PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND – N Cage seems to gravitate towards strange, over-the-top films latterly. ‘Mandy’, ‘The Color Out of Space’ etc etc, they’re all a bit bananas and quite visually striking. Sion Sono is at the directorial helm, so already you have an inkling of the kind of territory we might be heading for. Well, it’s a freaky film for sure and again the visual opulence is what strikes you first. POTG’s bustling sets seem to belong to a western replanted in a time-clash multiverse full of doll people and crowds that are always on the brink of bursting into song, one long stampede of weirdness with Cage leading the dance. At one point I was reminded of that old Rod Hull and Emu skit in the Pink Windmill, where he’s followed around by all those people chanting ‘There’s somebody at the door… there’s somebody at the door…†Don’t know what I’m on about? Well f*ck off and watch this instead then, but I can’t guarantee what kind of time you’ll have – ‘Prisoners Of the Ghostland’ is an impressive and operatic display, but for all its vivid presence and intensity it lacks Sono’s hallmark ‘offness’ (there in spades in, say, ‘Love Exposure’ or ‘Exte’).
 |