[Review] Prisoners of the Ghostland: Nicolas Cage Against Mutants, Ghosts and More in this Post-Apocalyptic Fever Dream

Prisoners of the Ghostland is now streaming on Shudder. Reader Beware, Spoilers!

Nicolas Cage is a cinematic treasure. He’s had a string of critical hits over the last few years with such genre-blending outings like The Color out of Space, Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse, and a personal favorite, Mandy. Releasing November 19th on Shudder is Prisoners of the Ghostland, the latest from Cage, written by Aaron Henry and Reza Sixo Safai. The film blends Samurai and Western aesthetics for a post-apocalyptic man-on-a-mission story.

Making his mostly English language debut, cult director Sion Sono (Why Don’t You Play In Hell) seems like the ideal choice to helm this insane vessel of outrageousness on Prisoners of the Ghostland. Samurai Town is the Anime version of Tombstone you never knew you wanted until it splashes across the screen in all its neon-lit signage, red light brothel-prison, paper lantern, Cherry tree on every street corner glory.

Controlled by the insidious Governor (Bill Moseley: Devil’s Rejects), a westerner in an eastern town who relishes in his power and corruption running the city like a crime syndicate. His bodyguard/ personal assassin Yasujiro (Tak Sakaguchi) is always by his side and ready to enforce the Governor’s sadism. When one of his “granddaughters” goes missing from his harem, he sends for Hero (Nicolas Cage), who is currently spending some time in the prison side of the brothel due to a botched robbery that left many innocents dead. 

Tasked with getting Bernice (Sofia Boutella: Climax) back from the wasteland outside the town. He’s strapped into a black leather onesie with miniature bombs attached strategically on parts of the anatomy. After all, the Governor can’t have him running away, physically striking, or getting too personally excited with his property. Spoiler alert: if you attach bombs to Nicolas Cage’s testicles, you know something special will eventually happen.

Hero sets off to the remnants of a village devastated by nuclear fallout and suddenly we’re in Mad Max territory. With its citizens infected by the radiation, captured humans wrapped up like porcelain mummies, and a giant clock that is being held back, literally, to stop time, it begins to feel like we’ve stepped into a different movie.

Fulfilling a prophecy as he’s perceived to be their savior, Hero must use the ghosts of his past to find strength and redemption. He must also save Bernice, these forgotten villagers, as well as lead feral children and mutants to conquer the Governor and his cronies. But will the Spirits let him leave, or will he be trapped for eternity like the rest of them?

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Visually Sôhei Tanikawa’s cinematography is beautifully hypnotic. From the vibrant colors and lighting of Samurai Town to the almost sepia-toned blown-out village, there is so much texture in every frame. Juxtaposed against the cinematography are some of the most bizarre set pieces I may have ever seen in an English language film. Exposition told through a choreographed musical, a bright red wall of floating heads, and exploding gum-ball machines, to name a few.

Nicolas Cage is genuinely having a blast playing Hero. His sense of humor, bravado and inappropriate monologuing keep a grin across your face every time he stumbles onto the screen. He suffers a lot of abuse throughout (sorry, testicles), but I would imagine he and Sono were giggling like children as they came up with every gag. There’s also a nod to Evil Dead 2, which I had to applaud. 

Bill Moseley, wearing his best “Boss Hogg” white suit, chews up the scenery as per usual, he may not be as unhinged as a Chop Top or Otis, but he’s as sadistic. Sofia Boutella once again plays a silent role for most of the film. I was happy to see her get a chance to play up her fight training skills and be unleashed in the third act. Tak Sakaguchi is another silent character in the film, but when he pulls his sword, he doesn’t need to say anything. He’s unfortunately underused as he’s by far the most interesting secondary character and steals every scene. 

Plot-wise, the narrative should be straightforward; Hero needs to find a girl in 3 days or bits of his body will explode, simple enough. Through flashback, time jumps, dream sequences, and shots that seem out of place even if they’re pretty to look at. You feel like the minute you get your bearings, as the Monty Python crew would say, “and now for something completely different.”

Prisoners of the Ghostland is worth a watch, if only for the Cage of it all. Sono presents a visually stunning albeit confusingly uneven film full of imagination and beauty despite the underscore of nuclear fallout as a backdrop. With its two leads relishing in their roles, and a menagerie of secondary players that believably exist in this exaggerated landscape, your eyes will be stuffed from the visual meal it’s just consumed. It’s everything plus the kitchen sink entertainment, samurai battles, gunslinger shootouts, and absurdly silly but dark humor. Oh, and if you’re a fan of it, he does go full Cage. 3/5

★★★

Prisoners of the Ghostland starring Nicolas Cage and Sofia Boutella is now streaming only on Shudder. Leave a comment below with your thoughts on the film. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd for all things horror, sci-fi and more.