PLOT: In a nameless 1959 town, a young woman named Kristen is found, crazed, in the woods before a burning church. She’s taken to a foreboding psychiatric hospital run by the ominous Dr. Stringer, where she meets an eccentric (natch) group of half-nutty girls, as well as a couple of unsavory orderlies. But it’s when the lights go out that things get really unsettling, as Kristen begins to see a ghostly figure roaming the halls – and even entering her room. Before long Kristen wises up to the fact that Chamberlain Psychiatric Hospital contains a very dark secret – and everyone but her seems to know what it is…

Danielle Panabaker will star opposite Amber Heard in The Ward, a psychological horror thriller that John Carpenter is directing for Echo Lake Entertainment and A Bigger Boat.

The story follows a girl (Heard) who is admitted to a psychiatric ward, meets other girls there with distinct personalities and discovers a mysterious girl haunting the halls at night.

Panabaker plays a patient in the institution, a snobbish girl who flirts with orderlies and faces electroshock therapy.

Mamie Gummer (Taking Woodstock) also has been cast as a patient.

Very exciting news to report today! Variety.com confirms that legendary director John Carpenter of Halloween fame is back, signing on to direct ghost story The Ward for indie Echo Lake. Amber Heard will star as a haunted woman in a mental institution. This is big news for our Amber, who will now carry a major movie by herself – and for John Carpenter, none the less! The role itself sounds like a challenge too. We couldn’t be more thrilled for her!

ShockTillYouDrop.com has further details:

A Bigger Boat and Echo Lake are pairing up to produce John Carpenter’s horror film The Ward. Shooting is to begin this May based on a script by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane‘s Amber Heard will star as a young woman trapped in a mental institution with a malevolent ghost. As danger creeps closer, she comes to realize that this ghost might be darker than she could have imagined.

“The Ward is the kind of script that I’ve been looking for: a complex, visceral story, full of suspense and scares,” says Carpenter. “I am especially pleased to be working with Amber because I know she will create a powerful central performance.”

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