The Ward

THE WARD Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: August 23rd, 2011 at 8:21 am

John Carpenter is an old man, and he makes old man films. In one way that’s refreshing. He knows where to put his camera in a sequence with multiple people. He knows when to use a close up, and never shoots a film like it’s a TV show. But he’s also a man without a country in new Hollywood, working with low budgets and ambling on with no great respect from those who’ve ripped him off. His latest film, The Ward, was given limited theatrical release before hitting home video. It stars Amber Ward, Danielle Panabaker and Jared Harris in a tale about young girls in the 1960’s who are stuck in a mental institution with a ghost. Our review of the Blu-ray of the The Ward follows after the jump.

Exclusive: Jared Harris Talks THE WARD, MAD MEN, FRINGE, SHERLOCK HOLMES 2, STAR TREK, Movie Villains, More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 6th, 2011 at 6:55 pm

With director John Carpenter’s The Ward opening in limited release this weekend, I recently conducted an extended interview with Jared Harris.  In The Ward, Harris plays Dr. Stringer, the head of a mental institution which houses a young girl (Amber Heard) who is being terrorized by a ghost.  During the interview, Harris talked about how he got involved in The Ward, what it was like to work for John Carpenter, and how his character changed over the course of filming.

In addition, Harris also talked about his upcoming work as the villain Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, what it was like to make the movie, his character arc on Fringe, what’s up with Mad Men and what it’s really like to make the show, what the last few years have been like as he’s landed some high profile jobs, great movie villains, and he reveals that he’s a big Star Trek fan,.  Hit the jump for the interview.

Exclusive: Director John Carpenter Talks THE WARD and His Thoughts on Hollywood Remaking His Films

by Christina Radish    Posted: June 8th, 2011 at 3:40 pm

The Ward, horror master John Carpenter’s first feature film in about 10 years, is a psychological thriller about a young woman locked in a mental institution in the 1960s. Unsure of who she is and what has happened to her, Kristen (Amber Heard) finds herself held against her will in a remote ward of a psychiatric hospital that is inhabited by four other equally disturbed young women. As Kristen quickly realizes that things are not what they seem, she learns that the hospital has dark secrets that will lead to a truth more horrifying than she ever could have imagined.

At the film’s press day, filmmaker John Carpenter did this exclusive interview with Collider, in which he talked about why he was burned out on the movie business, the appeal of working with a female ensemble, how much he loves collaborating with actors, the challenge of shooting such a self-contained story, being open to directing again, and how he feels about remakes of his previous films like They Live and Escape From New York. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Amber Heard Talks THE WARD and NBC’s THE PLAYBOY CLUB

by Christina Radish    Posted: June 7th, 2011 at 9:59 am

Actress Amber Heard wanted to be a part of The Ward because she loves the genre, loves the director (John Carpenter) and loved the script, making it the perfect combination. And, the added attention it gets for being Carpenter’s first feature film in about 10 years doesn’t hurt either. In the horror thriller, Heard plays a disturbed young woman named Kristen, who has no memory of her life before being admitted to a mysterious mental ward. Stuck with four other equally disturbed patients, Kristen begins to see strange things and hear frightening sounds, and quickly realizes that things are not as they seem. As she struggles to regain her freedom, she uncovers a truth more horrifying than she ever could have imagined.

At the film’s press day, Amber Heard talked about what makes John Carpenter the best at what he does, how she tries to make a character as real as possible, and the challenge of being a part of a story with a twist ending. She also talked about her upcoming NBC drama series The Playboy Club, about an innocent young Bunny named Maureen (Heard) who wants to take the world by storm, but accidentally kills one of the Windy City’s most powerful mafia bosses. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Half Trailer for John Carpenter’s THE WARD

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 3rd, 2011 at 9:13 pm

John Carpenter will always be a filmmaker to watch, even when all there is to watch is a half trailer of sorts for his latest, The Ward.  The Ward premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival, and represents Carpenter’s first feature in nearly a decade after 2001′s Ghost of Mars.  Amber Heard stars as Kristen, a woman committed to a psychiatric hospital where she “begins to have strange run-ins with a shadowy phantom who roams the halls when the ward is locked down at night.”  Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Jared Harris, and Lyndsy Fonseca also star.  Check out the clip after the break.

John Carpenter Exclusive Interview THE WARD

by Christina Radish    Posted: September 11th, 2010 at 9:58 am

Legendary horror filmmaker John Carpenter has ended his nine-year hiatus with his latest feature film, The Ward, debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival. Set in the 1960s, the thriller follows a distraught young woman named Kristen (Amber Heard), who is taken to the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital after she sets an old farmhouse on fire. Once there, Kristen begins to have strange and unexplainable encounters with a shadowy phantom who roams the halls when the ward is locked down at night, and she quickly becomes convinced that no one ever leaves the institution alive.

In a recent exclusive phone interview, John Carpenter spoke to Collider about why The Ward lured him back to filmmaking, his enjoyment of working with younger actors like this cast, the challenge of keeping a film that’s so contained from being visually boring and how the film ended up screening at TIFF. He also shared his thoughts on Hollywood remakes and the popularity of the vampire genre, and said that he has several projects currently in development, but that he’s most focused on the start of basketball season (he’s an L.A. Laker fan/supporter). Check out what he had to say after the jump.

First Images from THE WARD and BEAUTIFUL BOY

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 25th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Continuing our first-look image series of movies playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, we have images from John Carpenter’s The Ward starring Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Jared Harris, and Lyndsy Fonseca.  The Ward is Carpenter’s first film in over a decade and that alone is reason enough to see it. We also have images from Shawn Ku’s Beautiful Boy, which has a killer cast that includes Michael Sheen, Maria Bello, Moon Bloodgood, Alan Tudyk, Kyle Gallner, Austin Nichols, and Meat Loaf Aday.

Hit the jump to check out all the images and synopses for both films.  The 2010 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 9 – 19th.

James Gunn’s SUPER to Make World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival; Full Midnight Madness Line-Up Announced – UPDATED

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 17th, 2010 at 8:50 am

James Gunn’s Super will make its world premiere as part of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival “Midnight Madness” line-up.  Super centers on Frank (played by Rainn Wilson), a regular guy who decides to become a superhero when his wife (played by Liv Tyler) becomes a drug addict.  I dug the film’s panel at Comic-Con and if you like James Gunn’s style of humor, then Super looks like it won’t disappoint.  The cast also includes Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker, and Nathan Fillion.

Hit the jump to check out a new image from Super as well as a list of all the films playing at Midnight Madness.  This year’s Toronto International Film Festival will run from September 9 – 19th. [Updated with new films and a synopsis for each film]

Danielle Panabaker Gets Locked Up in John Carpenter’s THE WARD

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 17th, 2009 at 9:41 pm

When speaking to Danielle Panabaker earlier this year at the set-visit for “The Crazies”, she didn’t seem at all bothered with getting labeled a “scream queen”.  In fact, she seemed to revel in it and didn’t see why the connotation was so bad.  When she pressed a room full of men who devoted their lives to covering film for an answer, we looked at each dumb founded.

Satisfied with our non-answer, the lovely Ms. Panabaker has now signed on to join Amber Heard in John Carpenter’s upcoming psychological horror thriller, “The Ward”.

In what is clearly becoming a trend of stuffing attractive women into mental institutions (see also Zach Snyder’s “Sucker Punch”), “The Ward” follows Heard as a girl who’s admitted to a psychiatric ward, meets other girls there with distinct personalities and discovers a mysterious girl haunting the halls at night.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Panabaker would play another patient in the institution, a snobbish girl who flirts with orderlies and faces electroshock therapy.

With scheduling scheduled to begin next month in Spokane, Washington, “The Ward” is set for release most likely in 2010.  If so, it would be Panabaker’s third horror film in two years.  But it would be Carpenter’s first film in twelve years and turning down an opportunity to work with Carpenter would be lunacy.  Besides, there’s clearly nothing wrong with being a scream queen.

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