Screen Riot Score - 5.6/10

A Truly Disturbing Story

Written and directed by Pascal Laugier (Martyrs, The Tall Man), Incident in a Ghostland is a disturbing account of a mother and her two daughters' first night in their new, inherited home. The first thirty minutes of the film are filled with the typical introduction of characters. But this quickly escalates into a barrage of fast camera movements, jump scares, and all-out horror and confusion as the family of three falls victim to a blitzkrieg by two men resembling Marylin Manson and Butterbean, whom they encountered on the highway driving a candy truck. The three ladies live to tell the tale and move on with their lives, or so it seems.

The film then takes viewers 16-years into the future; the youngest daughter, Beth, played by Crystal Reed (Skyline), lives a successful life. She is married with a child and has become a very successful author, just like her idol, H. P. Lovecraft. Her life upends when she receives a call from her sister, Vera, played by Anastasia Phillips (Don't Talk to Irene), screaming about the incident, thinking it is still happening. Beth packs up and visits her mother and sister in the same house eerie home the horrors of her youth took place. We watch her reconnect with her mother and attempts a relationship either the mentally disturbed Vera, as she becomes more paranoid about her surroundings and situation.

Not So Ho-Hum Horror After All

Up until this point, the film is a somewhat systematic representation of a ho-hum horror film. That is until Vera finally breaks through to her sister, making her realize that they didn't beat the bad guys that night. Their mother is dead, and the pair have been held captive for the last 16-years. In her distraught state, Beth retreats into a fantasy world created in her mind out of images of her surroundings. Her husband and son, just old posters hanging on the wall beside the bed where she sleeps. Becoming an author was always her dream and so became her reality to escape the torcher that was real life.

The story escalates as a horror film should, with our heroines rising to escape their captors. Once they do, they run through the woods all night and find themselves in a middle of a freshly harvested field at twilight. Two state troopers drive by, see the girls, and stop to help. The male cop radios in the situation and goes into the field with his partner. Unfortunately, their heroic intervention proves to be their demise. Lurking in the shadows is the Marilyn Manson character who promptly kills both cops, ties up the girls in the back of the candy truck, and takes them back to the house. Other police officers then arrive at the home, kill both bad guys, and save the girls, who are now no longer adults. They are back to being teenagers!

The Film's Saving Grace

This twist is the only saving grace for the film. Not only were we living in Beth's fantasyland initially, but we have been living in it the entire time. Sixteen years have not passed; our main character's mental instability has merely duped the audience once again. This realization gives the audience that "ah-ha" moment needed to bring closure to the horrific story.

What this film does not do is leave anything to the imagination. Some scenes make you physically ill, and some make your heart weep for the characters and yourself for watching it occur. What is truly upsetting is realizing that all the trauma that these poor girls endure is meaningless. There is no reason given for the two insane men to attack the girls. Connect that with the fact that this type of heinous crime could happen in real life provides this movie with a long-lasting impact on those who watch.

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I have never heard anyone speak about this movie, and I was pleasantly surprised. Beth and Vera are two sisters live with their mother and at the start of the film are moving into their late aunts home, stereotypically full of horrible dolls and puzzle mirrors. Beth is a young aspiring horror writer and Vera is her typical teenage older sister, who thinks Beth is weird. An incident occurs where 2 people get into the house and attempt to kidnap the two girls and kill their mother, but the story has lots of plot twists surrounding what actually happened. The film is actually impressively made, the jump scares were executed well and I am honestly shocked that I have never heard about this film, as I would recommend it for any horror fans.