Prisoners of the Ghostland

Eccentric Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage is no stranger when it comes to accepting weird parts in weird films but even by Cage’s standards, this apocalyptic-Samurai Western (or whatever it is supposed to be) will leave viewers scratching their collective heads in utter bewilderment. This, by the way, is not meant to be a compliment!

It would be fair enough to call Sion Sono one of the most subversive Japanese directors of his generation, therefore it shouldn’t surprise us that his latest (albeit first English-language) movie is anything but a straightforward ride… and that’s an understatement! Admittedly, the visuals in PRISONERS OF GHOSTLAND are mind-blowing and the whole film (written by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai) has so much originality to offer where costumes and sets are concerned it deserves to be immortalized as an art installation of sorts. However, as a film with an even remotely logical narrative it’s doomed to fail miserably thanks to an overload of ideas that don’t quite add up and leave viewers more confused than satisfied… and this despite the fact that it all starts seemingly oh so simple…

Set in a bizarre Japanese settlement called Samurai Town (is it contemporary or is it futuristic?), the local Governor (Bill Moseley) is a corrupt as they come (there’s a surprise!) and as his nasty streak wasn’t enough already this oddball has decided to merge elements of the old Wild West with elements of modern as well as pre-modern Japanese society – resulting in an overall look in which traditional tea houses stand next to a saloon… yes, really! Furthermore, this loony of a Governor keeps an entire harem, to which he refers to as his adopted granddaughters, as sex slaves. The residents of Samurai Town reflect this multi-cultural vibe with natives dressed in traditional Japanese garb and white and black and Latino Americans dressed either modern or in cowboy gear… the mind boggles! Adding to the confusion is the fact that Samurai Town is surrounded by a toxic wasteland called Ghostland, so named thanks to a nuclear waste spillage that occurred when a prison bus collided with a waste transport vehicle some years previously. Since the incident, the Ghostland inhabitants are comprised of Mad Max-style outcasts and individuals who were so physically damaged by the toxic catastrophe that they are forced to wear some bonkers looking face masks (think Edward Norton’s leper-King Baldwin in ‘Kingdom of Heaven’… only a lot weirder).

This is the set-up and now let’s go back to the events shortly before the nuclear disaster, namely when no-good criminals Hero (Nic Cage) and his accomplice Psycho (Nick Cassavetes – son of American acting ‘Royalty’ John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands) attempt to rob a bank (where everything and everyone looks surreal it should be added). The attempted robbery goes pear-shaped when Psycho, true to his name, bumps off some innocent bystanders – an outrage that so incenses Hero he has a fist-fight with Psycho and before the pair can escape the Sheriff and police arrive. Hero is arrested whilst Psycho ends up in another prison transport bus, yep, the very bus which collided with the toxic waste truck.

Back in the present, one of the Governor’s ‘granddaughters’ called Bernice (Sofia Boutella), together with two of her friends Stella and Nanci, decide to flee Samurai Town for good to escape their miserable existence of prostitution but as it so happens, they manage to get stranded in Ghostland of all places! For whatever the reason, the Governor feels that Hero is the man to bring back Bernice and while he has the good fortune to get released early from the slammer he is unfortunate enough to be forced into wearing a specially constructed bodysuit peppered with explosive charges… and in case you had any doubts these charges WILL explode the minute Hero’s emotions rise in any way or he attempts to touch the girl in any way or, or, or. The real nasty touch is of course that if Hero fails to trace Bernice and bring her back, an integrated timer will ensure the bodysuit – and Hero with it – will blow up anyway!
And so begins our anti-Hero’s journey into the wasteland and his quest for finding the girl though it goes without saying that en route, he’ll find a lot more than he bargained for and that’s just the beginning of a trip so surreal, nightmarish and at times utterly ridiculous that giving anything more away would indeed spoil this toxic broth!

This is certainly not everyone’s cup of poison and things aren’t helped by an overtly convoluted plot nor by the fact that Cage mumbles his way through 100 minutes of running time.
For those who dare to enter Sion Sono’s twisted world, PRISONERS OF GHOSTLAND has just been released on Blu-ray with an array of Extras including ‘Making of’ Featurette / UK Theatrical Trailer and UK premiere Q&A.