Ghosts… of the Civil Dead

Ghosts... of the Civil Dead is a 1988 Australian drama-suspense film directed by John Hillcoat. It was written by Hillcoat, Evan English, Gene Conkie, Nick Cave, and Hugo Race. It is partly based on the true story of Jack Henry Abbott.

Ghosts... of the Civil Dead
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hillcoat
Written by	Nick Cave Gene Conkie Evan English John Hillcoat Hugo Race
Produced by	Evan English
Starring	David Field Chris DeRose Nick Cave Dave Mason
Cinematography	Paul Goldman Graham Wood
Edited by	Stewart Young
Music by	Nick Cave Blixa Bargeld Mick Harvey
Production companies	Correctional Services Outlaw Values
Release date	December 1988 (1988-12) (Europe)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$1,680,000[1]

Synopsis

The story is set in Central Industrial Prison, a privately run maximum security prison in the middle of the Australian desert. An outbreak of violence within the prison has resulted in a total lockdown. A committee is appointed by the prison's governors to investigate the cause of the outbreak, but their findings are in stark contrast to the facts behind the riot.

It is revealed that both the prisoners and the guards are slowly and deliberately brutalised, manipulated and provoked into the forthcoming eruption of violence by the government and the private company that runs the prison, in order to justify the construction of a new and more "secure" facility.

Production

The script was based on the book In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Henry Abbott and research done with David Hale, a former prison guard at Marion, Illinois. The film was shot at a disused aircraft factory in Melbourne^[2] in October and November.^[3]

Origin of title

Main article: Civil death

In Roman law, a person convicted of a crime where the punishment included loss of their legal rights as a person was civiliter mortuus, a person without civil rights.

Reception

Accolades

Award	Category	Subject	Result
AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards)	Best Film	Evan English	Nominated
	Best Original Screenplay	Nick Cave	Nominated
		John Hillcoat	Nominated
		Hugo Race	Nominated
		Gene Conkie	Nominated
		Evan English	Nominated
	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Mike Bishop	Nominated
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Bogdan Koca	Nominated
	Best Editing	Stewart Young	Nominated
	Best Original Music Score	Nick Cave	Nominated
		Mick Harvey	Nominated
		Blixa Bargeld	Nominated
	Best Sound	Bronwyn Murphy	Nominated
		Rex Watts	Nominated
		Peter Clancy	Nominated
	Best Production Design	Chris Kennedy	Won
	Best Costume Design	Karen Everett	Nominated
		Beverly Jasper	Nominated

Legacy

The spoken line "Welcome to Central Industrial. We are the future" has been sampled by Future Sound of London in their song "Central Industrial" on their Accelerator album;^[4] also sampled by Woob in their song "Void, Part One" on the album em:t 0094,^[5] and by Jam and Spoon in their remix of Moby's "Go".^[6]

Sonic Subjunkies samples various parts of the film in their songs "Central Industrial" and "Central Industrial II: The Lockdown".

Therapy? opened the song "Nausea" (the first one on their 1992 album Nurse) with a sample of Nick Cave shouting "Here I am, motherfuckers!" in the film.

Bibliography

• Fuchs, Christian [1996] (2002). Bad Blood. Creation Books