Review: The Ward

Originally posted on www.moviemuser.co.uk

Master of horror John Carpenter returns to his directorial roots as he heads behind the camera for the first time in a decade to take on this new film, The Ward.

The film takes place in a mysterious 1960s mental institution where we find the troubled Kristen (Heard), who finds herself on the ward with no recollection of her life previous to this. She begins to fear for her life as mysterious things begin to happen around the institution. The other equally as disturbed girls on the ward start to disappear with no answers and secrets fly around with no answers. Kristen realises she needs to break herself out any way she can.

At first it does sound very intriguing and with the likes of Carpenter behind it you get a little excited about the potential psychological horror thrills that will follow. Considering his track record includes films such as Halloween and The Thing, you’ve got to hope The Ward will be worth a watch. Indeed, much of the film is pretty good and kept me guessing what was going to happen, but I found the ending very anti-climactic and was a little disappointed with what happened. It felt as though they had combined Sucker Punch, Shutter Island and Girl Interrupted into one and in the process lost the majority of the originality they could have kept with this film. Even the setting looked as though they had just gone and filmed on the Girl Interrupted set.

The actors were good and all pulled off their characters very well. The character of Emily (Mamie Gummer) cracked me up and was a nice bit of comic relief in some of the heavier sequences.

The Ward does contain a number of scenes that will make you squirm in your seat and a particular one that I personally couldn’t watch, so if that’s your kind of thing then you will enjoy this film. However, for people like me who were expecting something a little more jumpy and intense, much like Carpenter’s earlier hits, then sadly you’re going to be left disappointed as there are only a few squirmy scenes like this, and even they seem to have been thrown in for a little bit of a cheap thrill.

Overall Verdict: With a combination of decent acting and parts of the storyline being well executed and quite compelling, the film is watchable and certainly isn’t the worse movie I’ve ever seen. But due to the loss of its potential originality and the cheap thrills, this film is definitely not one of Carpenter’s better efforts. It’s a bit disappointing considering we’ve waited so long for a new film from the ‘master of horror.’

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Originally posted on www.thefancarpet.com

John Carpenter developing a Western

John Carpenter, famous for introducing the world to the infamous Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise has revealed that he has always wanted to make a western, and he may be recognising his dream.

The Escape from New York director told the Fright Night Festival in Louisville, Kentucky; “I'm right now working on a little gothic western, we'll see if we can get it set up.”

He later added “I got into this business to make westerns. And I got typecast as a horror director after Halloween. My dream was to have a career in directing movies and so I went where they wanted me to go.” 

The director also revealed that it might not have happened after giving up on the idea a few years back. He told Den of Geek, “I kind of stopped believing in that. You can’t get a western made now. I had a western come along that I liked, but they wanted to turn it into a science-fiction movie.”

“They don’t believe that they can sell a western.”  

Yes a western movie these days does sound rather daring, but with Carpenter at the helm and with a gotchic twist lets hope he goes for it and pulls it off.

David R Ellis To Take On Kite

Snakes on a Plane director David R Ellis is attached to take on Kite.

The director is set to turn Yasuomi Umetsu’s 1998 anime movie and turn it into a live action film. This is the latest anime film set to be turned in a live action movie as Warner Bros.’ are currently trying to do the same to iconic anime movie Akira.

The film is set in the future in a state where the economy has completely collapsed and crime is rife, it concentrates on a young woman who goes looking for the person who killed her policeman father with the help of his ex-partner, but doesn’t suspect for a second that he could be the one behind it. During all this there’s also a corrupt security force making money from trafficking girls.

Well known for its graphic displays of sex and violence, it is not known yet just how much of this will be transferred to the live action film.

Lets just hope Ellis doesn’t go the same way as Jorge and Javier Aguilera, who were previously attached to the movie, which saw it go nowhere fast.

So lets just hope.

Ed Helms To Star In Le Mac

Star of The Hangover  and the US version of The Office has agreed to star in a remake of a 2010 French Comedy Le Mac.

The film by Pascal Bourdiaux saw Jose Garcia star as a mild mannered banker who is forced to impersonate a gangster and pimp. Sounds interesting to say the least.

The script for the remake is being written by Johnny Rosenthal, who brought up the idea of a remake to film backers Media Rights Capital, which then led to a partnership deal with Red Hour Films, owned by Ben Stiller.

With backing from a company owned by one of the funniest men in Hollywood and with Helms’ track recorded for side splitting comedy roles this could be one to look out for.

There’s has been no confirmation regarding shooting details or who else will be staring, but I’m sure we will be hearing more news on this one soon.

Review: Wreckage

Originally posted on www.thefancarpet.com

The name wreckage is pretty apt for this film considering that the vast majority of it was an absolute train wreck. The fact that the film was badly shot and looked as though it had been copied from an old VHS tape was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to flaws in this movie. The bad acting from the majority of the cast didn’t help it either.

The premise of this film sounds like any other slasher type film, four young adults end up in the middle of nowhere in an abandoned scrap yard, then something terrible happens and all the while there is an escaped killer from the local nut house on the run, its just all a bit convenient and obvious to say the least.

The film is only 85 minutes long therefore it is almost bearable; remember I said almost. The title sequence feels as though it takes up about half of this time as it just drags on showing the audience shots of a scrap yard, yes I get the idea that the film will take place on a scrap yard but I don’t need to be reminded of this constantly within the title sequence, a simple black background would have been much more effective.

Couple this with the fact that the film feels as though it begins three times, the first opening part I’m sure I’ve seen once before in a little horror film called Halloween, heard of it? Then on top of that there are three endings; the final one I worked out before the actual announcement on screen. This is because the film has followed the rules of the slasher film to a point where you can work out what will happen five minutes before, and that’s just not good now is it?

There are also a couple of things that don’t make sense, especially in regards to the escaped lunatic and the first person who gets killed, and lets not forget the nurse giving mouth to mouth to a dying man covered in blood who manages to keep her face completely clean, now that’s a skill.

To be fair to the film, if it had been shot better, with a better quality camera and maybe a different setting then it might have worked, because the couple of twists that the film throws in are good on a certain level, but just become predictable because of the way it is shot.

The one good thing I have to mention about this film is the angry police officer; he had a couple of funny one-liners that made the 85 minutes bearable.

I doubt this film is going to end up on any best lists at the end of the year or will ever be cited as a great piece of film work, to be honest I think it would be much more at home on the horror channel, and we all know what the films on that channel are like, don’t we?

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Originally posted on www.thefancarpet.com

Snow White and the Huntsman to become a Trilogy

Producer of Snow White and the Huntsman Joe Roth has revealed that the revamp of the Brother Grimm tale is set to become a trilogy.

Roth said, “It’s meant to be the first in a series of films.” The producer added “This story will end, but there will be questions remaining for these three characters.”

The film, which hasn’t begun shooting yet, features an all-star cast including Twilight star Kristen Stewart, Academy Award winner Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth ofThor fame.

It looks as though Roth and his team are looking to win the race in the Snow White battle, considering there’s competition from the likes of Tarsem Singh’s Snow White, by planning for the future of a possible franchise.

Roth said of the film, ““We retain the basic story, a young girl meant to be the queen who is cast out.” He later added, “The Huntsman is a mercenary, in the sense that he’s a guy who is very able in the woods, more able than most anyone. His job is to capture runaway girls, who are all fleeing the kingdom because of the queen. He’s a nondescript bounty hunter, as we first meet him.”

Of the title character Snow white (played by Stewart) the producer said, ““She starts out not a damsel in distress, but innocent, and after 11 years of imprisonment by the Evil Queen, she escapes and learns the ways of a warrior in the woods.”

It looks as though in the battle of the Snow White films that appears to be emerging, The Huntsman with its planned sequels may come out on top.

But until those box office tallies are in it looks like we will have to sit and await the fate of Roth’s Snow White.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre gets 3D treatment in 2012

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D and its chainsaw wielding killer Leatherface will return to the big screen on October 5^th 2012.

The Chainsaw movie that only saw a remake a few years ago will be re-envisioned and directed by Takers’ John Lussenhop, who will be turning the 1973 horror hit into a 3D fright fest.

Producer Carl Mazzocone said, “I’m excited to reconceive this iconic classic in a contemporary setting for a new generation of horror fans.”

“Both John Lussenhop and I intend to deliver a new chapter derived from Tobe Hooper’s 1973 masterpiece with the goal of making it as horrifying as the original, in 3D.”

The end of 2012 looks like it's shaping up to be the season of 70s horror revivals, as another instalment of the Halloween franchise, Halloween 3D will be hitting the big screens three weeks after Chainsaw.

Considering the worldwide-induced nightmares experienced by people who have seen the original I think it can be safely said that in 3D this film will have cinemagoers shaking in their seats.