The Ward’ (2010) - John Carpenter.
The last time I watched John Carpenter’s pseudo-psychological , Hitchcockian horror film, ‘The Ward’ (2010) , I think I had a minor cob on about his not having composed the film’s music, which, now, sounds a trifle absurd, as re-watching this slow-burning, sick-headed shocker last night honestly proved to be a sheer, fright-filled delight! This time out I greatly enjoyed Mark Kilian’s wonderfully eerie, atmospheric score, which was far more appropriate than I had previously thought, and certainly added much verisimilitude to the darkly-shrouded claustrophobia of the piece. As of today, Amber Heard is seen as a troublesome, tabloid-laden subject, but, to be fair, as an actor, she is pretty useful here, exuding a desperate, febrile intensity which made her an entirely sympathetic protagonist, no doubt her fine performance being assisted by the excellent ensemble cast of her fellow terrorized inmates! Happily, unlike all too many horror films today, ‘The Ward’ doesn’t rely on CGI gore and enervating jump-scares in order to bludgeon the dazed viewer into a jaded stupor, as the venerable filmmaker, Mr. Carpenter allows the macabre, pleasingly Gothic-tinged, ‘terror-stalks-the-asylum’ tale to unfold in oppressive increments, strongly abetted by his signature, ominously roving camera, and the suitably grisly shocks, while, admittedly, far from plentiful, are superbly rendered by the legendary KNB SPFX crew! I genuinely feel that when seen today, ‘The Ward’ still stands out from the egregiously shrill morass of singularly unsophisticated, underwritten, retrograde horror films being produced of late, and the twisty-turny denouement may not be to all tastes, but this righteously nerve-jangling film, much like life itself, is all about the journey, and the Duke of Death, John Carpenter, remains one of horror cinema’s finest conductors of dramatically engaging, celluloid creepiness! While ‘The Ward’ is kinda’ of a fun place to visit, I certainly wouldn’t want to live there, dude!’ (The two writers, Michael & Shawn Rasmussen subsequently went on to make ‘Dark Feed’, and, sadly, Carpenter’s absence is strongly felt!)
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