Prisoners of the Ghostland – Completely Out There
Director: Sion Sono
Writer: Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safai (Screenplay)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes, Bill Moseley, Tak Sakaguchi, Young Dais, Charles Glover
Plot: A notorious criminal must break an evil curse in order to rescue an abducted girl who has mysteriously disappeared.
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Prisoners of the Ghostland starts when a notorious bank robber Hero (Cage) finds himself trapped in the aftermath of a crime, he is recruited by Governor (Moseley) to go in search for his missing niece Bernice (Boutella), he is given three days and a special suit to wear, one that will mean he must follow rules or face consequences.
Hero must travel to a place known as The Ghostland, a wasteland like location, where the normal laws don’t make sense and Hero must figure out how to get Bernice back to the real world in time.
Thoughts on Prisoners of the Ghostland
Characters & Performances – Hero is the nameless bank robber who was involved in a heist gone wrong, he is locked away for this, but known as a man that can get a job done, one nobody else will do. He is given a suit which will see body parts explode if he goes against the rules, he does know this could buy his freedom. He will find himself needing to lead people, something he wasn’t planning on doing. Nicolas Cage gets to unleash his out of control style in this film, one where he fully embraces the bonkers world he is in. Bernice is the missing woman, she finds herself in the Ghostland where she will find herself needing to embrace the new freedom Hero offers her, she doesn’t want to return to the place she has come from though, knowing the evil the Governor has in mind. Sofia Boutella does well in this role, continuing to put herself forward as someone who can handle themselves in the action side of films. Governor is the man that runs the town, he hires Hero for the job, putting him in the torture device to get the job done. Bill Moseley much like Cage, knows the type of movie he is in, being able to go with the over the top performance without looking out of place.
Story – The story here follows a man given a chance for redemption for a past crime by saving a woman who has vanished to a place known as the Ghostland. This story can see to borrow from Escape from New York with the lone hero needing to entering to unknown world to rescue someone. This is a story that will leave you wondering just what will happen next and for the most part, you won’t see it coming. It is a story that is completely out there and will leave you either wanting more or hating everything you saw, I personally wanted to see more, as we could have gone almost anywhere in this film, where every scene will lead to something bigger to come in the story.
Themes – Prisoners of the Ghostland is an action horror that will takes us through a couple of different locations, each with their own design to show the environments that need to be survived through. When it comes to the action, we will get bodies flying around, with blood everywhere.
Final Thoughts – Prisoners of the Ghostland is one of the most bonkers films you will see this year.
