The Ward (film)
Encyclopedia
The Ward is a 2010 American horror film directed by John Carpenter
. The screenplay is written by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen. It stars Amber Heard
, Danielle Panabaker
, Mika Boorem
, and Jared Harris
. It is Carpenter's first full-length feature film since Ghosts of Mars
in 2001.
The story revolves around a young institutionalized woman named Kristen (Amber Heard
) who is haunted by a mysterious and deadly ghost. As danger creeps closer, she comes to realize that this ghost might be darker than anything she ever could have imagined.
The next day, Kristen (Amber Heard
), a beautiful but troubled young woman, finds herself bruised and cut, whilst setting fire to an abandoned farmhouse. The local police find her and take her to the psychiatric hospital.
She is taken to the ward where she meets the other patients that reside there, Iris (Lyndsy Fonseca
), Sarah (Danielle Panabaker
), Emily (Mamie Gummer
), and Zoey (Laura Leigh). She is given Tammy's old room and is given medication so that she can rest for the night. While Kristen sleeps, her blanket is mysteriously pulled under the bed. Waking up to retrieve her blanket, Kristen finds a broken charm bracelet.
The next morning, she meets Dr. Stringer (Jared Harris
). In his office, Dr Stringer tells Kristen that she had the address of the farmhouse written on her hand and asks about the fire and what she remembers. Kristen is unable recall anything and insists that she is not crazy. Later that night, she attempts to escape only to be caught by one of the orderlies and returned to her cell. Waking up in the middle of the night, Kristen catches a glimpse of a horribly disfigured figure who was staring at her through her door window.
While in the courtyard with Iris and Emily, Kristen sees two people looking at her from Dr Stringer's office. The girls give no clue as to who they are, only to tell Kristen that they have been there before many times. Whilst taking a shower, Kristen is suddenly attacked by the disfigured figure. However, upon telling the nurse this, she is drugged and put through intense electroshock therapy.
Dr Stringer runs a therapy session with all of the girls, where Tammy's existence is briefly mentioned but quickly dismissed. Iris attends her last therapy session with Dr Stringer where he uses hypnotherapy
to unlock Iris' hidden memories. After the session, Iris is kidnapped and killed by the disfigured figure.
Kristen, concerned about Iris, confronts the girls and staff about her disappearance but everybody keeps quiet. Kristen finds Iris' sketchbook and looks through all of the drawings to find a picture of a girl named Alice and another picture of the ghostly figure that had attacked her previously, with the name Alice Hudson at the top of its page. Retrieving the broken bracelet, Kristen pieces together the letters, which spells out the name "ALICE".
Kristen confronts Dr Stringer and tries to convince him that the ghost of Alice Hudson is haunting the girls. Dr Stringer denies the existence of a ghost and cryptically tells her that she needs to find the answers out for herself. Kristen confronts the girls about Alice where Emily confesses that Alice was once a patient at the hospital but that she got out. That night, Kristen and Emily attempt to escape the ward. Their escape is discovered and the alarm is raised. Kristen makes it to the front entrance of the hospital but Alice's ghost appears in front of her, causing her to fall over in fright. Kristen blacks out and awakens back in her room the next morning. It is revealed that Emily was caught by the orderlies during the escape.
On her way to her final appointment with Dr Stringer, Sarah is attacked and killed by Alice's ghost. Kristen finds out from Zoey and Emily that all of the girls killed Alice Hudson because she did bad things to them all and her ghost is now after them for revenge. Emily breaks down and, with the help of Alice's ghost, commits suicide. Kristen plans a last ditch attempt to escape by holding Zoey hostage. Her attempt is thwarted by an orderly and Dr Stringer. Kristen is drugged and placed in a straitjacket inside her room. However, she manages to escape and takes Zoey with her. They are both pursued by the orderlies and the ghost throughout the hospital. Zoey is captured by the ghost in a service lift.
After pursuing Kristen through Dr Stringer's office, Kristen manages to kill the ghost. Returning to the office to look for Zoey, Kristen finds a file on Alice Hudson, which details her treatments and all of the girls names, including Kristen's.
Dr Stringer enters and reveals the truth to Kristen: Her real name is Alice Hudson. Throughout the film, various flashbacks are shown of a young girl in chains, about to be abused by an unknown man. It is revealed that the girl in the flashback is Alice herself, who was kidnapped from her home 8 years previously. Alice was left chained up for two months in the basement of the same farmhouse "Kristen" had burned down. It is then revealed that Alice is suffering from multiple personality disorder, creating Tammy, Zoey, Sarah, Iris and Emily. Over time Alice's own personality became so overwhelmed by that of the others that she became lost. Through experimental techniques, Dr Stringer explains that her treatments were working until "Kristen" appeared. "Kristen" is yet another invention of Alice's mind to protect itself from reliving the trauma at the farmhouse. Dr Stringer had used hypnotherapy in an attempt to reawaken Alice's memories. After this revelation, Alice's ghost reappears and throws herself and "Kristen" out of the window, reawakening Alice.
It is revealed that the people who were looking at "Kristen" earlier were in fact Alice's parents and have come to take her home under supervision. After gathering her belongings, Alice takes one last look around her room. Upon opening her wall cabinet, "Kristen" suddenly comes out and attacks her, just as the camera cuts to black.
channel Canal+
.
.
The full trailer for the film was released by Warner Brothers on January 7, 2011. The Ward was released in the UK on January 21, 2011 with a 15 viewing age rating.
After its debut in a handful of film festivals in late 2010, The Ward was released in US theatres on July 8, 2011.
The Ward was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc
in the UK on 24 October 2011.
gave the film a 31% on the Tomatometer, with a rating of 4.4/10 based on 64 reviews. Metacritic
gave The Ward a 38 out of a 100, with 18 critics giving it a generally unfavorable review.
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
. The screenplay is written by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen. It stars Amber Heard
Amber Heard
Amber Laura Heard is an American actress and model. She played the lead and title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Heard's first starring role came in 2007 on the CW television show Hidden Palms...
, Danielle Panabaker
Danielle Panabaker
Danielle Nicole Panabaker is an American actress. She was a cast member in the CBS drama Shark, and appeared in the films Mr. Brooks, Sky High, The Crazies and Friday the 13th, among other projects...
, Mika Boorem
Mika Boorem
Mika Sue Boorem is an American actress who has appeared in the films Blue Crush , Carolina , Sleepover , and Smile ....
, and Jared Harris
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
. It is Carpenter's first full-length feature film since Ghosts of Mars
Ghosts of Mars
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film composed, written, and directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy...
in 2001.
The story revolves around a young institutionalized woman named Kristen (Amber Heard
Amber Heard
Amber Laura Heard is an American actress and model. She played the lead and title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Heard's first starring role came in 2007 on the CW television show Hidden Palms...
) who is haunted by a mysterious and deadly ghost. As danger creeps closer, she comes to realize that this ghost might be darker than anything she ever could have imagined.
Plot
At the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in 1966, a young patient named Tammy is attacked and killed by an unseen force during the night.The next day, Kristen (Amber Heard
Amber Heard
Amber Laura Heard is an American actress and model. She played the lead and title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Heard's first starring role came in 2007 on the CW television show Hidden Palms...
), a beautiful but troubled young woman, finds herself bruised and cut, whilst setting fire to an abandoned farmhouse. The local police find her and take her to the psychiatric hospital.
She is taken to the ward where she meets the other patients that reside there, Iris (Lyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Marie Fonseca is an American actress known for playing Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and The Restless, Dylan Mayfair on the ABC series Desperate Housewives, and Ted Mosby's daughter on How I Met Your Mother. She also played Katie Deauxma in the 2010 superhero film...
), Sarah (Danielle Panabaker
Danielle Panabaker
Danielle Nicole Panabaker is an American actress. She was a cast member in the CBS drama Shark, and appeared in the films Mr. Brooks, Sky High, The Crazies and Friday the 13th, among other projects...
), Emily (Mamie Gummer
Mamie Gummer
Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer is an American actress, and the daughter of actress Meryl Streep.-Early life:Mamie Gummer was born to actress Meryl Streep, and sculptor Don Gummer...
), and Zoey (Laura Leigh). She is given Tammy's old room and is given medication so that she can rest for the night. While Kristen sleeps, her blanket is mysteriously pulled under the bed. Waking up to retrieve her blanket, Kristen finds a broken charm bracelet.
The next morning, she meets Dr. Stringer (Jared Harris
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
). In his office, Dr Stringer tells Kristen that she had the address of the farmhouse written on her hand and asks about the fire and what she remembers. Kristen is unable recall anything and insists that she is not crazy. Later that night, she attempts to escape only to be caught by one of the orderlies and returned to her cell. Waking up in the middle of the night, Kristen catches a glimpse of a horribly disfigured figure who was staring at her through her door window.
While in the courtyard with Iris and Emily, Kristen sees two people looking at her from Dr Stringer's office. The girls give no clue as to who they are, only to tell Kristen that they have been there before many times. Whilst taking a shower, Kristen is suddenly attacked by the disfigured figure. However, upon telling the nurse this, she is drugged and put through intense electroshock therapy.
Dr Stringer runs a therapy session with all of the girls, where Tammy's existence is briefly mentioned but quickly dismissed. Iris attends her last therapy session with Dr Stringer where he uses hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
to unlock Iris' hidden memories. After the session, Iris is kidnapped and killed by the disfigured figure.
Kristen, concerned about Iris, confronts the girls and staff about her disappearance but everybody keeps quiet. Kristen finds Iris' sketchbook and looks through all of the drawings to find a picture of a girl named Alice and another picture of the ghostly figure that had attacked her previously, with the name Alice Hudson at the top of its page. Retrieving the broken bracelet, Kristen pieces together the letters, which spells out the name "ALICE".
Kristen confronts Dr Stringer and tries to convince him that the ghost of Alice Hudson is haunting the girls. Dr Stringer denies the existence of a ghost and cryptically tells her that she needs to find the answers out for herself. Kristen confronts the girls about Alice where Emily confesses that Alice was once a patient at the hospital but that she got out. That night, Kristen and Emily attempt to escape the ward. Their escape is discovered and the alarm is raised. Kristen makes it to the front entrance of the hospital but Alice's ghost appears in front of her, causing her to fall over in fright. Kristen blacks out and awakens back in her room the next morning. It is revealed that Emily was caught by the orderlies during the escape.
On her way to her final appointment with Dr Stringer, Sarah is attacked and killed by Alice's ghost. Kristen finds out from Zoey and Emily that all of the girls killed Alice Hudson because she did bad things to them all and her ghost is now after them for revenge. Emily breaks down and, with the help of Alice's ghost, commits suicide. Kristen plans a last ditch attempt to escape by holding Zoey hostage. Her attempt is thwarted by an orderly and Dr Stringer. Kristen is drugged and placed in a straitjacket inside her room. However, she manages to escape and takes Zoey with her. They are both pursued by the orderlies and the ghost throughout the hospital. Zoey is captured by the ghost in a service lift.
After pursuing Kristen through Dr Stringer's office, Kristen manages to kill the ghost. Returning to the office to look for Zoey, Kristen finds a file on Alice Hudson, which details her treatments and all of the girls names, including Kristen's.
Dr Stringer enters and reveals the truth to Kristen: Her real name is Alice Hudson. Throughout the film, various flashbacks are shown of a young girl in chains, about to be abused by an unknown man. It is revealed that the girl in the flashback is Alice herself, who was kidnapped from her home 8 years previously. Alice was left chained up for two months in the basement of the same farmhouse "Kristen" had burned down. It is then revealed that Alice is suffering from multiple personality disorder, creating Tammy, Zoey, Sarah, Iris and Emily. Over time Alice's own personality became so overwhelmed by that of the others that she became lost. Through experimental techniques, Dr Stringer explains that her treatments were working until "Kristen" appeared. "Kristen" is yet another invention of Alice's mind to protect itself from reliving the trauma at the farmhouse. Dr Stringer had used hypnotherapy in an attempt to reawaken Alice's memories. After this revelation, Alice's ghost reappears and throws herself and "Kristen" out of the window, reawakening Alice.
It is revealed that the people who were looking at "Kristen" earlier were in fact Alice's parents and have come to take her home under supervision. After gathering her belongings, Alice takes one last look around her room. Upon opening her wall cabinet, "Kristen" suddenly comes out and attacks her, just as the camera cuts to black.
Cast
- Amber HeardAmber HeardAmber Laura Heard is an American actress and model. She played the lead and title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Heard's first starring role came in 2007 on the CW television show Hidden Palms...
as Kristen, the main protagonist. A beautiful girl with no memories of her life but the strong belief that she is not crazy. She feels the constant need to escape the ward no matter the cost. She is the first in noticing the other girls are disappearing and that a vengeful ghost might be the one behind it. - Mamie GummerMamie GummerMary Willa "Mamie" Gummer is an American actress, and the daughter of actress Meryl Streep.-Early life:Mamie Gummer was born to actress Meryl Streep, and sculptor Don Gummer...
as Emily, the strong type. Emily is tough, serious and seems to protect her partner Zoey a lot. She hides a guilty feeling inside her though it seems unlikely she will open to it. - Danielle PanabakerDanielle PanabakerDanielle Nicole Panabaker is an American actress. She was a cast member in the CBS drama Shark, and appeared in the films Mr. Brooks, Sky High, The Crazies and Friday the 13th, among other projects...
as Sarah, a vain redhead and the impulsive one of the group. She often puts down the other girls and constantly asserts that she is sane and doesn't belong with the rest of the girls. She is very confident in her good looks and often flirts with orderlies hinting to date them when she is let out. She develops a growing conflict against Kristen product of her non acceptance of strangers. - Laura-Leigh as Zoey, a girl with an emotional trauma so hard that she keeps acting and dressing like a little girl. She carries around a stuffed rabbit everywhere she goes. She seems oppressed by the others due to her instant trust in Kristen.
- Lyndsy FonsecaLyndsy FonsecaLyndsy Marie Fonseca is an American actress known for playing Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and The Restless, Dylan Mayfair on the ABC series Desperate Housewives, and Ted Mosby's daughter on How I Met Your Mother. She also played Katie Deauxma in the 2010 superhero film...
as Iris, the first of the girls in befriending Kristen. She is nice and kind to everyone. She also carries a sketchbook where she likes to draw portraits of the other girls. She seems to be the most aware of their situation in the ward since she explains Kristen everything about their seclusion. - Mika BooremMika BooremMika Sue Boorem is an American actress who has appeared in the films Blue Crush , Carolina , Sleepover , and Smile ....
as Alice, a girl who used to be a patient at the ward but is nowhere to be found anymore. Kristen tries to find out what happened to her during her time at the Ward. - Jared HarrisJared HarrisJared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
as Dr. Stringer, the girls' psychiatrist. He seems hopeful in curing Kristen, though his real intentions seem mysterious the whole time. - Sydney Sweeney as Young Alice, a young girl who Kristen sees in flashbacks, both hands chained in a cellar. Nothing is really explained about her in the beginning.
- Dan Anderson as Roy, the chief orderly at the ward. Serious and unpredictable, tries to maintain order inside the ward. He is the main target of Sarah's flirting.
- Susanna Burney as Nurse Lundt, the chief nurse at the ward. Tends to consider Kristen a loose end, and constantly tries to act without the authority of Dr. Stringer.
- Sali Sayler as Tammy, a girl who disappears from the ward unexpectedly. Her disappearance upsets the other girls. Her empty room is later occupied by Kristen.
- Mark Chamberlin as Mr. Hudson, the sad man (as Iris describes him and his wife). They constantly visit the ward and are often seen watching the girls from a window.
- Jillian Kramer as Monster Alice, the ghost responsible for the disappearances. Using surgical tools as torture means on her victims. Not much is clear about her rather than the fact that she is getting rid of the girls one by one.
Production
The first footage revealed from the movie was on FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
channel Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
.
Release
The film premiered on September 13 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival2010 Toronto International Film Festival
The 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 9 and September 19, 2010. The opening night gala presented Score: A Hockey Musical, a Canadian comedy-drama musical film. Last Night closed the festival on September 19.2010 TIFF included...
.
The full trailer for the film was released by Warner Brothers on January 7, 2011. The Ward was released in the UK on January 21, 2011 with a 15 viewing age rating.
After its debut in a handful of film festivals in late 2010, The Ward was released in US theatres on July 8, 2011.
The Ward was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
in the UK on 24 October 2011.
Review
Film review Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a 31% on the Tomatometer, with a rating of 4.4/10 based on 64 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave The Ward a 38 out of a 100, with 18 critics giving it a generally unfavorable review.