John Carpenter is back with his first feature film in ten years. The latter was Ghosts of Mars, which was badly damaged and failed at the box office. The film had a really fun and interesting cast that just was not enough to save him from his own bad script and poor production. Between yesterday and today, Carpenter has only managed to produce some films from other filmmakers and make some short films for Mick Garris Masters "series of horror. Curiously, his first masters of the horror film, cigarette burns, was among the best in the series, and probably the best thing he had done in ten years when it was released in 2005. It was this look at the madness that gave me hope to go in the neighborhood. I went in with tempered expectations, hoping for the best. Was I rewarded? Read more ...
Ward is the story of Kristen. We meet him through the woods, at first we are not sure if you run away from something or toward something. Soon it becomes clear that he is the goal house torch. We're not quite sure why, but he did not do, and the act of arson lands in his mental institution. Why is the institution rather than prison? Who knows. In any case, when it comes to his new home, she finds herself in a strange Ward private, only a few other girls that really does not seem particularly crazy, either.
No sooner we start to know these girls, that they start dropping like flies. It is only the less mystery surrounding these murders, as the unit is to take them off too quickly revealed. There is a supernatural element to the murders, which really takes a lot of excitement in history. Kristen and her department can escape Ward buddies, before it's too late? Unfortunately at the end we really do not care.
There are so many things wrong with this movie. The script is sloppy at best and the worst, laughable. There is absolutely no stress, all acts of violence and supernatural evil is telegraphed in advance. There are many clues to the final film every fifteen seconds, and none of them are terribly subtle. Even the closet is bad.
Problems with the room is countless and very stressful. The characters do not develop at all, they are all basically the same from the first frame of their last. There are problems of continuity very strange, like the fact that even when the girls disappear one by one, none of the porters and medical staff seem to notice or care, even when Christian diatribes loudly to his doctor about the ghosts in the corridor. The doctor does not seem in the least shaken or moved by the obvious paranoia Kristen, choosing instead to her sedatives. Another weird problem is that each character has its own wardrobe, although (a) they are institutionalized and people who are not usually spend much time at Macy, and (b) we see their cells and there is nowhere to store personal belongings. It's just surface issues, the real issue is much deeper.
At no point in this film, Kristen generate a positive public response. She spends the entire film is in, or ranting. It is a very flat for which I had absolutely no sense, and his compatriots are even fewer dimensions. Nobody cares what happens. Never show weakness, how are we supposed to empathize with her, if she does not show a crack? This is a big problem. She does not have to be brave and dare to be empathetic, but a small portion of humanity would go a long way. It got to the point that when Kristen finally running for his life, a good half the room laughed openly. I was not one of them, but I can not really say I blame them.
Those who have seen the movie might be able to end my criticism as a sign of the conclusion of the films. Is that the actions of the characters fall into line with the release at the end of the film, but is a much neglected explanation for defects of the films. The result was in doubt for a moment, as I said earlier, every move is telegraphed several minutes in advance, so the sample is not very revealing. He could have done much better, and I am very sad that I feel compelled to write this.
My favorite late period Carpenter movies is the Mouth of Madness, facing a character who loses his mind. Cigarette Burns is also concerned about characters who are mentally unbalanced. For this reason, I thought I was safe enough to go to a Carpenter film, a character featured in an asylum. I was wrong. The Ward wins on all counts when it should hit a home run. It's not scary. Hell, it's not even slightly scary. It is flat, unattractive, and frankly, embarrassing.
I really hope this is not the end for Carpenter, who is an idol of mine, and I am an advocate general. Hell, I did not even like ice cube in Ghosts of Mars. This is wrong, however, and makes me long for a carpenter I'm afraid that's all gone. We see a glimpse of his former greatness of things as cigarette burns, so I really think he is still there. However, I am really sad that this is all we have to look at the ten-year wait for a return of cinema.
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