The Resurrection Of J.C....The Carpenter

There's two ways to review The Ward. The first is as a horror movie. The second way is as a John Carpenter movie. Set in an American 1966 mental ward, Kristine, played commandingly by Amber Heard, is committed after burning down a farmhouse and losing her memory. And as a film in it's own right The Ward is an effective, well told yarn with several good jump-scares. If there's anything that lets the whole enterprise down it's that the story is built on a twist, that although a fantastic idea, is completely unoriginal, especially if you've seen this and this.

But since this is Carpenter's first movie in 10 years (he has done a couple of solid Master Of Horror TV episodes a few years ago) it's more interesting to see whether he's regained any of the class from his early years (70's & 80's) or remained in mundane hell (90's & 2000's). The result, I'm happy to say, is mostly positive.
The Ward is cinematic, being very effective at telling it's story visually rather than bombarding it's audience with rambling dialogue. Now that cinematographer Gary Kibbe, a regular Carpenter collaborator since 1987, has been given the push it's great to see his replacement has deliver the best looking Carpenter movie in 20 years, being classy, slick and professional looking wirg great depth and subtle colouring. There's a classic Carpenter female lead in the shape of the lovely Amber Heard, following in the footsteps of Jamie Lee Curtis, Karen Allen and Laurie Zimmer, playing a no nonsense anti-authoritarian character fighting the system (another JC trademark).

It's not all perfect. Carpenter has a tendency to edit his movie faster than his pre-nineties films, robbing The Ward partly of his distinctive visual signature. That distinct style is also lacking in the score, provided by Mark Kilian, which is less primal and minimalistic than one would hope for. And Carpenter's picked up a few bad habits over the last 15 years, such as cheesy screen fades between scenes, which seem distracting and amateurish.

While not in the same league as his early classics, this is at least better than In The Mouth Of Madness, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man and Village Of The Damned....and that's to be celebrated. Carpenter working below form is still more enjoyable than many modern horror directors on form, so this is a major victory for horror fans. Let's just hope he decides to direct a few more before he retires for good.