'Central Industrial Prison is set in the middle of the desert. It's the future of maximum-security containment and it's been "locked down" after an explosion of violence. A Committee's been appointed to report on the events that led to the violence but their findings are in stark contrast to the reality we see with our own eyes. Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead is a powerful drama on modern methods of social control.
'Ghosts ... Of The Civil Dead is set entirely within the confines of a modern Maximum Security prison - a "New Generation" Prison painted in play school yellows, bathroom violets and resembling your modern Shopping Mall. Central Industrial Prison is located in the middle of the desert. It has been "locked down" - the confinement of all inmates to their cells, 23 hours a day, indefintely - following an outbreak of violence and a Committee has been appointed to report.
'The film flashes back to trace the events that led to the lockdown, allowing us to discover the startling facts - that the unseen, but omnipotent administration have deliberately provoked the inmates and officers alike in order to create the violence. Ultimately, Ghosts ... Of The Civil Dead is about modern methods of social control: colour, architecture and environment, human group dynamics, drugs, television, brute force, breeding of criminals, notions of random violence, fear, divide and rule, police, media. It is about the organisation of our society.'
Source: Official website (http://ghostsofthecivildead.com/Synopsis/synopsis.html) (Sighted: 13/7/2012)
Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead takes its title from the Roman custom of declaring those convicted of certain crimes civiliter mortuus, the civil dead (or those without civil rights). The film exploits the potential of science fiction to comment on contemporary mores and concerns: the film is ostensibly set in the future but is positioned explicitly as a commentary on contemporary prison life, and its tendency to dehumanise both prisoners and guards.
