
In 1966, in North Bend, Oregon, the runaway Kristen is captured by the police after burning down a farmhouse and is locked in the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital. Kristen is introduced to Dr. Gerald Stringer, who uses experimental therapy. Then she meets the inmates Emily, Sarah, Zoey and Iris and the tough nurse Lundt. During the night and in the shower later, Kristen sees the ghost of a woman and she learns that she is Alice Leigh Hudson, a mysterious wicked intern that has... (Full plot summary below)
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In 1966, in North Bend, Oregon, the runaway Kristen is captured by the police after burning down a farmhouse and is locked in the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital. Kristen is introduced to Dr. Gerald Stringer, who uses experimental therapy. Then she meets the inmates Emily, Sarah, Zoey and Iris and the tough nurse Lundt. During the night and in the shower later, Kristen sees the ghost of a woman and she learns that she is Alice Leigh Hudson, a mysterious wicked intern that has disappeared. When Iris is ready to go home, she is attacked by the ghost of Alice in the basement and murdered. She vanishes and the inmates decide to seek Iris out. Then Sarah is abducted by the Alice and also killed; the next one is Emily. Meanwhile Kristen escapes from her room and meets Zoey, expecting to protect her. However, Zoey is kidnapped by Alice and Kristen runs to Dr. Stringer's office. She snoops his desk and finds a report with the truth about Alice.
Leave your thoughts about The Ward.
| Film.comWilliam GossAn aggressively plain spook story that favors jump moments over sustained tension and winds up falling back on a particularly tired twist. |
| Salon.comAndrew O'HehirFeels an awful lot like a low-budget knockoff of Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch." |
| BrianOrndorf.comBrian OrndorfFlaccid conclusion fits the wilted integrity of the overall feature, which plays as though Carpenter was missing one of his batteries, lacking the drive to conjure some incredible beats of suspense. |
| NPRScott TobiasThe Ward feels less indebted to cinema's past than a desperate attempt to keep up with the present. 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. |
| Gordon and the WhaleChase WhaleJohn Carpenter has made his first unintentional comedy. |
| Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAt least Carpenter the spook-meister knows how to goose you. |
| MovielineMichelle OrangeThe story's obvious and various potential is left to stand on its own, and the scares are largely uninspired. |
| Village VoiceNick PinkertonCarpenter does what he's always done well here: individualizing shorthand personalities in a group under siege. This is Carpenter's first all-female ensemble, and the inmates are uniformly well-played. |
| The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenWhile by no means a masterpiece of the form, John Carpenter's The Ward is an economical period piece that still effectively demonstrates what a skilled technician can accomplish in a single location with a compact cast and sturdy old-school effects. |
| FEARnetScott WeinbergThis might not be the epic sort of effort that the Carpenter fans have been waiting for, but it's still a damn good ghost story that knows how to mess with an audience. |