Ghouls (2008)

Too much of everything

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

As Good As It Gets

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

That movie was so predictable and the acting was terrible haha... The story line was OK but the best part of the movie were the Ghouls, the were pretty cool looking! The ending however was very confusing. She had to die to kill the Ghouls so she puts the knife in her stomach but then wakes up and her and the Lord of the Rings dork walk out laughing. Her eyes turned green after she wakes up so she is still the queen right? Then why did they show the Ghouls dying in the air? Did she come back cause she is the queen and the Ghouls did not kill here? I have no idea so I am left confused but overall it was not a bad movie.... Totally a B movie worth watching on a Saturday afternoon.

This is one of those rare horror films that I find absolutely no enjoyment in whatsoever. I say rare because I am a huge horror fan, and even really bad horror films almost always hold my attention. I have spent many a Saturday just soaking in the glorious cinema the Syfy channel has to offer. The average movie-watcher's terrible horror film usually equates to a decent watch from my perspective. And more often than not, even the ones that are truly atrocious have moderate to exceptional comedic value. I'm afraid such cannot be said for 'Ghouls'.It's biggest and most obvious flaw is the terrible plot. We know there are ghouls who are trying to reclaim something or another, and in doing so cross the plane from the spiritual world into the physical world. Beyond that, I'm not really quite sure what was taking place, or why. Speaking of that, I'm also a little confused as to what exactly was left to be accomplished for these ghouls as far as crossing over into the physical world, seeing as they actually feed on people's flesh, and can (somehow) be mortally wounded by gunshots and grenade blasts. Can't really get much more physical than that.James DeBello is not a bad actor. No, he's really not. This was just not a role meant for him I guess. He was great in 'Detroit Rock City' as a goof ball stoner. He was even good in 'Cabin Fever', because even though that was a serious role, the film had its comedic elements, and his character was a huge part of that. He was just flat here. No emotional range at all. It was pretty rough to watch actually. Except that part on the horse and carriage where he grunted a lot. That was really funny.The ghouls themselves were actually kind of cool to look at. That's about all that can be said for the film as far as positives. It is evident they had SOME budget to work with. The ghouls themselves weren't a total embarrassment. Effects otherwise were well above Syfy original-type standards. Other than that, this was pretty god awful boring. I see no reason to recommend anyone watch this film. Often even really bad films offer something. This offers nothing. Just a really dreadful film that you probably won't even make it all the way through before giving up and turning it off. (My ESPN the magazine on the coffee table eventually drew me away.) Next time you're in the mood for some horror involving druids, human sacrifice and worship of Satanic beings, do some reading on George Bush and friends and Bohemian Grove. It's really much more interesting.

At first I was going to change the channel when this movie came on, but it was a SciFi Channel original flick that I hadn't seen before so I gave in to my curiosity.When it comes to SciFi flicks, I always set the "degree of difficulty" score really low. That way whenever the film is halfway decent, I'm always pleasantly surprised. On the whole, this movie was a fine popcorn romp for people who enjoy their horror films with a campy flair and with villains that wield axes with cartoonish exaggeration. Mind, I'm saying that with the utmost of affection. I thought it was funny, however, that after reading that Willy the horse played three different parts I began to look for his appearances as if I were trying to find Hitchcock's appearance in one of his films. And he does, by the way: 1) a workhorse/cart horse in the beginning, 2) a riding horse in the middle, and 3) a carriage horse. Willy is awesome. He deserves a raise.The acting in this film, as in most SciFi films, is not stellar. Most of the characters have pretty flat affect, which disturbed me a great deal. (Willy the horse, on the other hand, had a very emotive tail--even raising it to, well, you know, during a fight scene. The editor or director should be credited for cutting away quickly.) It was interesting that the soap actress had the most realistic emotions of all of the human actors. On the other hand, that isn't saying much.Oh, and the flying angel affect when Jennifer's mother comes back to speak to her? Um. Yeah. I'm sure that somewhere a high school production of Peter Pan wants their equipment back.Still, despite all of its faults, I couldn't hate Ghouls. I may or may not actually tune in when it comes on again, but not because it was the most awful film out of the box (I think that SciFi's pterodactyl and Rock Monster films--not to mention Mansquito and Sssssss! are worse), but simply because I had a hard time caring about what actually happened to the characters. The ending was a little unexpected and kind of fun, considering how many people get their comeuppance. To sum it up, if you don't expect too much of it, you might actually enjoy Ghouls.

Ghouls, the latest Sci-fi channel offering lives up to the channel's reputation. Mediocre. Kristen Renton stars as Jennifer, a comely lass from the Western world of ipods and attitude who accompanies her parents to her grandmother's funeral in a VERY Epcot version of Eastern Europe. While there she discovers a cult that isn't quite vampire but act like them. They're just sort of creepy with black outfits and an army of vaporous ugly zombie-like creatures that fly known as ghouls. James DeBello shows up looking like a ridiculous vigilante/hunter of some sort. Erin Gray plays Jennifer's mother, who's skilled in the old ways and deciphers all the runes that show up as decoration in the quaint inn. William Atherton (looking a little ghoulish himself) is Jennifer's dad. Action sequences of a horror nature are few and far between. Young girls will like it I suppose, Renton stays fresh and pretty throughout her ordeal. In a way, I've grown fond of these Sci-fi "films". They put a lot of people to work, they provide good background to computer surfing and occasionally I grin. Not laugh out loud mind you, but grin.