John Carpenter’s first film since the unfortunate “Ghosts of Mars” a decade ago is a dull, by-the-numbers psych-ward horror thriller that’s sadly a lot closer in quality to “Sucker Punch” than “Shutter Island.”
Amber Heard is awful in the central role as Kristen, an abused teenager who gets locked up in the 1960s after burning down an abandoned house. Mamie Gummer — won’t somebody please give Meryl Streep’s daughter a movie lead? — easily upstages Heard as the snarkiest of the fellow inmates who Kristen leads in an escape attempt.
Are Kristen and company fleeing the ghost of a fellow inmate? The shock therapy and lobotomies administered by Dr. Jared Harris? Or is it all going on in Kristen’s head?
The answers are far less entertaining than renting Carpenter’s classics like the original “Halloween” and “Escape From New York.”