VIDEO: Legendary Horror Director John Carpenter Discusses 'The Ward'

Horror’s list of legitimate luminaries is a lot shorter than most people think; while there’s no dearth of filmmakers who struck gold commercially or creatively once or twice, the ones that stayed strong through different films and franchises for more than a few years is short indeed. And truth be told, John Carpenter is really an all-purpose auteur, moving from science-fiction to urban thrillers to horror and back. But his latest film The Ward marks a triumphant return to the genre that he helped elevate in the 1970s with Halloween and The Thing; starring Amber Heard, the film focuses on a young woman who finds herself being stalked by a supernatural monster after she is taken to a mental health facility for treatment. Boxoffice sat down with Carpenter at the recent Los Angeles press day for The Ward, where Carpenter offered some insights about revisiting not just the conventions, but clichés of the horror genre, keeping his creativity fresh, and finding new and different ways to challenge himself as a filmmaker.