Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2011

A young woman (neo-grindhouse hottie Amber Heard) is institutionalized for torching a farmhouse (motive not explained) and assigned to a ward with four other girls. They tell her of inmates gone missing, and she is haunted by a ghoulish apparition that starts taking out her new roomies. Spookshow auteur John Carpenter, who is usually a bit more original than caged female loonies and conventional “boo” moments, nevertheless gives each of the girls a distinct personality (all well acted) and a partial backstory, and assembles it all with characteristic economy. This is the movie Sucker Punch wanted to be.