PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Around the turn of the century, France gifted the horror-loving masses with a slew of powerful, intense, nerve-shredding films that came to be known as the New French Extremity movement. While no two movies were exactly the same, they were all commonly punctuated with extreme, uncomfortable, severe depictions of violence, sexuality, and psychosis, with a great deal of emphasis on body horror elements.
Films like Trouble Every Day (2001) Haute Tension/High Tension (2003) Frontier(s) (2007), and À l’intérieur/Inside (2007) are some of the leading examples of the genre in its prime, but in my humble opinion, Director Pascal Laugier’s savage and relentless Martyrs (2008) is the true pinnacle of the New French Extremity movement. A grueling and downright scarring modern masterpiece, Martyrs is an untouchable piece of extreme horror mastery in my opinion, and I’ve been chomping at the bit for Pascal to deliver a strong follow-up. I am here to say he has more than achieved that with Incident In A Ghostland.
Incident In A Ghostland tells the story of a mother, Pauline (Mylène Farmer), as she moves her two young daughters, Beth (Crystal Reed) and Vera (Taylor Hickson), into the countryside house that they’ve just inherited from Colleen’s recently deceased aunt. But, on their first night in their new home, they are confronted with a pair of merciless home invaders, psychos known for quickly killing off any adults and then staying in the home to physically and psychologically torture the children. The three survive, but the trauma the girls endured that night drives their dramatically different personalities even further apart.
Beth follows her dreams of becoming a famous horror writer in L.A., while Vera, unable to cope with the traumatic events, stays at the farmhouse under the watchful care of her mother, seemingly losing all touch with reality. One night, Beth receives an absolutely hysterical and terrified call from Vera pleading for help, dragging her back to the scene of the torment sixteen years later. It’s here that we learn that Vera might not be the one struggling with her grip on reality after all, and the savagery suffered all those years ago is only the beginning.
This is an absolutely magnificent horror film, ladies and gentlemen. Pascal Laugier has delivered a true horror tour de force with Incident In A Ghostland. While not nearly as brutal or uncomfortable to watch as Martyrs, this film is still a relentless, nonstop, white knuckle, edge-of-your-seat film from the get-go. There’s no slow burn buildup here. It pushes a breathless pace all throughout. This film is a brisk hour and 31-minutes that never drags. I was so completely enthralled, I was shocked how quickly the time flew while watching this film. It’s not terribly bloody, but it is intense as hell and highly physical.
The performances are stellar across the board. Everybody delivers A+ performances here with a very strong, female-driven cast with some kickass ladies. The visuals, the music, every facet here is all top-notch. Also, while Martyrs was subtitled from French, Incident In A Ghostland is in English, so for those that find subtitles a nuisance, no need to worry here. The mom breaks into French briefly once in a while, but if Vera is in earshot, she usually chastises her for it.
Incident In A Ghostland is a near-flawless film in my book. I really don’t have a negative thing to say. The villains, played by Kevin Power and Rob Archer, are maybe a little underdeveloped, but they play their roles with ruthless perfection, The Strangers “Because you were home” approach to villainy.
I’ve been blown away by a handful of films here in 2018, and Incident In A Ghostland has skyrocketed right up there with the true elite, one of the best films I’ve seen this or any other year. This exhilarating adrenaline rush is true return to form for Laugier and is everything a horror fan will love, an absolute must-see I can’t recommend enough! You can currently find it on most VOD platforms, and the DVD just got its North American release on July 24th through Vertical Entertainment. For Blu-ray fanatics like myself, the mighty Arrow Video is aiming for a UK Blu-ray release later this year, currently eyeing up a Sept 3rd release. Essential viewing, you can’t go wrong with this Incident!
