Director: Pascal Laugier
Notable Cast: Crystal Reed, Mylene Farmer, Anastasia Phillips, Emilia Jones, Taylor Hickson, Kevin Power, Rob Archer, Mariam Bernstein, Alicia Johnston, Ernesto Griffith, Adam Hurtiq
Trauma
and emotional processing are the new gore in the modern age of horror. As a
genre, we’re becoming more genuine, more cathartic, and more poignant in the
way that we view and tell our stories. Many fans have flocked to the genre as a
means of exercising their own traumatic demons and finding a way to make sense
of their own experiences.
I should mention right now that I have no effective
credentials outside of being an armchair psychologist. These remarks are
largely introspective as well as general hypotheses flung into the pop psychology
void.
The
horror genre is gaining steam, gaining more production and higher quality than
we’ve seen before. This horror renaissance is exploring new concepts and
expanding the boundaries of what the macabre can accomplish, showing a
diversity in concept, subject, and execution that is a breath of fresh air to a
genre that is largely associated with bargain bin slashers and brain numbing
gore fests. This is not to say that these don’t have their place - but the genre,
as a whole, needs to be much more than a sliver of its content.
Incident in a Ghostland is another film in the line of traumatic family
thrillers that are smart, scary, and well crafted. Director Pascal Laugier
(Martyrs, Tall Man) tells a story that is dark, brooding, and intelligent.
While the concept of this film is nothing new, the execution and message are
something that (dare I say it) I haven’t seen before. I know that I’m likely
getting berated in the comment section right now, but I’ll be honest: I don’t
know if I’ve seen this film echoed in anything else, something that is
incredibly refreshing.