Review by Gary Tooze

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• 'Theatrical Trailer (2:14)

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Description: Acclaimed director John Carpenter makes his long awaited return to the screen with a thriller about a young woman in a 1960s mental institution who becomes terrorized by malevolent unseen forces. Kristen, a beautiful but troubled young woman, finds herself bruised, cut, drugged with laughing gas. The other patients in the ward four equally disturbed young women offer no answers, and Kristen quickly realizes things are not as they seem. The air is heavy with secrets, and at night, when the hospital is dark and foreboding, she hears strange and frightening sounds. It appears they are not alone. One-by-one, the other girls begin to disappear and Kristen must find a way out of this hellish place before she, too, becomes a victim. As she struggles to escape, she will uncover a truth far more dangerous and horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

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Welcome to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital, an isolation ward for disturbed women that holds a terrifying secret. Kristen,... a beautiful but volatile young woman finds herself bruised, cut, drugged and held against her will at the sinister asylum. Trying to gain control of her memory and figure out how she got there, Kristen discovers that a savage ghostly figure roams the halls at night. One by one, the other patients begin to disappear. To survive, Kristen must discover the horrifying truth of the ward.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from Empire Magazine located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

While not technically robust John Carpenter's The Ward suffices with a modest presentation in 1080P.  Aside from some impressive scope shots and the intriguing title sequence the Blu-ray won't be knocking your socks off with crisp and tight detail. It is not that it is soft, or poor at all, but the single-layered transfer doesn't export a remarkable presentation.  The cinematography is inventive and there is a bit of depth but I'd say my most demonstrative comment would be that it is superior to SD. This Blu-ray scrimps a bit but I didn't notice any extravagant noise and it provides, a predictably, clean and consistent presentation.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 2597 kbps shines the brightest in terms of the a/v transfer. We get the typical horror jumps with crisp bass-punch but restrained enough not to bomb you out of your seat. I liked the separation effects and thought this lossless audio did a decent-to occasionally-impressive job of exporting the film's more tense audio moments as well as the Mark Kilian jarring score. There are optional English subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

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BOTTOM LINE:
Certainly far from the director's best work but this is by no means a failure. The Ward approaches the horror dynamic extremely well and Carpenter is a master of the build. It may take a few bizarre turns but I was still very entertained. The modest Blu-ray won't be used a demo disc for your home theater but still exports a decent and, at times, chilling, presentation. I suspect that Carpenter fans and those keen on the horror genre (with a less discerning/picky attitude) will reap the most benefit from the film experience. I thought it was pretty good and gave me some edge-of-seat emotional rushes. I guess I didn't find it as mediocre as everyone else. 

Gary Tooze

August 3rd, 2011