Prisoners of the Ghostland tries too hard with its material and falters because of it

Prisoners of the Ghostland received quite a bit of fan-fare ahead of its release as the star, Nicolas Cage himself, touted it as one of the wildest movies of his entire career. If you’ve watched many Cage movies, you know that’s saying something.

But while Prisoners of the Ghostland is an entertaining film, especially for diehard Cage fans, it’s not especially memorable in the way the movie is hoping to be. It feels like the creators were aiming for something campy, yet Prisoners of the Ghostland doesn’t quite hit the mark.

Touted as a “horror Western,” which is already an exciting starting point in itself, Prisoners of the Ghostland introduces us to Cage’s character, Hero, a gritty bank robber tasked with rescuing the governor’s granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella). He’s fitted into a self-destructing leather suit set to detonate if he doesn’t return with Bernice in the allotted timeframe. Even more egregious is that Hero can’t become aroused, or the suit will detonate as the governor doesn’t want him to make a move on Bernice.

Prisoners of the Ghostland tries too hard with its material and falters because of it.

Easily the best part of Prisoners of the Ghostland is the vibrant eyegasm created by the incredible production design. Even at the moments where the movie feels plodding and too try-hard, it’s still gorgeous to look at.

You can tell that the creators envisioned this as something akin to Mad Max, a movie that would create a significant cult following and be right at home shown at an old-school midnight drive-in movie marathon. The problem is that most of those movies get to that status without trying. It just happens. Here it feels like the characters and their motivations get swept up in the film’s dominating and outrageous fashion and backgrounds.

Worst of all, Boutella is wasted in her role as Bernice, as she is given little to do apart from becoming Hero’s lackey. Still, Prisoners of the Ghostland is far from the worst of Cage’s filmography, and it’s still an entertaining watch, if only because it’s unlike any film I’ve seen in recent memory.

Prisoners of the Ghostland is now streaming on Shudder.