The Ward (2011)

It's been a while since John Carpenter directed a movie. (The last one was 2001's Ghosts of Mars.) While he does bring his trademark craftsmanship to this snake-pit mental-asylum thriller, the picture has too many old-movie bits rattling around in it. It's set in the '60s and stars Amber Heard (looking out of period) as a fire starter who lands in a ward with half a dozen other demented teenage girls. Basically, this is a ghost story merged with a slasher film and sealed with a Shutter Island twist. But at least Carpenter the spook-meister knows how to goose you. B–