Screen Rant » the ward

‘The Ward’ International Trailer Is Old-Fashioned, But Not Scary

Sandy Schaefer — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:49:21 +0000

Believe it or not, it’s been ten years since horror legend John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog, Village of the Damned, etc.) directed a film – and his last picture was the forgettable spooky sci-fi tale Ghosts of Mars. He’ll return at last this year with The Ward, a mysterious ghost story that looks to rely on old-fashioned scare tactics rather than shock gore. But does the film look like a return to form for Carpenter?

Sadly, the answer appears to be no. The Ward international trailer has its share of clichés, including an over-reliance on cheap jump scares that come off more as predictable than unnerving.

The Ward stars Amber Heard (Drive Angry) as Kristen, a traumatized young woman who is committed to a mental institution under dubious circumstances. While there, she is haunted by ...

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Video Clip Roundup:’Limitless,’ ‘Source Code,’ ‘Insidious’ & More

Paul Young — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:14:50 +0000

Keeping in theme with the new regular consolidation posts like Friday’s Movie Poster Roundup and Monday’s Movie Image Roundup, we’ve decided to start a regular Video Clip Roundup on Wednesdays. So be sure to check back every Wednesday to see what clips were released by the studios for their upcoming films. Some people consider video clips to be a tad spoilerish as some studios tend to give away the best parts of their films in hopes of drawing a bigger crowd come opening day. However, others, like myself, find short clips an interesting way to get a better feel for a movie’s overall tone that can sometimes be lost in a trailer.

In today’s video clip roundup we have 26 scenes from 7 movies ranging from independent films showing at SXSW (South by South West) to mainstream ...

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Movie Poster Roundup: ‘Fast Five’, ‘Thor’, ‘X-Men: First Class’ & More

Paul Young — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:09:24 +0000

Today is the fresh new start of something we used to do every week at Screen Rant – the Weekly Movie Poster Roundup! Each week we will scour the Internet looking for the best, the worst and the most interesting movie posters we can find and post them all in one place for you to enjoy.

From mainstream films to unknown independent films, we are sure to have something that appeals everyone’s movie tastes, so make sure you come back each Friday to see what we’ve dug up.

In this week’s roundup we’ve have posters for the following movies: Fast Five, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, X-Men: First Class, Source Code, The Smurfs, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Hop, Priest, Scream 4, Bad Teacher, Warrior, The ...

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Movie Image Roundup: ‘Green Lantern’, ‘Three Musketeers’, ‘Cars 2′ and More [Updated]

Paul Young — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:51:47 +0000

[UPDATE: Check out some new hi-res Pirates of the Caribbean 4 images!]

There are over 150 movies releasing in theaters this year and you can get a detailed look at each month’s releases in our Massive 2011 Movie Preview. As the year progresses, we can expect PR departments from various studios to begin ramping up the marketing pushes on all of these films.

One way they build excitement for a film is by releasing still images, which usually consist of behind-the-scenes material, freeze frames from the movie (out of context of course) or occasionally a “cell phone reporter” will snap a picture or two while a film is shooting. Sometimes a studio will just take a Hi-Res still from the latest trailer and call it “new.”

Today we have 26 different images from 11 different ...

Click to continue reading Movie Image Roundup: ‘Green Lantern’, ‘Three Musketeers’, ‘Cars 2′ and More [Updated]

Movie Poster Roundup: Paul, Thor, Hobo with a Shotgun, and More

Paul Young — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:57:59 +0000

Everybody loves to look at movie posters (or one-sheets as they are sometimes called in the movie industry) and a well-crafted poster can make or break the buzz for an upcoming film.

Sometimes the poster predominantly features one character from the film or perhaps it depicts the story or plot in an artsy and unique way. Regardless of which direction the marketing department for a film chooses, a poster should either be intriguing, sexy, funny or cool – and it can’t hurt to combine all four.

Today we have wide selection of movie posters from a very diverse selection of films – excellent fan-made art for movies yet to begin filming, horror films with a sexy twist, summer blockbusters, and even a campy SyFy Channel film. No matter what your taste in movie posters may be, ...

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John Carpenter’s Full-Length Trailer for ‘The Ward’

Rob Frappier — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:56:43 +0000

At this past year’s Toronto International Film Festival, legendary horror director John Carpenter made his return to the director’s chair with The Ward, a film about a young woman who is being menaced by a ghost inside of a mental institution. Until The Ward, Carpenter hadn’t directed a film since 2001′s Ghost of Mars.

Today we’ve got the first full-length trailer for the upcoming film.

So, was The Ward a triumphant return to form for the 62-year-old director? Unfortunately, according to early reviews, the answer was no. The film, which features emerging star Amber Heard alongside Lyndsy Fonseca, Danielle Panabaker, and other young beauties, was criticized for being contrived and (worst of all) not scary.

Perhaps due to the film’s poor critical showing, The Ward has yet to secure distribution rights in the ...

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Carpenter and Cage’s ‘Riot’ Not Happening

Niall Browne — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:14:09 +0000

Last year we brought you news that legendary director John Carpenter and king of crazy haircuts Nicolas Cage were teaming up to make the prison action film Riot (which was also known as Scared Straight).

I recently interviewed the producer of the film Katie Chonacas who gave me the disappointing news that it looks like the film is dead.

The original synopsis of the film was as follows:

“‘Straight’ follows a troubled youth who’s sent to prison off the ‘Scared Straight’ crime-prevention program, which imprisons delinquent teens for a short period in the hopes of deterring them from a life of crime. While the teen is there, a riot breaks out and the prisoners take him hostage. A lifer, played by Cage, is forced to help the young man out.”

When I asked Chonacas what the progress of the film was she said:

“I ...

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First Footage of John Carpenter’s ‘The Ward’

Paul Young — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:44:47 +0000

Director and horror icon, John Carpenter, is finally back behind the camera where he rightfully belongs, filming his next horror/thriller film The Ward. It’s been a long drought for fans of his Carpenter’s stylings; the last film he directed was 2001 sci-fi horror flop film Ghosts of Mars (still scratching my head as to why he went with Ice Cube for the lead). If you want to go back to his last GOOD horror film, then you’ll need to reach back a few more years to 1998 and the fantastic movie Vampires with the ever popular James Woods.

The Ward has a fairly interesting female cast with Amber Heard (Zombieland), Danielle Panabaker (The Crazies), Lyndsy Fonseca (Kick Ass, Hot Tub Time Machine) and newcomer Sali Sayler all confined to a psychiatric hospital ...

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Feb. 05, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:51:58 +0000

It’s time for another Mid Week Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

John Carpenter chooses yet another project; Clooney and Sorkin like a good Challenge; Bill Murray decides to Get Low; Bloom and Kurylenko get Cross and Nottingham wants an accountant.

1. It looks like John Carpenter just can’t make his mind up! First it appeared that L.A Gothic would be the follow-up to Ghosts of Mars, and then it looked like Scared Straight (or Riot as it was renamed) starring Nicolas Cage would be his next film. Wrong on both counts.

It now looks like The Master of Horror’s next film will be The Ward with Amber Heard.

According to Variety:

“Heard will star as a haunted woman in a mental institution.”

Sounds like anything could happen – but I’ll believe this to be Carpenter’s next movie when I see the first still. I presume Carpenter has become tired of receiving checks for remakes of his ...

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