# 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.

## 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 in October and November.

## Origin of title

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 |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Screenplay | Nick Cave | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Screenplay | John Hillcoat | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Screenplay | Hugo Race | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Screenplay | Gene Conkie | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Screenplay | Evan English | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Mike Bishop | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Bogdan Koca | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Editing | Stewart Young | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Music Score | Nick Cave | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Music Score | Mick Harvey | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Original Music Score | Blixa Bargeld | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Sound | Bronwyn Murphy | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Sound | Rex Watts | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Sound | Peter Clancy | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Production Design | Chris Kennedy | Won |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Costume Design | Karen Everett | Nominated |
| AACTA Awards (1989 Australian Film Institute Awards) | Best Costume Design | 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; also sampled by Woob in their song "Void, Part One" on the album em:t 0094, and by Jam and Spoon in their remix of Moby's "Go".
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.