murnank

I'm 36 years old and in 1981 the first horror movie I saw was John Carpenters "Halloween". I was 6 year old and subsequently I became an úber fan of the Director. I've worshiped the great ones (Assault on precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Prince of Darkness) enjoyed the good (Christine, Star Man, Big Trouble in little China, They Live, In the mouth of madness, Vampires) and stomached the bad (Escape from L.A, Village of the damned, Memoirs…, Ghosts of Mars). "The Ward" seems to fall into all of these categories. Sometimes it's great, more often than not it's good but regrettably when it's bad it's really bad. Perhaps it was the lack of a traditional Carpenter score (although the score by Mark Kilian is suitably haunting, memorable and atmospheric) or maybe it was the somewhat derivative "jump" scares or could it have been the inconsistent overall tone because to me it felt like I was watching a movie made by someone trying to emulate Carpenter rather than a movie by "The Master" himself. Don't get me wrong, technically it's excellent and it contains a few moments of genuine tension but there was something missing from the ingredients that make a great Carpenter movie and I think that something is called suspense. It's a shame really because with its eerie location, its linear, albeit uninspired storyline and its quirky characters this had the potential to bring the Director back to the top where he truthfully belongs but throughout I couldn't help feel that Carpenter's become jaded within the genre. His techniques that were groundbreaking during his prime have been exploited by every other Horror Director of the last 20 years. So instead of evolving above this and carving a revolutionary way forward as he once did so gracefully, Carpenters now imitating his old self and his techniques just don't seem to cut it anymore. To be fair it's an enjoyable and fast moving 88 minutes but from an old Pro like John Carpenter I was expecting something a lot more terrifying. When Carpenter reviewed his initial cut of "The Fog" back in 79 he found it plodding and just not scary enough so he went back and re-shot scenes then re-cut it into the classic it is today. I think if Carpenter had taken the same approach with this movie it could've been up there with the best of the best but something tells me that he's become indifferent, lost his passion and dare I say "only in it for the money". Over time I may grow to love this like I grew to love "Prince of Darkness" but as of right now it's left me feeling somewhat dis-satisfied.

Venom tells the tale of Ray Sawyer. A lonely man in a sleepy town who everyone whispers about yet no one really knows where that jagged scar down his face came from. Nothing really happens in Rays life, nothing really happens in this small Louisiana town until one night while driving home Ray rescues an old Creole lady from her car that dangles precariously from a bridge. While in the car Ray is suddenly attacked by a suitcase full of venomous snakes which are rumoured to contain the evil souls of the criminally insane. As the car crashes into the river below so does poor Ray and his kind act is rewarded with a car full of snakes striking him with deadly painful bites in his last few moments of life. The following night Rays body disappears from the morgue and what follows is 24 hours of pure terror as this small town is held hostage to an unstoppable Ray Sawyer back from the dead and possessed by the evil spirits of the insane intent on claiming more souls from this towns locals. This is a supernatural slasher with a high body count and a twist. You can spot the trademarks of Producer/Screen-Writer Kevin Williamson ("Scream", "Dawsons Creek", "I know what you did last summer", "The Faculty", "Cursed") everywhere in this very enjoyable movie. From the dialogue savvy Teens to the tension filled chase scenes and the genuinely creepy killer that is Ray Sawyer, who nick-named "Mr. Jangles" because he collects the keys of his victims, could be the new Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers. Murderous highlights include a graphic throat slashing with a wrench, a death by sand blaster, a character ripped in two while caught between driving cars and a memorable nerve-racking chase scene through the eerie swamps of the bayou. Forget the negative reviews, leave your brain at the door and enjoy this superior atmospheric throw-back to the slasher genre.