"Ward 13" is a 13-minute animated short film from 2003 and it is already almost 15 years old. The writer and director of this Australian production is Peter Cornwell and this is certainly, more than a decade later, today still among his most known works. He collected lots of awards for this one. And I can see why it was so liked. It is a bit of everything: horror film, martial arts, comedy, racing and of course animation. It is the story of a man who is taken to hospital, but it becomes obvious pretty quickly that these surgeons have no interest in getting him health again. Quite the opposite actually, so Ben gives it his best to get out of the hospital of horror. Will he succeed? And if so, where will his path lead. Watch for yourself. I think this was a fairly entertaining little movie. Really wild and creative, I give it a thumbs-up.

Be prepared for a wild quarter hour of animated mayhem! This will wear you out as we follow a patient who has just been brought to one strange and evil hospital.This bizarre animated short features dogs with two heads, boxes of "slime," and a bunch of other things that all resemble someone having their worst nightmare. This is indeed, "the hospital from hell," where Dr. Frankensteins are running amok creating hostile monsters.If you want more ideas how sick this humor is, just sample the pharmacy that our poor patient finds himself in after he escapes from his first bad encounter with some mad man. In the PX, are, "Pain Enhancement Pills, Essence Of Panda, Jelly Babesw (with 5 percent crack), Ebola virus, human growth hormones (make in China), Niagra laxatives (go with the flow) and rhinoceros dose strength pills. After he takes one of the latter, he sees on the back of vial: "danger - excessive dosage may cause brain to explode")." He stuffs the pills in his pants and takes more as the story evolves.At every turn is either a demented doctor or patient waiting to do our guy in, but he fights back like Rambo. This has to be seen to be believed! In addition to the high-energy story, high production values, good claymation and artwork at times make this animation short stunning.

Wow! This film is an adrenaline rush of a movie with unrelenting action and thrills...and it's all claymation! This might be the best short film I've ever seen, or at least my own personal favorite (and I've seen a lot of films). It has the energy and fun of a glorious Sam Raimi film (Evil Dead II to be more exact) and sinks its hooks into you with the first shot. The first time I saw this film, I was filled with glee as I couldn't believe what I was watching. Cheers to the director and all who worked on this film (those crazy Australians!). Seriously though, find a way to watch this film and you won't be sorry!! Simply amazing.

The qualities of this little animated gem obviously remind me of Aardvark Studio's work : the same efficient use of plasticine for round-shaped and exquisitely expressive characters, the sense of humour and irony within a specific genre, and the constant cinematographic references. Here, it is the horror film that is spoofed, with an inclination toward the "hospital horror" sub-genre. But it is never done to the detriment of the rhythm or of a strong story line : the humour within the fear is always sharp and witty, and the director even winks at Nick Park's specific work with a chase in the hospital hallways that is clearly an hommage to the chase between Gromit and the penguin in The Wrong Trousers. With such impressive skills, I don't really worry about Peter Cornwell's future : it looks bright.