The Ward (2010)

Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker

An institutionalized young woman becomes terrorized by a ghost.

John Carpenter has had some hits and misses. ‘The Ward’ is a miss…

The film revolves around Kristen (Amber Heard) who is taken to a psychiatric hospital. She insists she does not belong there. She befriends some of the other patients, and learns of terror in the hospital.

While this might sound like a great idea for a terrifying shocker, the film is plagued by missed opportunities. There’s a constant promise of something exciting or eerie happening, but it seldom does. My biggest criticism is the lack of information on the characters – especially Kristen. We know absolutely nothing about her. Her actions convinced me I had to root for her, but I had no idea why, and what she did in the first place to end up in the hospital. Amber Heard nevertheless gives a good performance.

The same goes for the other characters. We know so little about them that I didn’t really care about them. By the time the film reveals more about Kristen with the twist ending, it’s much too late. I didn’t care about it then. Speaking of which, I can’t say I liked the twist ending. It felt all too forced for the sake of having a twist.

There are some creepy moments, but ‘The Ward’ is not nearly scary enough as it should – and could – have been. This was way too clichéd and not nearly memorable enough. I don’t think I’m going to remember this film. Not that it matters…

‘The Ward’ only managed to recuperate $5.3 million of its $10 million budget.

Would I watch it again? No.