Joko Anwar’s ‘Ghost in the Cell’ Haunts Digital this October

Joko Anwar (Satan’s Slaves, Impetigore) is one of my favorite horror filmmakers these days. With him, you always know you’re going to get something gruesome, scary, and unique. His latest, the Indonesian horror-comedy Ghost in the Cell, recently landed in theaters via Well Go USA. And today, we’ve learned it’ll soon haunt Digital.

The film takes place inside a high-security prison controlled by rival gangs and a tyrannical warden. When a new inmate arrives, a series of gruesome murders leaves bodies arranged in morbid displays. With an otherworldly killer roaming the prison, the inmates must put their rivalries aside to survive.

And apparently, there’s a surprisingly big heart beneath all that spilled blood.

In her four-star Fantastic Fest review of Ghost in the Cell, Dread Central’s Mary Beth McAndrews praised the film’s combination of solidarity, humor, and “some of the nastiest and most graphic kill sequences of the year.”

Anwar also sees a real-world horror beneath the supernatural mayhem.

“The ghost in this film is not only a presence haunting the cells, but also a reminder of consequences we choose not to face,” the filmmaker explained in his director’s statement, pointing to Indonesia’s deforestation and the silence surrounding that destruction.”