Very best movie i ever watch

good back-story, and good acting

As Good As It Gets

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I've seen a lot of prison films, ranging from the hopeful and optimistic, all the way to over-the-top shock and awe. "Ghosts of the Civil Dead" is certainly the most brutal prison film I've ever seen, but not in a way that suggests a lack of realism or a desire to shock or exploit. Although this film exists in a world that's not quite representative of actual life, the performances and depictions of a very specific type of human being are completely believable. John Hillcoat opts for a documentary approach here, and is very much successful in achieving a high level of convincing desperation.The actors constantly feel like they're doing anything but acting. I never felt like I was watching someone who was anything but a prisoner or prison guard. Even with Nick Cave, who I was quite familiar with through his music, seems like he wandered in from another world. It takes a strong commitment to straight reality to ignore this many filmmaking conventions in a single film, and it means all the more when you've got this many brilliant actors behind you. This is a great film.

Manages to instill in the viewer a true sense of claustrophobia and unease. The violent scenes are some of the most graphic i've ever seen and especially the scene with the guard in the cage gives me the shivers of impending dread whenever i watch it. Also the use of tattoo as punishment is another horrible thought. Cave is brilliantly unhinged in his role and the scenes of him drawing on the walls in his own blood will be oddly believable to anyone who ever saw some of the more ferocious birthday party gigs of the early 80s.A truly original movie that is only half the film that Cave's script was meant to portray........The soundtrack (by Cave etc) is also brilliantly effective Can we have a DVD release please?

ghosts of the civil dead was an excellent, but slow moving movie. They made the decision to depict most of the violence through typed prison reports, giving the movie a slow-building pace. You are also never introduced to any characters which gives the movie a weird feel. Finally, there is not so much a story as a series of events loosely connected, but all building to a point, that is the riot and subsequent lock down that the film begins with. Anyway, it definitely is a good film, with excellent performances by David field (who gets raped and has the word c*nt tattooed on his forehead) and nick cave (who spends the whole time ranting and raving and smearing his blood on the wall). Also, the guy with the dreadlocks is truly scary when jumping on top of the cage after stabbing the guards. In conclusion it was excellent cinematic style, but i couldn't help feeling that it would have been nice to see some things rather than hear about them.....

As others have said, this is a disturbing and frightening film. For me, it raised questions about exactly who are the barbarians in our "civil" society and at what point can it be said that we are no better than "them". Some with no knowledge of conditions in modern prisons dismiss this as a brutal movie out for shock value and nothing else, but it is based on a true story. One previous comment says it was filmed in NT (Australia) and based on events that happened in an outback prison. However it was based on the testimony of David Hale, a warder at USP Marion, Illinois, USA, who spoke out about the management tactics and treatment meted out to both prisoners and staff at the prison - tactics which culminated in a lockdown after two people were murdered in one day. When Hale spoke out he was branded a drunk, a drug user and mentally unstable in order to discredit him. (If the soundtrack is still available, it is worth a listen. It features an extensive interview with Hale.)The cast features four professional actors and two musicians (Cave and The Reels' Dave Mason). The rest are predominantly ex-cons with about a dozen ex-cops, ex-warders and tough types found hanging around in local Melbourne gyms thrown in. It was workshopped for several months before filming began. You will not see a more realistic picture of life in prison - unless you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in one.