Joko Anwar’s ‘Ghost in the Cell’ Brings Supernatural Prison Horror Home This October
Joko Anwar is locking audiences inside a high-security prison where rival gangs may be the least dangerous thing stalking the cellblocks in Ghost in the Cell.
The latest genre-bending feature from the filmmaker behind Gundala and Satan’s Slaves will make its Digital debut Oct. 27 through Well Go USA Entertainment, followed by a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo Pack release Nov. 17.
Blending supernatural horror, thriller elements and dark comedy, Ghost in the Cell takes place inside a prison controlled by feuding gangs and a tyrannical warden. The already volatile environment takes a more sinister turn following the arrival of a new inmate, when a string of gruesome murders begins spreading through the facility.
The victims aren’t simply killed. Their bodies are left behind in increasingly morbid displays, introducing a threat the prison’s established power structures aren’t equipped to handle.
With an apparently invisible and otherworldly killer roaming the facility, inmates who would ordinarily be enemies are forced to put their rivalries aside and work together to determine what is hunting them. Escape isn’t exactly a viable solution, either, leaving the prisoners trapped inside their cells with something capable of moving through their supposedly secure environment.
The setup gives Anwar room to combine the pressure-cooker dynamics of a prison thriller with supernatural horror, while the uneasy alliance between rival inmates opens the door for the darkly comedic elements accompanying the film’s more gruesome material.
Ghost in the Cell stars Abimana Aryasatya, Almanzo Konoralma, Aming Sugandhi, Arswendy Bening Swara, Bront Palarae and Dimas Danang Suryonegoro.
Anwar has become one of the more recognizable filmmakers working within contemporary Indonesian genre cinema, with films including Satan’s Slaves and its sequel helping introduce his horror work to a wider international audience. Ghost in the Cell continues that genre-focused approach while relocating the supernatural threat to a setting built around confinement, hierarchy and violence.
The physical release will also include the bonus feature “Behind the Cell,” featuring material focused on the cast and the making of the film.
Ghost in the Cell arrives on Digital Oct. 27, followed by its 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack release Nov. 17 from Well Go USA Entertainment.
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