GHOUL (2011)

Available to rent on Amazon Prime!
Directed by Gregory Wilson
Written by William M. Miller (screenplay), Brian Keene (novel)
Starring Nolan Gould, Jacob Bila, Trevor Harker, Catherine Stewart, and Barry Corbin

GHOUL, adapted from Brian Keene’s novel, reminded me a lot of the works of Stephen King paired with some of the Amblin films of children in real peril that we all grew up loving. Though GHOUL’s budget is considerably lower, it still retains that youthful spark and wonder that permeated those old films. From the producers of THE WOMAN, a lot of the issues that arise in that fantastic film do so again here as family conflict and real-world horrors almost overpower the legend of the Ghoul itself.

The acting here could be better. There’s always a chance taken with child actors, and though a lot of the lines and situations director Gregory Wilson puts the kids in are extremely heavy, some of the child actors lack the experience to pull it off completely. I also feel the script could have been punched up as well, with some of the lines lacking the emotional weight the story seems to be going for.

GHOUL does deal with a lot of emotional baggage here with sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and murder all issues these kids have to deal with. At first, I felt as if this were a lighthearted romp with a bunch of kids meeting an old town legend, but things get dark pretty quickly, leaving me with a “holy shit, I can’t believe they went there!” feeling. These heavy themes again prove to be a challenge for this film because the kids experiencing these issues are lacking in experience to carry their weight.

In the end, I found myself enjoying GHOUL due to the balls the filmmakers have in putting the children in dangers both real and imaginary. It gets pretty bloody occasionally, but those scenes pale in comparison to the pitch-black tone that arises as soon as these “Goonies”-type kids start revealing that one’s father abuses him with fists while one’s mother sexually molests him.

Like THE WOMAN, GHOUL pulls back the curtain of what looks like typical small-town America showing that the true terrors are the ones occurring in the homes rather than the shadowy caves below. The power of the emotions involved in the story make it easy to look past the dodgy acting and low budget of GHOUL.

Check out the trailer here!!