Review: The Ward (2010)

The Ward

IMDB rate: 5,6

Genre: Ghost

After ten year of silence, John Carpenter finally releases another movie, being The Ward. I'm not too familiar with John Carpenter's work since I've only seen the Halloween movies and the Master of Horror movies he made, so I can't really talk in terms of this movie fits with Carpenters usual work. 

I've wanted to see this movie quite some time already, mostly because I thought the DVD cover was interesting. Also, Amber Heard plays in it which is always interesting, I think. This girl is Johnny Depp's fiancee for christ sake, she must do something right. This movie basically is a collection of pretty girls in an institution. Amber Heard is a pretty badass girl who I would love to see someday in a real kick ass movie (not something like Drive Angry...). She's a good actress as well, and even I, being a female, must admit that she's a pleasure to the eye. Another role is for Danielle Panabaker (is it weird if I keep confusing her with Amber Tamblyn?), I'm not a big fan of her earlier work, but she did OK in The Ward I guess. Lyndsy Fonseca plays a pretty small part in this movie, I actually would've loved to see her more. 

The movie is set in the 50's or 60's or something, and it all seems plausible in terms of clothing and stuff, only Amber Heard seems to dress like she's from a different time. Also, the TV seems to be a bit too big for that time. For patients of a mental institution they look awfully good, their make-up is always done perfectly and so is their hair. It's not even a not-make-up-look, it's just a full thrown on face which makes the situation a bit hard too believe.

The movie is kinda predictable, purely because every horror movie that's set in a mental institution is pretty much the same. The Ward of course had the same clichés such as a cranky old nurse, the electric shock treatment when someone is not behaving as they should and thousand times the line "I'm not crazy", we've seem them all already. I actually was kinda relieved that the male nurse wasn't a pervert who flirted with the patients (or worse), since that would've made the cliché complete.

I was kinda disappointed with the ending, since it's pretty much the same as Identity. I think they could've made it a lot more interesting and more original too, although a typical ghost movie ending would've been boring too. Perhaps when you haven't seen Identity you might like this ending, since it's somewhat of a shocker at first, but when you did see Identity it's just not very surprising anymore.

The Ward is a good movie with good acting and a few jumpscares. It's a pretty enjoyable watch, but I think the fun's out of it once you've seen the ending. Not a special movie but it's not bad either.

My personal rate: 6/10