The Film:

Other than teaming with Mick Garris and directing a pair of episodes (Cigarette Burns, Pro-Life) for the short-lived Showtime series Masters of Horror, John Carpenter has not been behind the camera since the 2001 box-office flop Ghost of Mars. Piss-poor marketing by Screen Gems and the real life horrors of 9/11 crushed any chance it had to be a hit. While it is not Carpenter’s strongest work, it is still better than the other red planet inspired flicks released at the time, and could best be described as Assault on Precinct 13 on Mars. Fast forward to a decade later and John is finally back with The Ward.

After torching a farmhouse for reasons unknown, Kristen (Amber Heard) is whisked away by the police to the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in North Bend, Oregon. A bitchy nurse leads her to her new home, a ward with four other young women with issues of their own. Kristen starts seeing a ghostly figure who is haunting the halls and who has already killed a former resident. From day one, she believes she is sane and tries her best to break out of the looney bin. As the appearance of the rotting ghoul becomes more frequent and deadly, Kristen grows more desperate to escape before she becomes the next victim. Her appointed doctor (Jared Harris) tries everything from therapy to shock treatment to help her fragile psyche, but the horrific visions continue and one by one the girls are murdered by Alice Hudson, a former patient who has revenge on her mind.

A central location where a group of characters have to escape evil has been a hallmark of every great John Carpenter film, and that comes in to play here as he turns this infirmary into the spookiest sick bay this side of The Exorcist III and Jacob’s Ladder. Come to think of it, The Ward owes a lot to the 1990 nail-biter, as the macabre moments seem like an homage to Adrian Lyne’s film. You never know what is going to be behind the next corner as the maestro’s widescreen ratio impacts every frame, which is astonishing considering some of the confined spaces he has to shoot in. There are some jolt scares that you come to expect, and Carpenter makes the wise decision not to show the monster too much. All of the acting is above average, and while Amber Heard is competent as the lead, it is Danielle Panabaker as Sarah who shows great range in a secondary role.

What The Ward could have used more of is a less monotonous pace as there never is a sense of urgency, which causes scenes to lag. That could have been alleviated if Carpenter had scored the film, but unfortunately he gave that assignment to Mark Kilian, who drops the ball by not bringing a sense of uneasiness when it’s needed. There is also a “hook” in the film that may or may not rub fans the wrong way.

It is great to have John Carpenter back in the saddle again, and although The Ward is no Halloween or The Thing, it is his best movie since the Lovecraftian tale In the Mouth of Madness.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The drab and murky cinematography offer up an average SD transfer fro Arc Entertainment that doesn’t look bad, but doesn’t wow either. Details are consistent and fine. The audio is okay too, allowing the score to swell and other typical horror movie sound mix cliches to pop and boom.

Commentary: John Carpenter is here, along with Harris and both deliver a low-key chat, that is sometimes good, other times a little boring.

The only other extra is a trailer.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

After torching a farmhouse for reasons unknown, Kristen (Amber Heard) is whisked away by the police to the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in North Bend, Oregon. A bitchy nurse leads her to her new home, a ward with four other young women with issues of their own. Kristen starts seeing a ghostly figure who is haunting the halls and who has already killed a former resident. From day one, she believes she is sane and tries her best to break out of the looney bin. As the appearance of the rotting ghoul becomes more frequent and deadly, Kristen grows more desperate to escape before she becomes the next victim. Her appointed doctor (Jared Harris) tries everything from therapy to shock treatment to help her fragile psyche, but the horrific visions continue and one by one the girls are murdered by Alice Hudson, a former patient who has revenge on her mind.

A central location where a group of characters have to escape evil has been a hallmark of every great John Carpenter film, and that comes in to play here as he turns this infirmary into the spookiest sick bay this side of The Exorcist III and Jacob’s Ladder. Come to think of it, The Ward owes a lot to the 1990 nail-biter, as the macabre moments seem like an homage to Adrian Lyne’s film. You never know what is going to be behind the next corner as the maestro’s widescreen ratio impacts every frame, which is astonishing considering some of the confined spaces he has to shoot in. There are some jolt scares that you come to expect, and Carpenter makes the wise decision not to show the monster too much. All of the acting is above average, and while Amber Heard is competent as the lead, it is Danielle Panabaker as Sarah who shows great range in a secondary role.

What The Ward could have used more of is a less monotonous pace as there never is a sense of urgency, which causes scenes to lag. That could have been alleviated if Carpenter had scored the film, but unfortunately he gave that assignment to Mark Kilian, who drops the ball by not bringing a sense of uneasiness when it’s needed. There is also a “hook” in the film that may or may not rub fans the wrong way.

It is great to have John Carpenter back in the saddle again, and although The Ward is no Halloween or The Thing, it is his best movie since the Lovecraftian tale In the Mouth of Madness.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Jason Bene: The Ward is your first feature film since Ghosts of Mars. Why haven’t we seen you directing besides your two episodes of Masters of Horror (Cigarette Burns, Pro-Life)?  

John Carpenter: I just had to stop for a while. I just had to take a break. I found myself burnt out a little. I was tired of the business and I was tired of working. It didn’t help that Ghosts of Mars didn’t do very well at the box-office. I decided it’s time to sit down and relax for a while. I had a lot of basketball to watch.

Jason Bene: The timing was bad for Ghost of Mars because 9/11 happened a few weeks after its release. Fans need to remember that from Halloween to Ghosts of Mars, you didn’t take that much time off in between movies.

John Carpenter: You got it, my friend. You got it. It was just a necessity for my own life. I had to just stop for a while. I really had to stop.

Jason Bene: I have a two-month old daughter and it has put my future in perspective. What I do for a living is not my life.

John Carpenter: (Laughs) That’s true. That’s true. How is your two-month old daughter doing?

Jason Bene: She is doing great! She is almost twelve pounds. She is starting to sleep a little longer during the night. For a while she was getting up every two hours to eat and it was killing us. But you look at that face and it’s all worth it.

John Carpenter: I know. I know. They are cuties. Just wait until she gets to be a teenager. Just you wait. Your time is coming.

Jason Bene: Is it true that The Ward is the first film you haven’t shot in Panavision since Dark Star?

John Carpenter: I shot it widescreen and not Panavision. You are right. You are absolutely right. It was budget. I wasn’t really in control of that stuff. I had to meet a budget and had to do it. We shot widescreen, but it was not Panavision. It was interesting. It was real interesting to do opposed to Panavision, which I dearly love. Nothing looks as good as Panavision. Nothing does. No film looks any better. But that was not the way it was done in this film. So I just accepted it, like I accept everything else about life.

Jason Bene: You didn’t write or score the film. Did that give you breathing room so you could concentrate on your directorial duties?

John Carpenter: It’s all too hard. Man, oh, man. Mark Kilian is a very talented composer. He is really really talented guy. I thought we’ll make this guy do the work. He just did a tremendous job for me. I’ve kind of slowed down now. The Ward was a perfect movie to come back and do movies with. What I mean by that is, it was a low budget film with a small cast. It all took place in one area. It was confined spaces. And it had a small cast. It was right up my alley. I didn’t want to do anything bigger than that. Masters of Horror was a lot of fun to do. But they were a week’s work, where this is thirty days. It was a deal and a great time. I love my cast! I love each of them. What can I say? I’m in a mental institution with beautiful Hollywood actresses. Nothing is better. Nothing. It’s awesome! It was great. I had a great time.

Jason Bene: A lot of naysayers think Amber Heard is a pretty face and can’t act. Maybe this type of meaty role will prove them wrong.

John Carpenter: She’s got a lot of talent. She’s got a whole lot of talent. I think her time will come. You never know. Sometimes fate plays tricks on you, but I think she’s going to be fine. I really loved working with her.

Jason Bene: Getting back to the score. Did you consider having your son, Cody, do the composing?

John Carpenter: He was in Japan at the time. He was in Japan teaching. He’s back now, thank God. I thought, well, okay, I’ll work with somebody I haven’t worked with before. That will be interesting to do.

Jason Bene: I haven’t seen The Ward yet, but from the theatrical trailer the music had a very Argento feel to it.

John Carpenter: We discussed it. The director kind of guides the music like he does everything else. I did a little guidance here and there. Mark brought it. He was just fabulous. I loved working with him.

Jason Bene: This is your first period film since Christine. How did it feel to do a horror film set in the 60′s?

John Carpenter: It’s not that hard. I was there. I remember what it was like. It takes place in ’66. The reason we did that was because we had to choose a period of time when there was still involuntary incarceration in a mental institution. In other words, by 1966 you still could be put away for an extended period of time. But that all changed in the 70′s. It all changed. So that was the reason to do it then. It was great. We had a great time doing it. It was fun. The girls did a little dance for me one night. It was great fun, just great fun.

Jason Bene: For The Thing, the creatures were out in the open to be seen, whereas with In The Mouth of Madness, you kept them in the shadows. How did you approach them in The Ward?

John Carpenter: Just very briefly seen. Very briefly. Hidden is the wrong word. It was done not out in the open so much.

Jason Bene: Monster nerds like myself really love seeing the creatures.

John Carpenter: Me too! But it wasn’t that kind of film.

Jason Bene: The movie to me looks like Jacob’s Ladder meets One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. How would you describe it?

John Carpenter: (Laughs) It really is Shutter Island. That’s what it is. You’ll see. It’s an old school horror film, because I’m an old school kind of guy.

Jason Bene: How hard is it to scare audiences today when you have terrible events happening all around the world? Can they be scared?

John Carpenter: They can be scared, but real life is scarier. My God! What’s been going on is unbelievable. I’ve had several people come to me and say, “What’s going on with our world? Is it the end of the world?” I don’t think so.

Jason Bene: I think people have been watching films like Roland Emmerich’s 2012 too much.

John Carpenter: I didn’t see that. I don’t think so. Not yet. It’s crazy times.

Jason Bene: The Ward has already been released in the UK. Is there a domestic release date yet?

John Carpenter: Yes, it is coming out in three months. Very soon.

Kristen, a beautiful but troubled young woman, who finds herself bruised, cut, drugged, and held against her will in a remote ward of a Psychiatric Hospital. She is completely disoriented, with no idea why she was brought to this place and no memory of her life before being admitted. All she knows is that she isn’t safe.

The other patients in the ward, four equally disturbed young women, offer no answers, and Kristen quickly realizes things are not as they seem. The air is heavy with secrets, and at night, when the hospital is dark and foreboding, she hears strange and frightening sounds. It appears they are not alone.

One-by-one the other girls begin to disappear and Kristen must find a way out of this hellish place before she, too, becomes a victim. As she struggles to escape, she will uncover a truth far more dangerous and horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Source: Arrow

Amber Heard stars as a young woman held in a psychiatric hospital who experiences strange visions that convince her the residents are being hunted by a ghost. Of course, don’t forget to re-read our exclusive interview with John Carpenter about The Ward here, while you wait.

Source: Bloody-Disgusting

In a recent interview with Moviefone, Amber seems to confirm it. “I was sort of surprised to hear about it, yeah. I think (producer) Avi (Lerner) even said himself, “She doesn’t know it yet.” So I was surprised, but also it’s something I’ve been looking at for a while and kind of interested in. I’m definitely interested in being a part of it, but that’s all I can kind of comment on right now.”

Red Sonja has been the subject of much production speculation (here and here) and casting rumors (here, and here). Amber Heard is mad hot. The only thing hotter is her in barbarian gear.

Anyone who saw My Bloody Valentine in theaters will tell you nothing compares to the awesomeness that was director Patrick Lussier and screenwriter Todd Farmer’s re-imagining of the Canadian slasher My Bloody Valentine. It was such a risk remaking a flick that is loved by horror fans everywhere. They improved upon George Mihalka’s 1981 heart-wrencher with more gore, more T & A, and they even added all-around bad-ass Tom Atkins (Maniac Cop, Night of the Creeps) to the 3D experience that was so eye-poppingly amazing that I stayed in my seat right until the credits ended.

Milton (Nicolas Cage) is a man who has escaped from the abyss of Hades to avenge the death of his daughter and save his kidnapped granddaughter from the man who is responsible for both – cult leader Jonah King (Billy Burke) – who plans on sacrificing the child under the moon in order to bring forth hell on Earth. The devil doesn’t like prisoners who try to jump ship early, so he unleashes The Accountant (William Fichtner) to bring him back home. Along the way to his ultimate mission, Milton crosses paths with tough-as-nails waitress Piper (Amber Heard), who just quit her job and looks for more from life than having her man (Todd Farmer – getting naked once again) cheat and beat on her. A pact is made and our modern day Bonnie and Clyde are ready to die to save the life of an innocent as blood is spilled across the open road.

If you are looking for a structured story then you are barking up the wrong tree because the screenplay doesn’t require a whole lot of brain matter. This is exploitation trash at its finest as A-list actor Nicolas Cage gets into full B-move mode and hams it up like only he can. He is one of the few people in the business who knows where he came from and speaks openly in interviews about Vampire’s Kiss and Valley Girl – fan favorites that entertain and don’t take themselves seriously. Well, he’s back!  Take the scene where he is slamming his salami into former NYPD Blue star Charlotte Ross with a cigar in his mouth, a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a gun in the other, while blowing away the bad guys and still staying hard and delivering the Big O. Amber Heard is hot as usual as she sports the sexiest pair of Daisey Dukes since Jessica Simpson in The Dukes of Hazzard. Tom Atkins once again portrays the long arm of the law and is slowly catching up with John Saxon on how many times he’s been a flatfoot.

Shot in Real 3D, Drive Angry is the bastard brood of the 70′s road thrillers Race with the Devil and Two-Lane Blacktop with the lone gunman western approach of Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Drive Angry 3D is in theaters nationwide today.

The plan is to begin production on Red Sonja between Nispel’s Conan reboot and its sequel.

Source: IMPAwards

A felon (Cage) breaks out of hell for one last chance at redemption: to prevent the cult who murdered his daughter from sacrificing her baby in three days’ time. He’s aided by a young waitress (Heard) and her ex-boyfriend’s muscle car, and together the duo will have to face down the leader of the cult, the police, and a killer known as “The Accountant” — who wants to return him to the Devil.

Source: ScreenRant

Official Synopsis: Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie’s (Odette Yustman) vacation to an exotic village in Argentina is a perfect ‘girl’s getaway’ to bask in the sun, shop and flirt with the handsome locals. After a long night of bar-hopping, the girls get into an argument, and Stephanie heads out alone in the morning to cool off. But when she returns, Ellie has disappeared. Finding signs of a struggle, Stephanie fears the worst, and turns to the police for help. But the local authorities have their hands full already – with a string of unsolved kidnappings targeting young female tourists. Sceptical of the sheriff’s competency, she enlists help from Michael (Karl Urban), an American ex-pat staying at their hotel. Together they go on a frantic search for Ellie, but Stephanie soon realizes that trusting his seemingly good intentions may drag her farther from the truth. With danger mounting, and time running out, Stephanie must find her friend before darkness falls.

Source: And Soon The Darkness Official Site

However, it looks like Development is actually moving forward on the film, and just landed director. Bloody-Disgusting gets word that Christian E. Christiansen (The Roommate) is looking to direct film. Also, Amber Heard (Zombieland) is being looked at to star in the female lead, but no deal has been made on that end.

Fans are probably already groaning over the idea of a remake, and to make things worse, the Weinstein Company company supposedly wants to target the film at teens. However, the executives have been very choosy over who takes over this remake, which is one reason the film has been in limbo for so long. There’s no word if Stephan Smith Collins, who replaced Doug Bradley as the famous cenobite, will star in this film or if another actor will be looked at.

Look for the film on Blu-ray and DVD December 28th and the film tells the chilling story of two American girls on a bike-riding excursion in a remote part of a foreign countryside. When one goes missing, the other must find her before darkness falls and her worst fears are realized.