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[Review] Pascal Laugier’s ‘Incident in a Ghostland’ is Problematic Shock Value in a Half-Baked Story
Fans of writer-director Pascal Laugier’s vicious, bleak Martyrs (2008) have been patiently waiting for the filmmaker’s next exploration of human suffering. For better or worse, six years after his last film (The Tall Man, 2012), Laugier brings us Ghostland aka Incident in a Ghostland, a thoroughly cruel dive into the effects extreme violence and degradation have on a young girl’s mind.
Bordering the line of sadism and artistic voice, Ghostland tells the story of a small family – mother, Pauline (Mylene Farmer), and daughters Beth (Emilia Jones) and Vera (Taylor Hickson) – in the process of moving into the large, cobweb-ridden home inherited from a strange aunt with a penchant for collecting antiques and oddities. Not long after arriving at the house, the family is still unloading the car when two intruders enter the home, attacking the mother and throwing the girls in the basement. The girls are held for days, being beaten and dressed up as dolls to fulfill the perverted fantasies of the attackers. Beth’s mind fades in and out of reality as she tries to cope with these horrific events.
Immediately noticeable is that the film is wonderfully shot and very well-made. The color palette and house are both atmospheric, and the film achieves a look of high production value. The story works to seamlessly blend timelines, creating a sense of disorientation and hopelessness. Ghostland is equally brutal and utterly visceral, and is therefore successful in its aim to be shocking. Less successful, however, is the film’s truly offensive idea of what’s scary.
A decent amount of tension is ratcheted up throughout, especially in scenes where the sisters are trying to escape or are aware that they are about to endure some sort of assault. However, one of the attackers used as a key source of this distress is the character of a trans woman, credited only as “Candy Truck Woman” and played by Kevin Powers. The problem is not that a trans woman is a villain, it’s that she is framed as “scary” simply for how she looks. The Candy Truck Woman only has one scene where she plays a hands-on role in the initial attack on the family. After that, she mostly appears as a shadowy figure, relying on her very appearance (which is unfortunately stereotypical) to seem ominous. Even divorced from personal beliefs, this tactic to conjure up fear just doesn’t work. Harsh angles and strategic lighting alone do not a strong villain make.
Additionally, the level of violence inflicted upon these characters seems forced into the narrative. It works as a vehicle to remind viewers that trauma can damage the human psyche, but Ghostland doesn’t seem to have anything to say beyond that. The reminder does not work to support a broader idea, so the barbarity just isn’t earned. The story is simply too paper-thin to warrant what its characters endure, making the violence seem targeted and misogynistic. Laugier already brought us a thoughtful meditation on trauma with Martyrs, wherein all of the abuse was necessary, or at least made sense. This makes Ghostland feel quite cheap in comparison. It’s shock value for the sake of it, wrapped up in a half-baked story.
It is somewhat baffling to still be discussing archaic issues such as transphobia and misogyny during horror’s so-called golden age, when mainstream critics are applauding the genre for being more progressive, inclusive, and intellectual. Are those the new cornerstones of what makes a great horror film in 2018? That’s a matter of taste, personal experience, education, and context.
Objectively, if you can put its flaws aside, Ghostland is a decent-enough film for the horror fan looking for sheer brutality (or those who purposely seek out offensive content). With his latest, Laugier proves that he can still shoot a film that looks good and can make the audience squirm. How he provokes this reaction and the film’s airy story, however, detract greatly from Ghostland and its overall quality.
Incident in a Ghostland premieres today in theaters and on VOD.
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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