20131122: Horror Review--The Ward

The Ward

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2011, rated R, 88 minutes, horror, thriller.
2. IMDB: 5.5/10.0 from 25,167 audience ratings. Aspect, 2.35; estimated budget, 10 million USD.  Spoken word is in English.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 32% on the meter; 26% liked it from 11,574 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.4/5.0 from 697,310 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: John Carpenter.
6. Starring: Amber Heard as Kristen, Mamie Gummer as Emily, Danielle Panabaker as Sarah, Laura Leigh as Zoey, Lyndsy Fonseca as Iris, Mika Boorem as Alice, Susaneh Burney as Nurse Lundt, Jared Harris as Dr. Gerald Stringer.


2. Setup and Plot
1. After burning down a farmhouse in 1966, Kristen is institutionalised at North Bend Psychiatric Hospital.  She gets to know Emily, Sarah, Zoey, and Iris.  A few days in, she gets attacked by a rotting corpse.  At least that is what she sees.


2. They give her electroshock therapy to 'just fry the crazy out of her.'


3. Iris seems to be doing well, but she disappears from Dr Stringer's office.


4. Kristen organises an escape, but it does not succeed.


5. Sarah thinks she's doing well, then she disappears.  After this, Kristen gets Emily and Zoey to tell her about Alice, and how they killed her some time back.  That more or less explains the ghost.


6. Will either of Zoey or Kristen make it out alive?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Looks like a ghost story; is a psychological drama.
2. Three stars of five.  Tough call here, two stars or three?


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Excellent.


2. Sound: 10/10 Fine.


3. Acting: 5/10 Jared Harris was well cast.  Mamie Gummer sure needs to get a day job; she was horrible.  Laura Leigh was in-character timid, but that did not show much acting.  Danielle Panabaker was fairly convincing as a manipulative young person.  Amber Heard was fairly good.


4. Screenplay: 5/10 Why did Kristen land in the hospital in the first place?  There was not much exposition of that until the very end.  How does a 100 pound anti-athletic female physically overpower older, taller, and much, much stronger staff who are trained to put down inmates?  Answer: she does not.  Of course, that is more or less explained at the end, and the end really was off-putting.