In an all
female Psychiatric ward something is killing the inmates.
After a ten
years hiatus John Carpenter returns to filmmaking. His career got a turn for
the worse in the 90s when he seemed unable to make movies that connected to
modern audiences; it was like he was stuck into that seminal era during the
late 70s and early 80s that made him so famous.
Part of the
problems that plagued his late movies are present also in this one, albeit in a
reduced form.
As all
Carpenter movies this is something of a B movie. Not a bad thing per se but as
many experimented making a modern B movie is no mean feat. It’s nice to be
rediscovered 20 years later but not really worth it when you are looking for
financing.
As a whole
the movie works. The plot is that classical crazy asylum tale where so much is
hidden behind the surface. To me it was all a little bit obvious but maybe I
watched too many examples of a genre that doesn’t have that many possible
permutations.
The actual
shoot and effect work is a little bit underwhelming. The monster looks and
feels very cheap, like one of those b movie monsters from the 70s actually. The
various “thrilling scenes” are nicely done but again with a very retro feeling.
It’s a
smart move to retread to what you know best but overall this effort feels
undercooked and not very inspired.
Conclusion:
A Carpenter movie for Carpenter fans, he even put his name on the title.
No comments:
Post a Comment