It’s hard to believe it’s been ten long years since John Carpenter has had a feature film in theaters, but yes, Master of Horror Carpenter’s last directorial effort, Ghosts of Mars, was released way back in 2001. Since then genre fans have been clamoring for his return to the helm despite the fact that Mars wasn’t exactly a crowning achievement in the directing department.
Well, the wait is almost over for legions of Carpenter fans as his latest feature, The Ward (review here), is set to debut on VOD providers today and will then be hitting theaters on July 8th. Recently Dread Central had the opportunity to attend the press conference for The Ward, where both Carpenter and the film’s star, Amber Heard (Drive Angry 3D, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane), talked about his return to feature film directing, what brought both of them on board the ambitious project and Heard's thoughts on why Carpenter is still a viable Master of Horror even after working for almost five decades in Hollywood.
Carpenter kicked off the press conference by discussing the reasoning behind his ten-year feature film sabbatical and how he knew it was time to come back to the horror genre when he read the script for The Ward.
“I hadn’t made a movie since 2001, and frankly, I had to stop,” explained Carpenter. “I got burned out on the movie business. I didn't want to do any more, I thought about quitting. It was Amber who brought me back from the dead, but this movie in particular was perfect. I started on the road back when I did two episodes for "Masters of Horror," and directing was fun again because I didn't have much responsibility. It was an hour of footage so it wasn't a giant shoot. So when The Ward came along, it was a perfect situation with an ensemble cast with a limited location. There was a claustrophobic feel to it so I thought it was a good feel for my first time back directing a feature.”
So what exactly happened in Carpenter’s life back in 2001 to make him decide to take a step out of the Hollywood machine and focus on other non-feature projects? “The movie business as a whole burned me out. I've been doing this for 40-plus years, and I've been doing it back to back to back to back. Not only sometimes writing and directing but also doing the music so what you end up giving up is your private life. You have none, and I just thought I couldn't do it anymore. Plus, it also didn't help that Ghosts of Mars tanked like the Titanic.”
It’s hard to believe it’s been ten long years since John Carpenter has had a feature film in theaters, but yes, Master of Horror Carpenter’s last directorial effort, Ghosts of Mars, was released way back in 2001. Since then genre fans have been clamoring for his return to the helm despite the fact that Mars wasn’t exactly a crowning achievement in the directing department.
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