Ghostland (2018)
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A woman's past trauma as a victim of a home invasion is revealed to be a living nightmare rather than a distant memory.
The story
Pauline travels with her teenage daughters, Beth and Vera, to a secluded home they inherited from their deceased aunt. While settling in, the family is stalked by mysterious figures in a candy truck. Shortly after their arrival, two intruders—a large, mentally impaired man and a woman—break into the house and launch a violent attack on the family. During the struggle, Vera is assaulted while Beth attempts to escape. Pauline manages to kill the intruders, but the trauma of the night leaves a lasting impact on the daughters, setting the stage for a harrowing psychological and physical ordeal.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Sixteen years after a violent home invasion, Beth is a successful horror fiction author in Chicago. She receives a frantic call from her sister Vera, who still lives with their mother, Pauline. Upon arriving at the secluded house, Beth discovers Vera is locked in a padded room, suffering from delusions of their past tormentors. Beth begins experiencing strange dreams and finds Vera chained up like a doll. The truth is eventually revealed: the Candy Truck Woman killed Pauline years ago, and Beth and Vera are still teenagers held captive in the house; Beth's entire adult life was a hallucination. The Candy Truck Woman dresses Beth like a doll while the Fat Man molests her. Beth eventually manages to free Vera, and they attempt to escape. They are intercepted by state troopers who are gunned down by the Candy Truck Woman, who recaptures the girls. Beth retreats into a fantasy where she meets H.P. Lovecraft. She eventually escapes the Fat Man, confronts the Candy Truck Woman, and is saved when another trooper arrives to gun down the attackers. The film ends with Beth and Vera being taken to a hospital as she sees a vision of her mother.
- Original title
- Incident in a Ghostland
- First release year
- 2018
- Runtime (minutes)
- 91
- Production countries
- Canada; France
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Pascal Laugier
- Writers
- Pascal Laugier · writer
- Cast and characters
- Crystal Reed · Elizabeth "Beth" Keller; Emilia Jones · young Beth; Anastasia Phillips · Vera Keller; Taylor Hickson · young Vera; Mylène Farmer · Pauline Keller; Angela Asher · Candy Truck Woman; Rob Archer · "Fatman Nizar"; Paul Titley · H.P. Lovecraft
- Genres
- slasher
- Themes
- trauma; misogyny; child abuse; hallucination
- Tone and mood
- disturbing; unpleasant; intense
- Premise and plot tags
- home invasion; slasher; psychological horror
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews, described as a taut but corny slasher that is narratively flawed and not for the squeamish. Critics noted its intense and unpleasant nature, criticizing the lack of motivation for the villains and the flat dialogue.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 44 · scale: 100 · review count: 4
- Awards and nominations
- Grand Prize · Film Award · Win; Audience Award · Film Award · Win; SyFy Award · Film Award · Win
- Production trivia
- Actress Taylor Hickson was facially disfigured and permanently scarred during filming.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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