Incident in a Ghostland - A Movie Review

The past has a way of catching up to you.

Incident in a Ghostland is a 2018 film. A mother and her two daughters move into a new house. Stalked by murderous intruders on the first night, the fight is not easy. Sixteen years later, they’re still threatened by memories from that dark evening. Reuniting at the house, strange things happen.

I had Incident in a Ghostland all wrong. Going into this film, I thought it was going to be a typical thriller. Psychological films have a way of messing with your mind - even long after the film has finished.

A terrific cast of actors appears in Incident in a Ghostland. Once I read who was in the film, I didn’t even recognize Emelia Jones while I was watching! She is an actress who I have become a fan of ever since her heartfelt performance in CODA.

Taylor Hickson and Jones conquered strength and courage in their performances. As soon as the film starts, the girls don’t hold back in their sibling rivalry. The film has several subtle nuances involving the characters that it’s easy to miss. Pay close attention to Colleen (Mylene Farmer).

Long after the traumatic events occur, the girls are still affected as adults, but very differently. Beth (Crystal Reed) is successful as an adult, while Vera (Anastasia Phillips) is still heavily affected by the events, unable to live her life.

The two most evil beings are in Incident in a Ghostland. Kevin Power and Rob Archer were frightening. These people were only on my television screen, and yet I felt like they were going to come after me. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Archer’s character who has an ambiguous disability.

This is not an easy film due to the subject matter. I’ll warn you now, this is not a film for everybody. The girls are put through awful torture and even hints at rape. The subject is so brutal that it made me uncomfortable about what was really at play.

There are a lot of horror films out there that are a mix of you want to watch every second or you just want to shut your eyes from how awful it is. Incident in a Ghostland is both.

Pascal Laugler immediately captures the eerie tone. I am impressed with the direction he gave his actors. It wastes no time getting into the horror barely fifteen minutes in! The story is well-crafted and engrossing. It’s also unbearable. The way the film was executed kept me watching from beginning to end.

Filming Incident in a Ghostland wasn’t an easy ride. One of the actresses suffered a bad injury which resulted in 70 stitches. They later sued the company for the incident.

I am glad that the film takes an unexpected direction. You never know what’s going to happen. There were a few good jump scares. I thought it was going to be one of those ghost films where the family is haunted by a ghost. Oh, I was way off. Go into this film completely blind like I did. It had me completely fooled!

The mind is extraordinary. Incident in a Ghostland examines what the mind does in traumatic situations. Oftentimes, it’s not always a good thing, but I think at some point, we have all imagined ourselves in a better situation than what is occurring. This movie gets to you. That’s what psychological horror does.

If you want to check out Incident in a Ghostland, use caution. It’s not an easy film to sit through.