John Carpenter's The Ward moving forward

Been a while since there has been any news on any of John Carpenter's new projects. There is nothing new about the prison one called Riot starring Nicholas Cage or the gangster film called The Prince.

However, there is some movement on his next film called The Ward (last mentioned back in February).

Carpenter has signed up Danielle Panabaker (Sky High, Friday the 13th) to star opposite Amber Heard (The Rum Diary).

It is a psychological horror thriller written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen (Long Distance). The story follows a girl (Heard) who is admitted to a psychiatric ward where she meets other girls there with distinct personalities and discovers a mysterious girl haunting the halls at night. Panabaker plays another patient in the institution, a snobbish girl who flirts with orderlies and faces electroshock therapy.

In addition to Panabaker, Taking Woodstock star Mamie Gummer has also joined the cast as a patient in the ward. Principal photography is scheduled to begin next month in Spokane, Washington.

John Carpenter is one of my favourite directors, but his last film, Ghosts of Mars, in 2001 was not so good. The Ward does sound like it could be back to the brilliant John Carpenter we all want to see again.

Source: First Showing

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The Crazies - First look at Timothy Olyphant

Bloody Disgusting debuted this new photo as well as a set visit report for The Crazies.

Looks like Timmy boy has got himself into some trouble

As well as Olyphant, The Crazies stars Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, Joe Anderson, Joe Reegan, and a whole town full of crazy Kansas locals. The story revolves around the inhabitants of a small Kansas town who are beset by death and insanity after a plane crash lets loose a secret biological weapon into the water supply. This is a remake of George Romero's 1973 film The Crazies and is being directed by Breck Eisner.

Source: First Showing

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Panabaker is one of The Crazies

Danielle Panabaker (Friday the 13th, Mr Brooks, Sky High, Shark) and Joe Anderson (Across the Universe, The Ruins) have joined Timothy Olyphant (TV's "Damages," Hitman, Deadwood) and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, Pitch Black) in Overture Films' The Crazies, a reinvention loosely based upon the George Romero cult classic. The film is set to begin principal photography in Georgia on March 5th with additional shooting to occur in Iowa.

Panabaker will play Becca, a receptionist at the town's medical center where Mitchell is a doctor.

Anderson will play the role of the town's deputy, with Olyphant playing the sheriff.

Breck Eisner is set to direct the screenplay about the inhabitants of a small Kansas town beset by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply. The film is written by Ray Wright, from an earlier draft by Scott Kosar.

Source: Mania

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Friday the 13th, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Marcus Nispel
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, Aaron Yoo, Derek Mears, Nana Visitor, America Olivo
Running Time:
Score: 5 / 10

This review by Babubhaut.

The scariest part of the new remake Friday the 13th … that's right, getting into your car and realizing that the eternity was only 90 minutes. All jokes aside, what I learned from the newest installment in one of horror's never-ending franchises is that you do not mess with Jason Voorhees's weed. The guy has a nice little crop growing over there at Camp Crystal Lake, and he protects it with his machete and burlap bag covered grotesque mug. Honestly, the first few deaths can all be attributable to people trying to cut in on the drug trade, but don't worry, that story thread is soon abandoned and we get back to the gratuitous nudity, impressive death scenes where you actually get to see things impaled into people's heads numerous times, and a lot of running and screaming away from the big guy. I apologize for being so tongue-in-cheek here, because the film really wasn't that tragic. I'll admit that the original bored me to tears and I enjoyed Freddy Vs Jason, (probably because I love me some Kruger), and this one had some laughs—that's right, the laughs worked—and some decent moments as far as the genre goes. Still, though, that banned Nike commercial with the out of shape Jason is by far the best adaptation of the myth, or was that more Texas Chainsaw? What the film gets right: playing a Santogold track during a sex scene, so I could at least enjoy a good tune. Okay, I'll be serious now … I really enjoyed the beginning, no joke. It all starts with the revelation that concludes the original film. Here is young Jason's mother coming upon the last camp counselor that neglected him, allowing his drowning in the lake. She has killed everyone else and is about to complete her revenge when her inevitable demise occurs—all while the boy watches on. Was he really dead? Did he rise from purgatory to avenge himself and his mother? Who cares; he's there, he's sad, and he decides to spend the next twenty years bulking up like a professional wrestler, earning all his merit badges, (I mean look at those perfect knots collecting dust on his cabin's wall), and honing his archery skills with deadly precision. But that's not all for the prologue to the tale, no, we also get to watch a horny quintet visit the secluded area and be ravished sexually by each other and violently by the homicidal maniac. This is where it may hurt me being such a cinema fan; I knew it was still the prologue since none of the "stars" were yet in attendance. Everyone else in the theatre seemed to not know this and clapped when the title finally made its way on screen about twenty minutes in.

Why did that short sequence work, besides having everything you need in a successful slasher film—namely gore, Jonathan Sadowski's fantastic comic relief, a very not so shy America Olivo, and the discovery of Jason's creepily realized lair? It did because everyone was expendable, no stars had to survive until the end because they are collecting a paycheck and our country's short attention spans need a recognizable face to fork over their hard-earned cash. This is what true genre success needs, absolute anonymity and the unknown of who may survive, if anyone. Unfortunately, after those twenty minutes, we are treated to your regular run-of-the-mill/get your frights mediocrity. Rich kids galore with Daddy's boy prick versus brooding leading man looking for his sister, (who had been taking care of their cancer stricken mother, cue the sensitivity tears), and the obligatory machismo rearing its head like only spoiled brats can show. You want them all to die, and for the most part they do, but it is just so obvious and cliché; the only enjoyment you'll get will be wondering what horrific fatality can be coming next.

I lied, that's not the only enjoyment; there is always Aaron Yoo. The guy truly is gold in everything I've seen him in. Ultimately here for comic relief, I actually hoped he might somehow survive all the carnage. He and Arlen Escarpeta are great together, (love the exchange concerning the bong), and I found them so much more endearing then Travis Van Winkle's Trent, whom you want to kill yourself, and our leads Jared Padalecki and Danielle Panabaker. It appears that "Supernatural" isn't paying enough these days with both stars seeking shelter in horror remakes, (co-star Jensen Ackles just graced the silver screen in My Bloody Valentine 3D). Padalecki is okay; the film doesn't ask too much from him and he isn't one to try and do more than he should. Panabaker, on the other hand, is a very interesting choice to be cast here. Known mostly as a mousy, nerdy girl in Empire Falls and Sky High, she is all of a sudden the "girlfriend" of mister Joe Cool Popular Trent and a total departure from the big-bosomed blonde bimbos her group consists of. Inspired casting? Sure, maybe. Does she shine and carry the film into a credible stratosphere? No.

When all is said and done, if you enjoy slasher films for what they usually promise—blood, camp, nudity, and more blood—you'll probably have a good time. It's all been done before, the turning of old classics that had a shred of subtlety and nuance into quasi-snuff films. However, since I wasn't a big fan of the original, I appreciated what director Marcus Nispel attempted. Rather than a remake, he instead opens the film with a distilled version of the 1980 original, (even captioning the first scene as 1980 before getting to the "present day"), and makes his own piece to add to the legacy of the hockey mask. More Jason XI than Jason I Redux, it could have been a lot worse. But then again, I could have stayed home and not been any worse for wear.

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