Movie Reviews for Writers: Ghost Land

I won’t lie to you. Ghost Land (or Incident in a Ghost Land on Netflix), like a typical movie by Pascal Laugier, is an intense and violent film. And it could be triggering because of it’s equating sex and violent behavior. It also uses two of the oldest and potentially most damaging tropes in the horror genre — the two killers include a crossdresser (there’s no context of being a trans-woman in this case) and mentally disturbed man with the functionality of the young child. 

That said, it’s still just as impactful and important a film as Laugier’s now classic Martyrs.

It’s also a truly difficult movie to review without spoilers, so be warned. I’ll try not to spoil to much, but to be fair, you have had several years to see it by now. 

Beth and Vera are moving to the country to their late aunt’s house. Of course it’s creepy and filled with dolls because, well, just because. Vera is slightly older, into boys, and the “cool” sister while Beth is younger, on the verge of becoming a woman physically (i.e., getting her period), and writes horror stories inspired by her idol H.P. Lovecraft. The news reports about serial killers who are invading homes, killing the parents, and trapping young teenage girls. So, when the inevitable happens and the aunt’s creepy home is attacked, Beth and Vera’s mom fights back. 

Cut to years later, and Beth is a successful horror novelist while Vera is a broken soul who lives with her mom and has a room padded with mattresses to keep her from hurting herself. 

This is where it gets weird and harder to avoid spoilers. And where it brings us to the movie’s first message about writers:

Writers recycle pain into stories. 

Read more: 

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