User reviews

I love Carpenters voice but this movie is hollow in many aspects. Amber Heard is a terrible actress and way too pretty in every scene to be taken seriously. Perfect make-up and never a real sense of being a real person. Specially not a person in a mental hospital.

The horror is very very mild and there is no drive in the story.

I wish John got paid well for this sad movie.

John Carpenters return to directing a feature length movie after such a long break is, to be honest a little disappointing. It's still relatively good, but after he made such strong steps back towards the genre with his two "Masters of Horror" episodes I can't help but feel this is a step backwards.

Of course you have to consider that his involvement with this is solely as director. He didn't write the script or the score and isn't listed as a producer. The writers themselves aren't greatly experienced having penned only one previous horror film (at least only one that made it to production anyway) so it's not a huge surprise that we see a good number of clichés. The basic story itself isn't the most original either (I could name at least one other well known film with almost the same premise).

Now the directing itself is as solid as you'd expect from the horror veteran and I think I can safely say that he's raised the quality of the film considerably with his involvement. Mark Kilian has also provided a fairly solid score and made a good attempt to make it sound like a Carpenter one. We also get a strong performance from Amber Heard in the lead role. Overall it is quite a mixed bag, with a good number of quality moments. Unfortunately these don't last quite long enough and you quickly find yourself dragged back down to the level of an early 80s slasher flick.

I gave this 4 stars but only because of Danielle Panabaker I quote like her as an actress and it said John Carpetener so it should have been good. But honestly I found it dull and pretty much seen it all before in other better done movies. Amber Heard as lead well she's not that good of an actress, and I didn't recognise others. So if you want 90 minutes or whatever it went for of background noise while you do something else then this is the movie for you.

The suspense and terror are no longer what they were replaced by boredom and predictability. For 80 minutes out of a total of 88 Carpenter makes you think you're watching an episode of Supernatural.

In a mental hospital with very polite doctors,a patient with pyromaniac tendencies make his appearance. Kristen, a smart blonde, does not want to stay in the pavilion although we have no idea why she burned a house.In the first night,strange incidents start happening.In the second night a ghost makes its appearance.The problem is that the ghost begins to kill her colleagues in strange ways.

From a technical standpoint, the film is great.The soundtrack and atmosphere are the best things about the film.Most of the performances were awful except Amber Heard which was bad but not awful.

The ward is the kind of horror movie you've seen hundreds of times, but with different names and different actors. What sets it apart is John Carpenter trying to pull something good out of a bad screenplay.

I simply don't understand who are the people who see such horror movies and get inspired. It's in some way or other the same as other ones. A multiple personality disorder syndrome. I am tired of watching this over and over again. is this disease, this much dangerous that people start creating ghosts out of them, start killing without knowing their other side of personality.

I remember someone suggested me a horror film, "grudge", I got it and started watching it, and I was totally annoyed after half hour watching, but I kept watching it. My view about that movie was 1/10. A maggot ghost, crapping from stairs to hall, disappearing from one wall to the other. That was not a horror to me that was just a jugglery. This movie was not much different from some other movies that I have seen. A super-man type of ghost, haunted in a doom type of place, moving from so many rooms to again so many rooms, and then he suddenly comes to the main secret. At first the director gives a view to the viewers as the government is doing some sort of secret experiments to highly sedate the people with some top secret medicine, which then are making highly destructive symptoms. Then the situation goes out of control and suddenly we get to know that the doctors were the "good people" and the "superman, multiple personality disorder ghosts" is the bad guy in some sense.

I am too bored from this kind of horror, if you are really interested to see real horror, I would suggest you to see "exorcism of Emily Rose" which in my view was a quite horror film and based on true story. "The American haunting" is another such good effort based on true events. Still more, yes indeed the "paranormal activity" series is quite worth watching.

Though last scene tried to jump me off my seat but still I give it 4 out of 10.

THE WARD – CATCH IT ( C+ )

typical horror feast with a Twist. it's a time pass, there is nothing new or extraordinary. Strictly time-pass. Amber Heard did a good job along with other girls.

The Ward is a typical horror with a Twist in the end. When you're watching its good but when it's over its forgettable immediately. Amber Heard leads the cast and she does it good. All actresses Danielle Panabaker, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mamie Gummer, Laura-Leigh and Mika Boorem did a decent job. Overall, there is nothing enticing or memorable about it. Watch it in spare time, if you've time. Like really spare time.

What a disappointment for John Carpenter's comeback film. Is this really the same director who gave us arguably the best all-time horror film with THE THING ? No originality, no passion, there was just nothing that made this film worth remembering for at all. I watched it in two halves, literally falling asleep with boredom on the first effort and the next day I valiantly soldiered on to the end still hoping to see a glimpse of former glories but alas to no avail. This had no stamp of Carpenter's authority about it and looked as though it had been made by a first time director. Shame.....on this showing I won't be watching any more of his films, if indeed he decides to make any new one's.

Well this film has certainly taken new meaning since its release. Like watching Kevin Spacey in 'House of Cards', but if Kevin couldn't act. Fortunately for Amber, she's pretty and looks good in jeans.

Other than that, 'The Ward' is a forgettable/mid horror film featuring scenes and characters most people have likely already seen in other movies, mostly released in the 90's. 'Girl Interrupted', 'Stigmata', 'The Craft', 'Shutter Island', 'Hostel', 'Disturbing Behavior', and many others come to mind. There's not much in the way of originality, in a genre saturated with low-budget content.

The cinematography is good, but I'd question some of the editing choices. The music is similar to Carpenter's other works, but somehow more drone-y and whiney, less suspenseful. The supporting cast does a pretty decent job for the most part. Almost the entire movie takes place in a mental hospital, so there's not much for sets, props and costumes.

'The Ward' isn't anything to write home about, but that being said, it's probably not bad if you're sick in bed or want something to play in the background while playing video games or getting some work done.

John Carpenter is pretty good with horror and I do tend to watch his movies. I had never heard of this one until just recently and now I understand why. The whole movie just fell flat. I like the concept of girl interrupted with a twist but this wasn't executed very well.

I think the problem was the casting. I loved Jared Harris and Mamie Gummer but Amber heard cannot act. Her role could have made this movie and they cast someone who cannot emote? What a shame. I mean I can see why they used her, she is pretty and if she could have acted and shown the vast emotions one would expect to see from someone who made the part believable it could have been outstanding even with the girl interrupted thing.

Not a great movie but if you have nothing else to watch this will do.

Anyone hoping for the old John Carpenter... Or rather, the young John Carpenter's old films... will be disappointed in this mind-trip thriller that only passes as a horror whenever the antagonist... the zombie of a former patient inside a psychiatric ward... shows up and kills.

The plot is simple if nonexistent: A beautiful young girl is admitted into a sanitarium, and she's not sure why. All we know is she burned down a house - and with some exposition-clues provided by chief doctor Jared Harris, we're led to believe there's something else to learn: keeping the viewer somewhat intrigued...

The inhabitants are five beautiful girls, which seems pure Carpenter since HALLOWEEN served up young beauties as victims: but these chicks aren't interesting enough to care about: even if they all act crazy.

There are some good frights i.e. Sudden unexpected jolts, but any director can pull that off. The only reminiscence of the master's style is the first-person glide-cam; giving the feel the girls are being watched and stalked...

But that persistent aura of dreaded doom, which makes any horror movie worthwhile, just isn't there -- unless the killer's around to remind us to be scared while a thunderstorm persists outside. And the conclusion/twist is somewhat creative, but that's for you to decide.

The films premise is a classic and something I was really looking forward to, but the film ultimately falls flat on it dumb face. The script is down right awful and the supposed villain "Alice" looks like and extra from Goosebumps. Seriously. You can tell Amber Heard is really trying her best despite the source material, her acting is decent enough to convince you this movie isn't completely awful. Laura Leigh whom plays Zoey wasn't a bad actress by any means but she was just downright annoying and wasn't all that great in her performance. But then again this film is awful. I'll give it to the cinematography and the set workers , they really took the Biscuit by making the film look appealing enough. The beginning and end of the film were alright as well but the middle and third act were so nothing. I really liked the shots where Amber Heard is being followed by the camera at the beginning and the end, it not only adds a lot of tension but Amps up her performance as well as mirroring her past and present, it's the one thing that works in this film. I enjoyed the little twist ending that was rather clever but it's something I've seen many times before in films. This film was made as a cash grab, with a decent premise and perfectly able bodied director I don't really know what went wrong it was just bland and disposable. I would give it 3 stars if it wasn't for Amber Heards performance ( and I'm not even that big of a fan of her). Overall the director as well as the actors talent is being completely wasted here, don't bother watching this movie. If you want to watch a decent asylum flick here... 1) Unsane 2) Shutter island 3) A cure for wellness 4) Stonehearst Asylum 5) Gothika

Again don't bother watching this film, it's cliche, appallingly scripted and overall just a waste of your oh so precious time, you only live once and you can certainly live without watching this movie. In other words it's utter garbage. Thank you, again don't watch this.

Well this movie is just odd. For the whole movie you are thinking "This isn't how mental asylums work" and "How come there's only those few"...it doesn't get any better towards the end of the movie when it tries to explain it all...it's doesn't really work. So it's a thumbs down from me.

(2011) The Ward HORROR

Straight to rental flick by John Carpenter which at the start of this film showcases a teenage girl, Kristen (Amber Heard) (burning down a house, police and fireman show up and she gets sent to a mental institution along with four other patients. It is at that time is when she start to see or notice each of the female teenage patients go missing, leaving the end of the movie with more questions than answers. Directed by John Carpenter of innovative movies like "Escape to New York", "The Thing", "Assault to Precinct 13" to the original "Halloween", his tent has clearly been wasted.

Set in the worlds hottest psychiatric ward.

All of its very few (hmmmm) inhabitants are plucked and preened as if on the red carpet for the Oscars which completely breaks any sense of reality or the period in which the film is set.

You could argue that they were all imaginary but these details make a difference.

The characters are purposely obvious and way too on the nose, it's clear where the plot is heading from early on.

Every scene feels as if it's from another movie with pretty much nothing Carpenter-esque on show whatsoever.

An absolute disappointment, theres nothing here for Carpenter fans or seasoned horror vets.

There are two things director John Carpenter has for certain, and that is an undeniable talent for genuine horror, and the diverse creativity of contributing to almost every facet of the filmmaking process. Whether it's composing the score (Halloween), producing (Halloween II), acting (Village of the Damned) or writing (Assault on Precinct 13), John Carpenter has a knack for putting every little bit of himself into his work, which is a true sign of passion and dedication. However, with The Ward, Carpenter's potential "return" to both the genre and form that he helped mold, we are offered up very little of both. Coming off as a poorly crafted extension of The Masters of Horror series rather than a new start, The Ward gives us nothing above the bare minimum of a stale plot and jump scares, disappointing fans of Carpenter and horror alike.

Beginning with the death of one of North Bend Psychiatric Wards patients, The Ward quickly introduces us to Kristin (Amber Heard), a bruised and cut woman on the run who is picked up by the police for burning down a seemingly random barn. Brought to North Bend and placed under the supervision of Dr. Stringer (Jared Harris), Kristin is soon introduced to what fellow patients Iris (Lyndsy Fonseca), Sarah (Danielle Panabaker), Emily (Mamie Gummer), and Zoey (Laura Leigh) are terrified of when the lights go out. As the patients begin disappearing one by one, Kristin must work fast if she wants to make it out alive and uncover both her past and the secret that resides within the walls of North Bend.

Playing a deviant, determined, yet puzzled woman, Amber Heard gives a moderate performance, though scream queen she isn't. When the scene commands it, Heard often appears too timid to embrace the horror, or perhaps the horror is too timid to embrace the characters. Either way, as the horror unfolds, we are treated to a sense of restraint, as if everyone is awaiting the cue that never seems to come. Surrounding the patients of North Bend are characters that seem to have filtered in from other, much better pictures such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Shutter Island, and most recently Sucker Punch (and that's saying a lot). Seeing these characters walk in shoes that have been previously filled, it is clear that Carpenter himself took little part in the writing process, causing both story and horror to suffer greatly.

With writers Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, whose only other contribution prior to this is a straight to DVD horror thriller entitled Long Distance, it's really no shock that the script leaves almost zero psychological horror for the viewer, even when taking place in an insane asylum. Instead, the Rasmussen brothers toss cheap and predictable jump scares our way, all the while taking plot elements directly from Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. Now I'm certainly not one to criticize a film for being unoriginal, but when the similarities are this glaring, it's difficult to bite one's tongue. From the random flashbacks to the twist ending, everything that gave The Ward its apparent uniqueness can be attributed back to another film, one that displays a greater sense of suspense, and ultimately terror.

While one can certainly attribute John Carpenter's latest to the sheer fact that his absence in developing The Ward is significantly missed, I would have to disagree. Though this is a director that has produced some of the most significant films of their genres (Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Thing), Carpenter has contributed little in the way of quality since 1993's In the Mouth of Madness. Perhaps returning to form is no longer an option for the veteran filmmaker, or perhaps his greatness is only exposed when he has control over all sides of the filming process. What I do know is that The Ward contributes nothing to the filmography of John Carpenter, due in large part to lazy writing and predictable horror devices, only moderately improving upon his entries in the Master of Horror series.

The genetic make-up of the film was all in place. You have the young girl who's suffering from a psychiatric disorder but insistent that she's perfectly sane. You have the evil psychiatric ward staff who are just out to get the girl that you sympathise with, much like 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. And you have the notorious killing off of the cast one by one so you're waiting in suspense for the main character's turn. But what it ended up having was a plot line that had more holes in it than fishnet tights.

Having studied Psychology I was more than intrigued what condition they were going to assign the confused lead character, but never would I have ever guessed that they would select what they did and try and pull it off with little plausibility. Ending it with the generic ghostly spirit who still lives on in the ward ready for it's future victims may be a tired formula by now but it works. So why they decided to create a twist that was so twisted it was unrecognisable as to why it was put in there, I have no clue. And why it was set in the 60's is still something I'm trying to fathom out having finished watching it.

You can also tell it's a low budget movie when you consider that it's supposed to be set in a massive psychiatric hospital and the cast (with the exception of the staff) was limited to five girls and a ghost-like thing. Despite budget constraints the quality of the film is still on par with films of it's age which is at least a plus point of the film.

However, this is not to criticise John Carpenter's films. As we all know he's widely acknowledged as one of the kings of horror films, but somewhere somehow this film just went wrong - and I'm hazarding a guess at somewhere around the 10 minutes before it finished.

I like to watch an occasional movie that I have never heard of. Occasionally I am happy to have discovered a hidden gem. This one was not it. The synopsis sounded decent, it has a few, although not great actors, named actors, and John Carpenters name was on it. I thought I would give it a try.

Yes Amber Heard is a beautiful girl and an OK actress, that isn't enough to save this one. As bad as this low budget movie is, it does have an interesting twist in the end that does redeem it to garner 4 stars. The problem is that this movie would have worked better as a short story. Instead it bores you through the whole thing just to get to a good ending. so I say it is 80 some odd minutes you will waste for about 5 or so good minutes.

The Ward plays with familiar tropes: the haunted institution, the mysterious ghost, and the final twist meant to reframe everything. But rather than building suspense, it often leans into predictability.

Amber Heard leads the cast with a decent performance, though the characters around her feel thin and underdeveloped. The scares rely heavily on jump tactics rather than atmospheric dread. The cinematography is clean but uninspired, and the pacing struggles to maintain interest through the middle act.

But the twist ending does spark some discussion, it feels like it's trying to be clever, but ends up rehashing ideas we've seen done more effectively elsewhere. Once revealed, it casts a shadow over the entire plot, but not in a way that invites a second watch.

Ultimately, The Ward isn't a disaster, but it's disappointingly safe for a director known for shaking things up.

John Carpenter has had some hits and misses. 'The Ward' is a miss...

The film revolves around Kristen (Amber Heard) who is taken to a psychiatric hospital. She insists she does not belong there. She befriends some of the other patients, and learns of terror in the hospital.

While this might sound like a great idea for a terrifying shocker, the film is plagued by missed opportunities. There's a constant promise of something exciting or eerie happening, but it seldom does. My biggest criticism is the lack of information on the characters - especially Kristen. We know absolutely nothing about her. Her actions convinced me I had to root for her, but I had no idea why, and what she did in the first place to end up in the hospital. Amber Heard nevertheless gives a good performance.

The same goes for the other characters. We know so little about them that I didn't really care about them. By the time the film reveals more about Kristen with the twist ending, it's much too late. I didn't care about it then. Speaking of which, I can't say I liked the twist ending. It felt all too forced for the sake of having a twist.

There are some creepy moments, but 'The Ward' is not nearly scary enough as it should - and could - have been. This was way too clichéd and not nearly memorable enough. I don't think I'm going to remember this film. Not that it matters...

I was never scared in this film. This was due to it's lacking in basic horror techniques which have proved to be effective through past films. John Carpenter's own Halloween (1978) definitely carried far more tension than this film ever could, instead of being over reliant on a huge quantity of mindless jump scares. The film follows a violent young woman into a mental hospital where she is haunted by a ghost. Although it is better than it sounds, it isn't a remarkably intriguing story by any means. Eventually my intrigue was struck however nearing the end of the film, where is soon attempts to fall back on a twist ending which. Although not entirely predictable, it does feel unoriginal and unsurprising. The ending did however give slight gratification to the time I have given this film, although (despite it's already short run time) fails to restrict an unfortunate amount of filler. This is not to say no one will like, enjoy, or be frightened by this film. Surly however anyone who finds this film scary is far from familiar with the horror genre as a whole, as they may learn some day that this isn't as horrifying as they thought.