'Ghostland' Trailer: 'Martyrs' Director Pascal Laugier Returns With Supernatural Horror

Earlier this week, we got our first glimpse at footage from Martyrs director Pascal Laugier’s new movie, the upcoming Ghostland. The release is still a few months out—March 14 in France, so no telling when the rest of the world will get our grubby mitts on it—but now we’ve got a longer trailer to gawk at.

Just the fact that it’s Laugier, Ghostland already has my attention. Martyrs largely defined the New French Extremity movement, and his The Tall Man, while not a game-changer, is a solid horror effort.

And I have to admit, I’m into what we see in this Ghostland trailer. I’m always in for a new spin on a haunted house yarn. The first teaser was just that, a tease, as taste of ambiance, atmosphere, and terror. This video delivers a bit more on that front, as well as some plot mechanics.

Here’s a synopsis:

Following her aunt’s death, Colleen and her two daughters – the eldest, Beth, totally locked-in and shy, finds comfort in the stories she invents in the books she writes, and Vera, way more open and self-confident, inherit her house. However, during their first night in this new home, murderers break-in, pushing Colleen to fight to save her daughters’ lives. During this highly traumatic night, the girls’ disparate personalities diverge even further.   

Sixteen years later, Beth becomes a famous horror author with a perfect family and life in Chicago, while Vera can’t cope, and loses her mind faced to an unshakable sense of paranoia. Daughters and mother finally reunite at the house where Colleen and Vera still live. It is only then that strange events begin to take place…

So there’s potential supernatural elements, coupled with real-world trauma, which is a potent recipe for a horror movie if I’ve ever heard one.

Ghostland stars Taylor Hickson (Deadpool), Emilia Jones (High-Rise), Mylène Farmer, Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf), and Anastasia Philipps (Reign). Like I said, it hits French theaters on March 14. Some reports indicate those of us not in France could see it as early as April. So that’s good news.