The Ward (2010)

The Ward: Directed by John Carpenter. With Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh. An institutionalized young woman becomes terrorized by a ghost.

“Yet another summing up project from Master of Horror John Carpenter. This time heu0026#39;s revisiting the hospital killing ground of Halloween 2, without the much missed Donald Pleasence to anchor the story. Confidently directed by Carpenter, after nearly a decade away from feature films, and well-acted by its young cast, the film is nevertheless most enjoyable for its small pleasures, especially the use of 1966 as a period setting. The cruder approach to psychology during this era infects the film at every level, from the memorable credits sequence, to the primitive yet threatening art direction of the mental ward where most of the action takes place. Keeping the gore up to his usual standards, and employing his standard bag of u0026quot;cheap tricksu0026quot; to make the audience jump, Carpenter delivers an efficient slasher film whose unpretentious approach to its core issues of sanity vs. insanity prove much more satisfying than the dead end resolution of the recently similar mental hospital thriller, SHUTTER ISLAND.”