andyprendy1

Imagine if you will, a dreadful Sunday night BBC kitchen sink drama about a depressed Yorkshire family trundling haplessly along to a drearily tragic conclusion over three pointless and soul-destroying episodes. Imagine that same drama is struck by a bolt of magical s##t-lightning and is somehow spot-welded into the fevered imagination of a novice screenwriter just off a dramatic writing course who has just watched The Walking Dead and eaten lots of cheese just before bedtime. This is the crap that would result from this unfortunate and sorry incident. Avoid it at all costs.

Meanwhile, I'm off to write a sporting biopic crossed with elements of the movie Cloverfield.

With an intriguing plot description and starring the always watchable Samuel L Jackson, I sat down to watch Meeting Evil with a degree of optimism. Unfortunately this was soon washed away as the film rapidly revealed itself as an oddly toned and faintly ridiculous attempt at a psychological thriller. The not very likable Luke Wilson sleepwalks through his role as a down-on-his luck Real Estate worker with a barely explained but apparently complicated family life. Enter into the mix a scenery-chewing performance from Sam L Jackson who at least seems to enjoy himself which is a damn sight more than I did. Borrowing elements from Changing Lanes and The Hitcher the film flops from scene to scene in what is neither a thriller nor the dark comedy that it could and maybe should have been.

Oh dear, I rented this film with high hopes of a return to form from John Carpenter - the director who brought us Halloween (the 1978 version not the turgid Rob Zombie re-hash) and The Thing (1980). Unfortunately, whilst being nowhere near as excruciating as 2001's Ghosts of Mars and the frankly ridiculous bilge that was Escape From LA, his latest offering 'The Ward' still falls considerably short of the benchmark of his earlier films. The film borrows heavily from other genre thrillers such as Shutter Island and Identity whilst failing to capture the creepy, dread-laden atmosphere that made these films a relative success at the box office. At times 'The Ward' is reminiscent of an unusually long live-action episode of Scooby Doo (albeit one with a little more blood, no dog and less snacks.....) The acting and script leave a lot to be desired and there is an over-reliance on cheap 'jump' scares in place of genuine frights. For some reason the film appears to have been released in the UK way before it's debut in American theatres which makes me wonder if the producer is struggling to find a distributor on it's home turf.

Better luck next time Mr Carpenter.