Ghostland is an American horror film produced by 5656 Films, Mars Films, Logical Pictures, Inferno Pictures, Highwire Pictures, Kinology, and Radar Films. The film is directed by Pascal Laugier and features Crystal Reed, Anastasia Philips, Emilia Jones, and Mylene Farmer as the main cast. Released on 3rd February 2018, Ghostland follows the story of a young mother named Colleen and her two daughters: Beth and Vera. After inheriting a house from her aunt, Colleen takes her two daughters along with her to visit. All seems to be well until a couple of men enter the house and try to assault Colleen and her daughters. The trio manages to fight them off and the story continues from 16 years later where Beth receives a phone call from Vera, asking her for help. Beth travels back to the house where Vera and her mother are living only to find out that the reality they were living in was nothing but a wild illusion.
Ghostland is not your everyday horror film full of jump scares and ghosts or demons, rather, it displays something much more gruesome and brutal. Pascal Laugier makes sure that the viewers get to experience the plot twist when they are least expecting it.
[su_spoiler title=”Spoiler Inside”]The viewers are led to believe that after that dangerous assault, things move on especially for Beth who grows up to become a successful novelist. It is not until her conscience reaches out to her, revealing that her whole life has been a lie and that they never managed to fight off the two assaulting men. This is arguably one of the most brutal, well-executed plot twists that can occur in a horror film. Other plot twists include when Laugier portraying scenes that are shifting from the past to the present and vice-versa. This in-turn reveals the story piece by piece, but in a very traumatic manner.[/su_spoiler]
Incident in a Ghostland,
although officially being known as a horrible film, is more of a thriller. The film focuses on the brutalities and extremism by a couple of sadistic rapists whose sole purpose is to kill parents of young girls, dressing them up as dolls and then sexually and physically torture them to death. The plot is simple, yet elegantly crafted. It starts off light as character development takes place gradually, but the focus mainly shifts on to inflicting torture, and pain, giving the viewers mixed feelings about it.
Movie Review: Incident in a Ghostland
Despite its effective story and surprising plot twists, the film has been criticized heavily by viewers due to the sexual torturing scenes. Critics have argued that the film is not in any way horror in its nature, but purely terrifying by displaying acts of rape along side other means of torture.
Overall, Ghostland is by far one of the most traumatizing films one can get to experience. The plot is very different as compared to typical horror films as it contains numerous plot twists and character developments which makes the viewers go through a range of emotions.
In short, the film is amazingly terrifying in both the right and wrong ways.
3/5
