Ghosts... of the Civil Dead

This film was screened on Australian TV when I was about 15. It's extremelly violent and psychological, a study in deprivation and pain. I mainly remember Nick Cave's performance (he co-wrote it). He plays a lunatic that get's moved to an already tense prison. His ranting and self-mutilation escalate the other prisoners sense of panic and chaos. Incredible acting and a very realistically frightening film. It's not fun, exciting or most things people look for as a distraction in modern day cinema, but if you're looking for something challenging and thought provoking it's well worth trying to find.

I saw this movie years ago when it was shown as part of Channel 4's "Down Under" season. I don't think it has been shown on UK TV since - to be honest I am surprised it was shown even once.

A great movie to be sure, brilliantly scripted, and of course Nick Cave's manic performance is truly astonishing.

This movie is notoriously hard to get hold of, especially in the UK, however! I have recently purchased a (new) copy of the Collectors Edition DVD from an Australian retailer (EzyDVD). It is all-region PAL format so I can play it no problem on my UK player. Dirt cheap it was as well. There are a whole host of extras too so all-in-all a top DVD.

I thought I would pass the information on as I had been trying to buy the film on Ebay for ages but the prices were going too high when there were any copies on there. Then lo and behold the Net came to the rescue. I got it shipped from Oz in just over a week.

Stunning, almost horrific statement of the effect prisons have on the rest of society, Hillcoat has created a no-holds-barred, fabricated `report' on the inner-workings of an imaginary future prison that is worth seeing - if you can stomach it. There's certainly no doubting what writers Nick Cave and Gene Conkie think of prisons as Australian society's most corporal method of punishment and rehabilitation: although the on-screen activity is certainly shocking enough, what is perhaps even more so is what is not shown (perhaps because it didn't get past the censors?). Field's best role ever.

As other reviewers have all said, this film by John Hillcoat, is extremely disturbing and scary portrait of society and prison. The film is located in maximum security modern prison in which all the most dangerous criminals and psychopaths are locked in. There are no "heroic" characters and everyone is bad and rotten inside. They who want to get rid of it, commit a suicide and thus get a peace to their soul. Very pessimistic and provoking cinema, and should be seen by all politicians and "leaders."

The film portrays a society in its collapsing point in which government's attempts to turn things into better fail miserably, and nobody heals in this sick and mean spirited world we live in. There is a need for violence and violation, but nobody knows why. It feels good to kill someone and kick others to pieces. The wicked core of human nature should be exterminated but it is not possible, because the "good" are actually as bad inside as the people behind the bars. The wardens are no better than the inmates and no one is safe in the prison. The theme of Ghosts..is wickedness and total depravity which seems not to have any limits. The sadistic events in the prison in the name of justice only give new reasons for violence and mayhem. The last image of the film tells it all, and is very frightening. A man is now ready to return to society as a healed criminal....or maybe not.

Nick Cave plays here one of the most evil and dangerous devils ever captured on film. He is total psychopath who has no motivations or reasons, only rage, anger and need for blood (even his own.) It is scary to see this kind of characters in film, because we look at the mirror while seeing the film. This really happens and exists and the character of Cave can be seen also as a symbol to be interpreted.

Very frightening "prison" movie and pessimistic nihilism. So don't try to watch if you prefer nice and entertaining movies. Demanding cinema and won't leave the viewer alone very easily. 8/10

The title says it all. When a person is convicted of a crime, he or she becomes, at least temporarily (and, in certain situations and locations, permanently) dead to civil society. The men we see here are mere shadows.

_Ghosts of the Civil Dead_ is as topical now as it was when first released as a study in the ways that fear of crime may be exploited to justify oppression. Only in two or three scenes is overt violence shown, yet the movie manages to maintain a sense of menace for the full duration. As repression within the prison becomes increasingly harsh and the few remnants of civilian life that the prisoners have retained are stripped away, it becomes increasingly obvious that there can be no resolution.

In the current climate of law and order rhetoric, _Ghosts of the Civil Dead_ remains a powerful reminder as to where this rhetoric may lead.