, in some ways I'm not so sure; there's a cleverness present that meant the twist was far more satisfying than the excruciatingly predictable Shutter Island. It also meant the very last shot was not as "silly" as some feel.

Considering the generally poor quality of many horror films these days, there's an opportunity for Carpenter to really make a resurgence, which for those of us remembering his golden period can hardly be a bad thing.