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A Look at John Carpenter's WARD

post #1 of 46
10/19/09 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...ARD/Page1.html
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post #2 of 46
10/19/09 at 3:49pm
Pro-Life and everything that wasn't Cigarette Burns/didn't come before In The Mouth Of Madness, really.
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post #3 of 46
10/19/09 at 3:49pm
If it weren't for Carpenter and Amber, I wouldn't be interested. I'm hoping this is a warm-up for Carpenter rather than a genuine comeback.
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post #4 of 46
10/19/09 at 3:58pm
great news that there really will finally be a new Carpenter movie
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post #5 of 46
10/19/09 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I enjoyed Ghosts of Mars. It's absolute shit but fun in a strange and ridiculous way.
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post #6 of 46
10/19/09 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Riviello View Post
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I enjoyed Ghosts of Mars. It's absolute shit but fun in a strange and ridiculous way.
It's grown on me, but only because of the stream of horror garbage since that has lowered my standards to rock bottom.
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post #7 of 46
10/19/09 at 5:23pm
Are you there, John, it's me Ryan. You're really testing my faith in you. I love just about everything about you and your films but lately I've been having doubts. Doubts that you're as good as I think you are and, even worse, doubts that you aren't a wonderful figment of my imagination. Please give me a sign so I can believe in you again.
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post #8 of 46
10/19/09 at 5:52pm
I'm just happy there is photographic evidence this movie is actually happening, it's seems like every time he'd be attached to a project it would fall apart. Thank god for the NBA off-season.
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post #9 of 46
10/19/09 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Riviello View Post
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I enjoyed Ghosts of Mars. It's absolute shit but fun in a strange and ridiculous way.
Same here. It's goofy and kind of pointless, but it's fun. If anything, it's waaaay better than his redo of Village of the Damned. My only real gripe is that Courtney Love dropped out at the last minute. She and Ice Cube together blowing away heavy-metal zombies on Mars could have been stratospherically great.
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post #10 of 46
10/19/09 at 7:31pm
The only Carpenter flick I ever got to see in the theater was Ghosts Of Mars, and I enjoyed it a lot. It's most definitely not a good movie, but I can't help but enjoy what's on display. The score kicks ass too.

Cigarette Burns I just revisited this weekend, and that was a great return to form for him. I even liked Pro-Life. That one just wasn't up to par with Cigarette Burns.

I'll still see The Ward.
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post #11 of 46
10/19/09 at 7:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Riviello View Post
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I enjoyed Ghosts of Mars. It's absolute shit but fun in a strange and ridiculous way.
Agree, but most of Carpenter's output fares better in the memory than on the screen.
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post #12 of 46
10/19/09 at 7:57pm
Cigarette Burns was way better than it had any right to be. I admittedly haven't seen Ghosts of Mars, so I might give that one a shot when I'm in "crappy actionish horrorish movie" mode.
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post #13 of 46
10/19/09 at 8:07pm
Cigarette Burns gets better each time I watch it. Each time I watch it I hope that Carpenter realizes that he should remake it as a 90 minute movie.

Such great lines in it too.

"The closer you get to the film, the more you'll change too."

"It's the coming attractions of the soul."

"YOU BROUGHT THE FILM TO THIS HOUSE?!"
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post #14 of 46
10/19/09 at 8:10pm
I kind of like GHOSTS OF MARS, but the flashbacks on top of flashbacks and the overall laziness of the movie annoy me. This is a film where the main bad guy literally yells "Ya-Ya-Ya-Ya-YAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" over and over again.

Oh and WARD just doesn't look or sound interesting yet.
Should have stuck with that Nic Cage prison movie, JC.
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post #15 of 46
10/19/09 at 8:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wadew1 View Post
I kind of like GHOSTS OF MARS, but the flashbacks on top of flashbacks and the overall laziness of the movie annoy me.
I so wanted the villains to mutate into the aliens hinted at in the flashbacks. Reminded me of (nerd alert!) Brom's D&D Dark Sun paintings.
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post #16 of 46
10/19/09 at 9:27pm
There is no shame in liking GHOSTS OF MARS or practically any other John Carpenter film for that matter. They are all extremely entertaining pulp genre schlockers. I liked the Masters of Horror episodes too, especially CIGARETTE BURNS, which has Carpenter in his awesome apocalyptic Lovecraft type mode (as seen in THE THING, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, MOUTH OF MADNESS). Cigarette Burns especially builds on the classic notion of media that dements, ala Robert W Chamber's classic The King In Yellow.

I'm not especially keen at first glance on the marketing for this new movie, which is reminiscent of GOTHIKA. But I figure that's a mistake of some sort, and the movie will be more akin to the insane aslyum stuff from MADNESS
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post #17 of 46
10/19/09 at 9:39pm
A french Entertainment Tonight type show featured a clip from THE WARD a while ago and it really looks like a piece of crap, at least from the clip. Trying to be some kind of Saw or torture movie kind of deal. Some guy torturing a crying girl who is pleading "Please... please!!!" Come on JC! You passed up a prison action movie for some lame ghost story?
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post #18 of 46
10/19/09 at 11:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rene (Mr.Eko) View Post
Cigarette Burns gets better each time I watch it. Each time I watch it I hope that Carpenter realizes that he should remake it as a 90 minute movie.

Such great lines in it too.

"The closer you get to the film, the more you'll change too."

"It's the coming attractions of the soul."

"YOU BROUGHT THE FILM TO THIS HOUSE?!"
Sorry, Rene, I have to whole heartedly disagree with you. Cigarette Burns is just plain awful. The dialogue is stilted at best, it's filled with bland stock characters and despite a potentially interesting theme it fumbles on that concept as well.
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post #19 of 46
10/19/09 at 11:37pm
"He's a gumshoe. A FILM NERD gumshoe!"
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post #20 of 46
10/19/09 at 11:42pm
I'll be happy if it's shot in scope and has crazy lens flares and synth stings.
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post #21 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:26am
Didn't he stop that around 86, though? Cross your fingers for Neil Marshall.
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post #22 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:33am
I can't believe I have to be the only one to flame Alex for liking Ghosts of Mars. Honestly, it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's one of the worst movies ever made. It's one of the worst things that's ever happened. There is absolutely shame in liking it. It's fucking terrible.

You people.
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post #23 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:34am
Carpenter is doing the score, right?
I'm talking about the real one, not his son CODY!

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post #24 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:37am
Great to see Carpenter's back, although the concept isn't quite what I'd hope. I'm TA-ing a "Films of John Carpenter" class, so I'm sure the kids (and the prof) will be excited to hear about it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
Same here. It's goofy and kind of pointless, but it's fun. If anything, it's waaaay better than his redo of Village of the Damned. My only real gripe is that Courtney Love dropped out at the last minute. She and Ice Cube together blowing away heavy-metal zombies on Mars could have been stratospherically great.
I'm not sure if anyone remembers this, but maybe one of you can help me. Is the actress Kurt Russell cryptically refers to in one of the audio commentaries (BTILC, I think) supposed to be Courtney Love? He talks about visiting one of Carpenter's sets and seeing one actress who was out of her depth, "acting in a different movie," or some similar comment. Carpenter basically agrees with him, if I recall correctly. I've always wondered who this was, and google is no help.
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post #25 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post
I can't believe I have to be the only one to flame Alex for liking Ghosts of Mars. Honestly, it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's one of the worst movies ever made. It's one of the worst things that's ever happened. There is absolutely shame in liking it. It's fucking terrible.
You don't have to stand alone, Greg. GHOSTS OF MARS is terrible.

Now to bring the heat upon myself, I think PRINCE OF DARKNESS is both interminably boring and skull-shatteringly stupid. But I think it has some lens flares and synth stings though, so there's that.
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post #26 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:43am
guys am I supposed to watch Ghosts of Mars or not none of this is helping
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post #27 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:46am
Greg is exagerrating just a little. It's not a good movie, but it isn't the AW GOD WORST MOVIE EVARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRghghghg. Like Ratty said, it's not even Carpenter's worst movie. It's near the bottom of my (and I think everyone's) Carpenter list, though.

And I don't think Courtney ever made it on the set of Ghosts of Mars. Someone ran over her right before they started filming.
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post #28 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:53am
If John Carpenter has made a worse movie than Ghosts of Mars, I must have missed a period during which he was suffering catastrophic brain damage.
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post #29 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:55am
You might have slipped into a coma while viewing VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED.
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post #30 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
guys am I supposed to watch Ghosts of Mars or not none of this is helping
A stultifying amount of alcohol. Or weed. Or both. That'll help.
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post #31 of 46
10/20/09 at 12:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebastian OB View Post
Now to bring the heat upon myself, I think PRINCE OF DARKNESS is both interminably boring and skull-shatteringly stupid. But I think it has some lens flares and synth stings though, so there's that.
Although I admire parts of the movie, I can't wholeheartedly recommend it. It starts out with a great concept, then takes it nowhere, instead relying on tired old zombie movie tropes to drive its plot. It does have one of my favorite horror endings, though.
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post #32 of 46
10/20/09 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wadew1 View Post

And I don't think Courtney ever made it on the set of Ghosts of Mars. Someone ran over her right before they started filming.
Yeah, she "got hurt." I always heard that she was uninsurable.
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post #33 of 46
10/20/09 at 1:33am
I agree that Ward doesn't look like the kickass John Carpenter film I've been hoping for (nay, praying for). No Kurt Russell for one thing.

Ghosts of Mars is not a good film, but it is a fun film. It's the kind of film you watch with a bunch of friends at 1:00AM while drinking lots of cheap beer and eating pizza, and you make jokes and laugh at the film MST3 style. Also, the commentary with Carpenter and Hestridge is quite good.

I nominate Village of the Damned as the worst Carpenter film, and I don't think Cigarette Burns is all that either.
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post #34 of 46
10/20/09 at 1:50am
I hope Carpenter does the score. His son Cody isn't a slouch though. His score for Cigarette Burns actually sounds like vintage Carpenter.

I just really hope he does his own score for the film.

Disagree there with you Ryan on Cigarette Burns. The dialogue works for me. The concept was just too good to be crunched into an hour. I'd have liked to see an extended scene with the dangerous film buff Dalibor, and even some flashback sequences to the film critic witnessing the original massacre, and the re-showing of it that fused the hand of Kirby's friend.
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post #35 of 46
10/20/09 at 10:05am
Is John Carpenter doing another Vampire movie? Sounds promising.
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post #36 of 46
10/20/09 at 10:19am
Carpenter:

No.
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post #37 of 46
10/20/09 at 10:53am
GHOSTS OF MARS is pretty much in the same tier as PRINCE OF DARKNESS. They are goofy and entertaining. MARS is at times a sci-fi, a western, action, zombies, police movie. It's another Carpenter remake of Rio Bravo. Carpenter basically got into his Serious "Western" Movie phase there with CHOSTS OF MARS and VAMPIRES, which are both primarily cowboy westerns. MARS is also Ice Cube's best performance outside of the FRIDAY movies.

John Carpenter's son Cody Carpenter is a musician in the JC/Goblin soundtrack music vein. He did the music for the Masters of Horror episodes, and has a myspace page with other stuff.

John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness by Gilles Boulenger is a great look back at Carpenter up through MARS

I will be spinning the hilarious Carpenter-Hill produced NorCal Silicon Valley Druid schlocker SEASON OF THE WITCH (aka poorly considered name HALLOWEEN 3) for the holiday, b/w Carpenter's California classic THE FOG
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post #38 of 46
10/20/09 at 10:54am
Another great thing about John Carpenter is that he freely admits that he smokes marijuana all the motherfucking time.
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post #39 of 46
10/20/09 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rene (Mr.Eko) View Post

Disagree there with you Ryan on Cigarette Burns. The dialogue works for me. The concept was just too good to be crunched into an hour. I'd have liked to see an extended scene with the dangerous film buff Dalibor, and even some flashback sequences to the film critic witnessing the original massacre, and the re-showing of it that fused the hand of Kirby's friend.
I certainly won't argue that the concept is good almost great. I'd love to see the idea and the themes transferred to a script that's the equal of them. The whole thing always played like a first draft screenplay.

I guess my big problem is that if you make a movie based on a chase for a rare object you'd better not find the object in the same city the chase started in. It'd be like Bogart finding the Maltese Falcon in his desk drawer.
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post #40 of 46
10/20/09 at 11:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan S~ View Post

I guess my big problem is that if you make a movie based on a chase for a rare object you'd better not find the object in the same city the chase started in. It'd be like Bogart finding the Maltese Falcon in his desk drawer.
Not only that, doesn't the guy find it at the director's house? It's like the first place I'd look.

CIGARETTE BURNS benefits from the fact that it is a strong episode of a weak series. On it's own, not so much.
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post #41 of 46
10/20/09 at 5:38pm
Aw man, you guys are disappointing me. I LOVE Prince of Darkness - the doom and dread filled atmosphere, the Quatermass vibe, the Lovecraftian cosmic horror tinge, the creepy tachyon dreams, the ending - and it's way better than Ghosts of Mars, though it's true Ghosts of Mars is kind of fun. But Carpenter hasn't done anything I actually enjoy enough to rewatch since In the Mouth of Madness. So I don't have very high hopes for The Ward, but a brief (though admittedly pretty generic) description and handful of pictures are not enough for me to throw my hands up and proclaim it looks awful. It's all in the execution, and I'd say it has potential. Comebacks, though perhaps unlikely after a certain point, are always possible.
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post #42 of 46
10/20/09 at 5:52pm
I initially liked Cigarette Burns, but on a second viewing I hated it. It's ugly and depends on awful effects. Kier's performance is the sum of what I like about it. I had the opposite thing happen when I re-viewed Pro-Life. It's dumb, but the music was good, the monster was cool, the performances were better, and Carpenter's utter lack of effort is actually very amusing.

The only good Masters of Horrors were really Homecoming, Pick Me Up, and Black Cat. Jenifer, Pelts, Imprint, Deer Woman, Sounds Like and Sick Girl were fun enough. The rest were middling to AWFUL.
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post #43 of 46
10/20/09 at 5:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Benenson View Post
Aw man, you guys are disappointing me. I LOVE Prince of Darkness - the doom and dread filled atmosphere, the Quatermass vibe, the Lovecraftian cosmic horror tinge, the creepy tachyon dreams, the ending
Agreed!

Adding: Dennis Dun and his awesome "rich doctor" joke.
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post #44 of 46
11/12/09 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cfmc View Post
another great thing about john carpenter is that he freely admits that he smokes marijuana all the motherfucking time.
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post #45 of 46
11/12/09 at 11:34pm
I attempted to enjoy Ghost of Mars out of obligation, but I felt no such obligation upon seeing Cigarette Burns. JC means a lot to me, more than any filmmaker because he played such a major role in the development of my passion for film, but this a wait-and-see scenario if there ever was one.
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post #46 of 46
11/12/09 at 11:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebastian OB View Post
Not only that, doesn't the guy find it at the director's house? It's like the first place I'd look.

CIGARETTE BURNS benefits from the fact that it is a strong episode of a weak series. On it's own, not so much.
Cigarette Burns is the only episode of MOH that I ever saw, if it's actually one of the better ones...well, I really don't know what to say that, I really don't.
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