The Ward - new film from John Carpenter

Even from John Carpenter.. meh Very original...

larry

Looks good enough to check out.

Another movie that the wife wont go see with me though......

Why does every horror trailer have to show the scare/jump scenes! Do they think it has the same effect as when you're sitting there wrapped up in the film for 1.5 hours? All they're doing is ruining it for when you watch the movie. Geez.

This trailer reminded me of The Woods. Amber Heard I like.

Amber heard in shower scene...mmm.

That was the only thing that made me think I'd check it out when it came out on cable (and the others in the shower).

larry

Indeed. Stupid marketing. However, John Carpenter is a master of horror, so this one may be worthy of a look.

Well, if it's pg-13 then we won't see much....WHAT, it's already came on cable?

Unfortunately, she's a fantasy killer; she prefers to shower with women than men.

Yup, i just found on imdb, that she likes to do that very often. What a waste.

Whose fantasy are we talking about here?

No. I just type differently than I'm thinking sometimes...

larry

Don't waste your time on this one folks. Over an hour of bad acting and cheap scares not fit for a 12 year old.
This is probably not much of a spoiler but just in case:

Thanks for taking one for the team.

larry

+1

Awful waste of time

Acting isn't everything. There are many movies I love that have bad acting, and I'm sure many people have their own. Get to the core of the issue, please.

Anyhow, I haven't seen this yet. I'm waiting on the Blu-ray to fall below $25, since I own all of Carpenter's films on Blu-ray.

This is the first film since Dark Star that Carpenter didn't use a Panavision due to budget constraints, so I have a feeling that it's not going to "feel" like a Carpenter movie, which is sad.

Being a huge fan, I will still give this a shot and assess it for myself.

Seems to be the concensus. I was at Blockbuster and picked Mars needs Moms over this...

If you are a John Carpenter 'Fanboy' you will love this movie....

If loud noises and jump scares (which lead nowhere) thrill you then you will love this movie.

If you are a true John Carpenter fan you should be very disappointed with this movie (he can and should be putting out much much better than this).

Rotten Tomatoes ratings: Top Critics 21% - Audience 28%.

There are plenty of movies I like where the bad actors disappear into a great story, this is not one of those. Agree with Airboss, this is not what one would expect from Carpenter caliber. YMMV

And many times, people fail to see that the actors are actually fine, but it's just the writing for that actor or possibly poor casting. Whenever I hear "bad acting," I typically always raise a red flag with the person saying it. There's definitely cases out there, but it's really a far cry in most cases on what really is happening with the movie.

Airboss, I'm a "True" Carpenter fan. I'm also a "Fanboy."

The only carpenter movies that I "hate" is Ghost of Mars. I still own it, though.

The only carpenter movies that I "don't care for" are Vampires, Escape from LA, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and Dark Star.

Everything else I either really like or strongly adore. That includes Village of the Damned, which is a great Carpenter movie.

You can defend it after you watch it if you see fit but I think I watch enough movies to determine when the acting is bad and when the writing is at fault or in this case when its both. As I said this is just my 2¢ and should be taken with a grain of salt, if you like the film more power to ya.

I thought it was okay. Apparently fans wanted to see Carpenter continue to raise the bar. I found it interesting that it was shot around Spokane which now seems to be the Albuquerque of the Northwest for filmmakers (and Albuquerque sorta reminded me of Spokane when I was there). I've also visited the hospital where it was shot.

Well, I managed to watch the first half of the Ward.

I would probably watch "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" before this movie (which isn't saying much). I would definitely watch "Escape from LA." While this movie is more respectable than "Ghosts of Mars," that's really about the only thing it bests in Carpenter's collection.

Just as I thought, the problem isn't with the "acting." The core of the issue, is that this is a very low budget movie that lacked a gripping story, direction, and atmosphere. The exposition is somewhat tedious, and the story telling is a far-cry from gripping. The characters were somewhat interesting, but not enough to really care or to feel any danger from them. The soundtrack fits, but it's forgettable. The cinematography is fine being that it's 2.35:1, but without the anamorphic lens, it doesn't feel like a true Carpenter movie. The movie takes place in the late 60s, but with the budget the way it was, it feels like a modern movie that "tries" to take place in the 60s. The chicks just look way too modern for the time period.

And it is boring, did I mention that? Before you ask, I don't have ADHD. I would gladly watch any Carpenter movie back-to-back, even after Kubrick's "2001." But this wasn't very interesting, nor original.

What to expect? Expect a made-for-TV movie that borderlines boring. Much better horror movies out there for your time. While it's not "terrible," it's sadly just not worth the time.

5/10.