PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND MOVIE REVIEW

If you’re a fan of the beautifully insane films of Japanese director Sion Sono (“Why Don’t You Play In Hell?”) then I’m sure “Prisoners of the Ghostland” is already on your ‘must watch’ list and you need read no further. If you’re a fan of actor Nicholas Cage’s more unhinged outings, then perhaps you’ve caught a whiff of this one. The two go together like peanut butter and chocolate in this western/samurai/post-apocalyptic dreamworld of a movie. Cage plays Hero (that’s his name, not a grammatical typo) who is a jailed prisoner who makes a deal with the sleazy governor (Bill Moseley) of a place called Samurai Town (that is equal parts cowboys in population) to rescue his granddaughter(?) (Sofia Boutella) from a surrealistic wasteland called Ghostland outside of town. The catch is, he’s gotta wear a suit with explosive devices attached to it that keeps him from causing any harm to women and puts a time limit on the mission. And THEN it starts to get crazy. I mean… Look, just listen to Chris, Ryan, Tessa, and Lewayne give you the gist and you’ll know right away whether you must run out and see this one right away or avoid it at all costs.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Sion Sono

STARRING: Nicholas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Maya Carraz, Bill Moseley, Nick Cassavetes, Tak Sakaguchi, Charles Glover, Young Dais, Cici Zhou, Louis Kurihara, Tetsu Watanabe, Takato Yonemoto, Hiroshi Kaname, Yuzuka Nakaya, Lorena Kotô, Canon Nawata, Ilsa

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, in 1992 Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas, where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this paradise you see before you. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Ryan Aleck Hill (Screener Squad, Video and Audio editor)

Ryan is a Washington D.C. based filmmaker & video editor who loves watching and talking about movies more than just about anything. He currently works at a creative agency as a director of photography/video editor, and does freelance video editing for Anthony Fantano/TheNeedleDrop. He also has a YouTube channel (Downhill Media) where he works on a weirdo art explainer series called “Artsplained” with his partner Michelle. He was a part of the Spill.com community way back in the day, where he was cursed with an obsession for movies. In an effort to break the curse, he shows up on the Screener Squad podcast every once in a while and edits for One Of Us.