The Ward

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The Ward

R

Released Jul 8, 2011

1h 28m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

33%

Tomatometer

72 Reviews

27%

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10,000+ Ratings

No one believes the claims of a young woman (Amber Heard) that a dead patient is stalking the residents of the psychiatric facility.

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Critics Consensus

Lacking the hallmarks of his best work, The Ward proves to be a disappointingly mundane swan song for director John Carpenter.

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William Goss

Film.com

An aggressively plain spook story that favors jump moments over sustained tension and winds up falling back on a particularly tired twist.

Jul 11, 2011

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Scott Tobias

NPR

Carpenter has made his approximation of a cheap, twisty, shock-filled modern horror movie, and he has lost all but faint sighs of his minimalist swagger in the process.

Jul 8, 2011

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Joe Neumaier

New York Daily News

Carpenter's economical but mundane chiller is possessed more by previous ghoul-friend flicks than it is by his better work.

Rated: 1/5

Jul 8, 2011

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

A far cry from Carpenter’s glory days.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 11, 2023

Full Review

Shelagh Rowan-Legg

That Shelf

The problem with Carpenter is that...he is too good for this kind of material. No one has mastered it better than he has, and while he certainly doesn't "phone it in," so to speak, this kind of film doesn't present enough of a challenge for him.

May 15, 2018

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

MUBI

The result is a trim, scrubbed work, as strange and distilled as a mid-1930s Tod Browning chiller.

Dec 15, 2017

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Dallas H

They are gaslighting Amber Heard.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/18/25

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Denise K

I liked it a lot! The end was a nice twist!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/25

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Mobi C

Look, if they cant get out, how are they always getting out? A knife in a lock gets them out of a locked ward? Toilet paper in the latches and the staff cant tell the doors not locked? The story doesn't add up to whats happening. But hey, pretty girls makes it watchable. Definitely not worth 3 stars.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/25

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Horror fan 4

Definitely worth a look. The story kept me interested and the acting was good. I loved the characters. Tim Treakle

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/05/24

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Racheal

It’s about Kristen getting committed to a psychiatric unit and an angry spirit of a patient is haunting the girls who are being treated there all the girls there is all just Kristen she has multiple personality disorder (I believe that’s what you call it) I recommend it. It’s not scary though unfortunately

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/25/24

Full Review

Philip B

Trash! If I could give it a -1 star I would. The jump scares were the only thing somewhat decent in this movie. Everything else was so mediocre and cheesy. Overly predictable storyline and over the top characters. It seems no effort was made in anything in this movie from the set to the characters. I expected it to be somewhat better cuz it was directed by John Carpenter.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/11/24

Full Review

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Synopsis

No one believes the claims of a young woman (Amber Heard) that a dead patient is stalking the residents of the psychiatric facility.

Director: John Carpenter
Producer: Peter Block, Doug Mankoff, Mike Marcus, Andrew Spaulding
Screenwriter: Michael Rasmussen, Shawn Rasmussen
Distributor: ARC Entertainment
Production Co: Premiere Picture, Echo Lake Productions, FilmNation Entertainment, Bigger Boat
Rating: R (Violence|Disturbing Images)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 8, 2011, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2016
Runtime: 1h 28m

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