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.

I happened upon this movie a few years ago while browsing Netflix's horror/thriller genre. I'd just like to preface this by saying that I personally tend to find the plots and premises of horror movies really interesting (I don't really watch horror movies for the scare factor, however backwards or counter-intuitive that may sound). So, when I stumbled upon this movie, I of course had nothing better to watch at the time. I was not expecting much from an unknown Netflix b-movie. But holy cow. To someone with my inclinations, I found that this film was incredibly artful in its use of storytelling, to say the very least. It's very obvious that the horror is not the central theme of the film; in all honesty, you could probably remove that aspect altogether and still have an awesome film.The acting is good, though at times, it's a little over the top. Of course, Jared Harris is a great actor, but even the "unknowns" did well – I'd never seen Amber Heard before this movie, but she did well in her role. Mamie Gummer's character (and the way she played her) was really notable as well. The characters overall are relatively dynamic in the way they were written, but were brought to life by the actors. When I saw the bad reviews for this film, I couldn't help but be slightly appalled. I understand those who believe the story/plot to be unoriginal, and of course, there are things about this movie that are downright laughable at times. But I feel that it must be stated that the film is redeemed not by the originality of the story – rather, it's the way that the story is told that makes it great. It reminds me of what my Shakespeare professor used to say: "He wrote the most unoriginal plots, and he knew it. But you know, no one sees a Shakespeare play for the plot."Seriously. Watch it – all the way through, to the very end (even if you're not completely into it). You'll see what I mean. I'm usually very critical of the TV shows and the films that I watch, and even with its flaws, this film has merit.

If I had not known this was a John Carpenter film going into it, there would be no way for me to have ever guessed that he had anything to do with it. I don't know what John is doing these days with these uninspired films he keeps pumping out. He is starting to resemble Kevin Smith in that sense. Admittedly I have not seen very many of Carpenters recent films and this effort didn't exactly sway me either. To this day his best films in my opinion are 'They Live' & 'The Thing'. I've always thought 'Halloween' to be way overrated, even though I am a huge horror film buff. This might be blasphemy to some but that is my opinion.....the film is very average run of the mill horror. Nothing you haven't seen before...as a matter of fact, the so called 'twist' has been done to death...over and over again. It has become cliché as far as I'm concerned.That being said, being the horror movie buff that I am, I still somewhat enjoyed it, it didn't bore me and the lead actress Amber Heard is incredibly sexy and not the worst actor I've seen. It's hard for me to rate this film, it is rather uninspired for a Carpenter film, but it's entertaining enough and not the worst horror flick I've come across. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in particular unless they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to find a horror film they haven't seen. Basically myself...

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.