I’m terribly happy about bringing you this chunk of news because it features one of my personal all-time favorite directors, John Carpenter.  He’s not as out of it as a lot of folks thought, as evidenced by the fact that we’ve actually got stills, a synopsis and more coming out of Premier Pictures with his new The Ward, which we discussed here some time ago.  Here’s the synopsis:

THE WARD is an intense psychological thriller set in a mental institution where a young woman, Kristen is haunted by a mysterious and deadly ghost.   As danger creeps closer, she comes to realize that this ghost might be darker than she could have imagined.

Kristen, early 20′s wakes to find herself bruised, cut, drugged and held against her will in a remote ward of Chamberlain Psychiatric Hospital . She is completely disorientated, with no idea why she was brought this place and no memory of her life.

The other patients in the ward, four equally troubled girls, offer no answers and Kristen quickly realises things are not as they seem. The air is heavy with secrets and at night, when the hospital is dark and foreboding, she hears strange and disturbing sounds. It appears they are not alone.

One by one the girls disappear and Kristen must find a way out of this hellish place before the ghost comes for her too. As she struggles to escape, she will uncover a truth far more dangerous and horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Sounds like trademark Carpenter to me, folks–this sucker’s slated for a release date sometime in 2010, so you know we’ll be keeping watch on this one for anything new as it emerges.