Review of Ghostland (2018) by Ned F — 19 Jan 2019

It's ok.

I gave this a watch on streaming, and it's a passable and worthwhile watch. It's certainly not revolutionary, and it sometimes falls flat with its presumably intended critique on horror and prejudice tropes. You probably won't regret watching this if you like horror and slasher flicks.

The story won't need rehashing here, suffice to say the actresses do a good job portraying the characters as they've been written. The psychological drama is also depicted passably well, but not on par with some other genre entries.

It is true that the villains come off as more than a little two-dimensional, which is not something that wholly detracts from the experience, but stands out as a sore point when the credits roll. There certainly was room to flesh out the motivations and psyche of both witch and ogre a little better, and it seems like a conscious decision to stay just on the surface of these twisted creatures. However, I find it difficult to construe this lack of character exploration as transphobia when clearly, the "reveal" is more of a nod to the critical viewer than any sort of condemnation or accusation. Concerning the mysogyny angle, I can't help but wonder if that is a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to slasher movies. The essence is basically a weaker protagonist pitched against a seemingly overpowering villain. A few entries try to turn this paradigm on its head, with varying degrees of success or cringeworthiness, but really, this is what a conventional slasher film is.

This is not an apologist's reply. I really think this movie deserves watching if you like the genre, as it is a valiant attempt to tell the slasher story with expertly crafted, rising suspense. There are indeed plot holes as well as the odd curve ball where interactions and story progression are concerned, but overall, it is a solid showing.

Just don't expect to be wowed.