The Ghoul (2017)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A lot of fun.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This movie could have been so much more and it's a shame there were not just a few changes which would have changed this from a slightly below-average offering to a truly great and well-meaning film.The plot revolves around a detective who is suffering from severe depression and enters psychiatric treatment to try and solve a murder case.As the story progresses it's hard to say whether the lead character is indeed a policeman or simply a very mentally ill man who suffers delusions.The main criticism for me is a complete lack of action during most of the movie. This means the plot is wholly bulked by verbal exchanges and little else. I'll also say a lot of the story is fairly samey and there's no real change of pace at any point.The movie is shot in a gritty way and the acting is good as it doesn't (like a lot of modern acting) feel forced and fake.An hour in and I was thinking this could be something special but overall the problems mentioned above as well as a confusing ending left me unsatisfied.

Sorry folks, its great to do a project like this film but it kind of falls down flat. I believe a good vision of depression or psychosis must begin by showing us the character in a balanced frame of mind. This should help us perceive what they will eventually lose, giving us a greater understanding of their slow/fast decline from reality into somewhat darker territories. Without that a film like this is just an abstract nightmare for a character we have little connection to. As a consequence of this the film feels a little too abstract but without the depth to carry that abstraction. I like the synopsis, it could be a fine film but it needs some work.Perhaps what would offer this film a better reaction is if it were presented in a different manner. I would do a serious edit, make it into a half hour short and issue it as a piece of art film rather than a feature.

A homicide detective (Tom Meeten) goes undercover as a patient to investigate a psychotherapist he believes is linked to a strange double murder. As his therapy sessions continue the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur.Strangely, for a film this dark, the casting came from comedians who were working at the Edinburgh Festival. Their skits led to "The Baron" (2013), a comedic short film made for "a few hundred quid". This brought together Gareth Tunley and writer-actor Tom Meeten, as well as bringing in composer Waen Shepherd and producer Jack Healy Guttmann. It would be no exaggeration to say that "The Baron" was the test run for "The Ghoul", despite them having nothing in common thematically. Those involved believed that if Christopher Nolan could make "Following" with no budget, they could pull it off, too.From the get-go, Waen Shepherd's score is reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti; interestingly, Catherine Bray thinks the film is "scary in the manner of David Lynch films, with the chills coming from a nightmarish repurposing of the mundane or suburban", so perhaps the score is intentional. Of course, Shepherd does much more than that -- he has provided just about every genre of music (60s pop to reggae) to the soundtrack.The plot is defined as a cinematic Möbius strip by writer/director Gareth Tunley. This almost gives too much away, but at the same time is really at the heart of the film. The most interesting scene is the one where the various objects in the doctor's office are described: the mobius strip, the ouroboros (infinity snake), and so on... we are made quite aware of how important this is.Let's look at the critics. Gareth Jones praises the film, with his only concern being that "it can occasionally find itself bogged down by its overly melancholy presentation and measured pacing". This is fair, though probably unavoidable. Bray compares the film favorably to Lynch's "Lost Highway", though she has concerns that the film "isn't the midnight horror romp its title may suggest", and this may cause it to connect poorly with audience expectations. True, the title may be misleading, but it has its own importance, too.Stephen Dalton thinks the picture "feels a little too slight and cryptic to make any serious headway with mainstream genre fans... never quite delivers on its mind-bending promise." Yet, "Tunley confirms his mastery of macabre moods here. Now he needs a bigger budget and a broader canvas." Mainstream or not, it fits in well alongside films like "Timecrimes" that have us questioning the linear story-telling.Peter Bradshaw may be the harshest critic, saying the movie "feels like a film-school project" that is "heartsinkingly pointless" and "takes us on a journey to nowhere." Not only is Bradshaw the most harsh, but the most off-base. While he may not be wrong, strictly speaking, the "pointlessness" is precisely the point! The film never sets up to tie everything up with a ribbon, and this may be its greatest strength: viewers are well-served to watch it twice or more to deepen comprehension.Though Arrow Video specializes in bringing forgotten gems back to life, they do just as great of a job when they are working with contemporary titles like "The Ghoul". On their Blu-ray release, we get the filmmakers' commentary, interviews with most of the cast and crew (which are very insightful), and even "The Baron", the short film by Gareth Tunley, starring Tom Meeten and Steve Oram.

Best pay close attention here, as not all is as it seems.Twisty movies can be god fun, but as is the case with "The Ghoul", they can be quite unsettling. What starts out as a standard police drama slowly melts into an endless, dark, psychological journey, where everything is gradually turned upside down.Not an easy watch, this: a dreamy, hallucinatory, moebius strip thriller with an agonizing performance from the spiralling lead (the excellent Tom Meeton). Filmed in dark, bleak confines, "The Ghoul" works, not inspite of it's micro budget, but because of it - relying on claustrophobic interaction from the players.Fans of linear cinema need not apply, but those wishing for a jarring, thought-provoking experience will be rewarded.