HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Ascendingsun Carpenter's early films were not even half as scary as this film, as someone who was growing up with his films since the early 80's, to me The Ward is a triumph, even a few seconds of the score or just few images of the film can scare me to death, Carpenter hit something deep within the psyche of the collective consciousness., a truly powerful film setting the stage and an imprint for artistic expressions about the discovery of identity and its redemptive freedom within the theme of mental illness and fluidity of reality. The same like Halloween, there was Black Christmas and Texas Chainsaw Massacre before too, just like there were a few others before The Ward too within the span of 10 years, but all of them together are part of a new wave. Nothing comes along alone, or standing apart, everything always comes in groups, everything, all inventions, all new things are reflected by others wihout being aware of one another, because everything is connected in this universe. The Ward is a reminder of our inter-connectedness at a microscopic level, there's many lives and personalities inside of us, reflecting us, in our private universe as well as this wider universe.

stewoolley Just watch something else, trust me it's rubbish. ......................................

Screen_Blitz John Carpenter without a doubt, has shown ingenious taste in the horror and science- fiction genre; his success either the slasher classic 'Halloween' and the sci-fi/horror hybrid 'The Thing' speak loud volumes. His success continues for many years to come before taking a ten-year hiatus from the silver screen after his failure with the science-fiction thriller 'Ghost of Mars' in 2001. This supernatural thriller sees Carpenter return to the big screen, but the results show that Carpenter seems to have lost his flair over the ten years of his break. From an acclaimed director like Carpenter, you would expect to be awarded with great scares, an entertaining plot, and maybe some characters you come to care about, all of which this seems half empty of. To worse, this movie falls deep into elements that feel awfully familiar to other more superior horror flicks. So what's the story here? The film is set in 1966 in Oregon where we meet young runaway Kristen (played by Amber Heard) who is arrested by the cops after destroying an old farmhouse, letting it burst into flames. Subsequently, he is sent to a mental rehabilitation center where she meets psychiatric Dr. Gerald Stringer (played by Jared Harris) who performs mysterious experiments on his patients along with her inmates Emily (played by Mamie Gummer), Sarah (played by Danielle Panabaker), Iris (played by Lyndsey Fonseca), and Zoey (played by Laura Leigh). Soon, Kristen and her inmates begin terrorized by the ghost of former patient Alice Leigh Hudson (played by Mika Boorem) who was murdered after an escape attempt.John Carpenter has seen better days of filmmaking in his career than this, but has also seen worse. Compared to his other projects, this is just one of his minor entries so expectations may pave low, even for die-hard John Carpenter fans. Sadly, most of his appealing style he brought to his projects back in the 70s and 80s seem lost here. As this movie was done a rather tight budget, there is only some much Carpenter can spit out. The film has some scares that fall into category of hit-and-miss, some of them are effective such as the shower scene, others however are either dull, clichéd, or just cheesy jump scares likely make you shrug your shoulders than jump in fright. Many of the scares are associated with a creepy music score by Mark Kilian which fits quite well for the somber atmosphere. If you are someone who grows tiresome of constant jump scares, then brace yourself because there's a lot of these. John Carpenter also piles some elements that have been executed better on other horror entries including the ghost of Alice Leigh Hudson that look lot like the deformed little girl from the Exorcist movies, but it's certainly not enough to fulfill a terrifying experience to please viewers. The twist ending however, fits surprisingly effective and fills plenty of nuance to the story, even if feels borrowed from other films. Lastly, the performances by the cast particularly Amber Heard, Danielle Panabaker, Mamie Gummer, Lyndsey Fonseca, and Laura Leigh fit the bill, not likely to go down as any of the memorable roles in their careers.While it is nice to John Carpenter make comeback on his career, it's somewhat disappointing to see that his return had to be this one. This movie is a disposable supernatural vehicle that is bound to leave at least some horror fans satisfied but leave others vastly disappointed and yearning for better efforts.

The-Social-Introvert Carpenter's most recent movie came after a whopping 10 year break from the filmmaking industry. Unfortunately, he needn't have bothered – The Ward is an uninspired and bland minor horror flick that has already been forgotten. It's a shame that after a decade waiting for John to get of his butt the resulting movie contains nothing Carpenter-esque and instead results to cheap jump scares, loud music and a plot twist that is borderline offensive to the viewer.It certainly could have been good – the plot involves an institutionalized young woman who becomes terrorized by spooks in the night– but the movie is clearly the product of an exhausted man well past his peak. The Ward is worth checking out if you're a die-hard Carpenter fan, but otherwise stay away. It's also the only film I've seen that manages to show a number of women showering nude…without any nudity. Unless you count partial side-boobs. But they're no fun. Boo, my friends. Boo, and if you will, hiss.Best Scene: Is there any positives to take from this film? Hmmm, the opening credits were good, I guess. And although you could see it coming from a mile away, the last second of the film scared-the-hell out of me.