The truth is that, no mater how great a concept is for a story, no matter how well the film is marketed, the ultimate proof is in the production pudding. How excellent is your execution? Not the capitol punishment type — even if some films make you wish for that instead — but, execution of idea from concept to completion. Unfortunately, despite all the best intentions, many films fail to find the appropriate approach.
GHOUL (2015) is one of these films. It should be quite apparent already that I am not overwhelmingly impressed with this one, but in an effort to change things up a bit and better explain my thoughts on this film, I’ll begin with the end.
[No worries, I never spoil films, even the ones I dislike.]
The final 15-20 minutes of GHOUL are, by far, the most engaging, most intense and most successful minutes of this entire film. With that said, it’s not enough to save it entirely, but merely wipes the crust from your eyes and the spittle from the side of your mouth, finishing with the subtle minty freshness of a stick of gum that lasts about as long as the flavor in a handful of Chiclets.
The story comes full circle, the twist is revealed and the special effects are admirably effective for a film of this style, genre and budget. With a running time of only 86 minutes, its not entirely inconceivable to endure to the end for the tasty bits that add flavor, but you’ll need to choke down the blandness of the meal before the dessert.
Let’s return to the start now, where the film is at it’s most uninspired. GHOUL follows a small clutch of friends turned indie filmmakers who travel to Ukraine to shoot footage and interviews for the pilot of a documentary series they call Cannibals of the 20th Century. We’ve seen it before in principle, young inexperienced aspiring filmmakers venturing into uncharted territory to make their names, danger be damned.
Roughly, the first 30 minutes is relatively boring and uneventful, failing to build much of any character development, nor suspense or even much plot. Roughly half the film is merely bickering and accusations between characters, not unlike what we see in the average “reality” TV series that litter our television sets.
What they hope will be a successful late-night basic cable cash cow, quickly reveals itself to be a bust. When their local elderly guide turns out to be unreliable. Not only do they not have anything from the survivor of the Soviet Union’s most violent serial killer and “star” of their project, but they find themselves stuck in the remote woods with their young and pretty interpreter, a crazy young Ukrainian witch, and an evil supernatural force that will not let them leave unless they do exactly as it asks of them.
GHOUL is unfocused, indecisive about what the central plot truly is about. The villain is clearly defined, but is not as central to the story as would be expected. Drama is developed primarily through the perspective of Jenny, played by Jennifer Armour, who also happens to provide the best performance of the film. Jenny has a secret she hides that ultimately plays a significant role, indirectly and metaphorically, in the film’s twist.
Overall, GHOUL is a late-night, cheap rental popcorn flick, mildly worth seeing to the end, even at the cost of submitting to the snooze-inducing first two acts, but only if you’ve already gone through all the cool films in your Netflix queue.
[For the more discerning genre fans, be especially observant of the pride taken in the humorously hokey but admirable attempt at the gory gutted cat prop used not once, but twice in the film.]
GHOUL hits select theaters on Friday, March 20th, 2015.
Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
