ersinkdotcom As I read the synopsis for "Ghoul," my expectations for a great film that would make me feel nostalgic about my childhood love for monster and action movies began to build up. High expectations aren't always a good thing when going into a film. Unfortunately, that was the case here. I wanted to like it, but something got lost along the way.Timmy, Doug, and Barry are the best of friends. As if life for three 12- year old boys at the edge of puberty isn't hard enough, things get very tough when they are forced by circumstances to confront the urban legend of a creature which lives underneath their local cemetery. Are there supernatural forces at work or are the disappearances of several local teenagers tied to someone in the town with unknown motives?I have to hand it to director Gregory M. Wilson and writer William M. Miller. This was made as a low-budget TV-movie for Chiller TV. As far as that goes, it looks great. The creature makeup is genuinely creepy and the sets look good.They never quite convinced me that I was watching something happening in 1984. The lack of a soundtrack effectively reflecting the era and misplaced pop-culture references were definite hindrances in the process. It didn't help when characters exclaimed, "Eat my shorts" and "Don't have a cow!" These two catchphrases were coined by Bart Simpson in "The Simpsons," which didn't even gain real popularity until late 1989."Ghoul" boasts at least two veteran actors which are familiar to children of the 1980s. Barry Corbin portrays Timmy's grandfather. He was a supporting actor in several movies and TV shows from the decade like "WarGames," "Dallas," and "Critters 2." I'm sure tons of boys who were teenagers at the time will identify with my crush on Catherine Mary Stewart. I was captivated by her in such films as "The Last Starfighter," "Weekend at Bernie's," and "Night of the Comet." She plays Timmy's mother and adds a bit more legitimacy to the movie.One thing that gave me a sense of appreciation for "Ghoul" was the Behind-the-Scenes featurette. It did a great job of highlighting the hard work and conviction poured into the movie. It's hard to completely hate on something that someone put so much effort into. I have a deep respect for the set builders and makeup artists."Ghoul" tries very hard to capture the magic of films like "Super 8," "The Goonies," and "The Monster Squad." It's a shame it didn't accomplish what it set out to do successfully. Viewers who aren't looking for a walk down memory lane may enjoy this, but filmmakers missed their target market in my opinion.

nposluszny I rented this, expecting a movie that would pay tribute to The Goonies, Saturday the 14th, Monster Squad, etc. Boy, I was wrong. I was watching this movie with my father when the shower scene/pedophilia scene with Mommy came on. The movie was quickly turned off, and deemed as a "bait and switch" by my family, who were all expecting what I was, an adolescent monster/adventure movie. This will certainly be the last time I rent a movie for the "family movie night" before reading all the reviews. There was no clear hint (or subtle) that there was an indecent mother/son relationship going on. The remainder of the evening was spend wondering where I went wrong while explaining to my little brother that what he saw on the screen was not normal at all. The cover of the movie, as well as the Redbox description, are grossly misleading and whoever made it so appealing to children, adults, regular human beings should be ashamed.

rollerboy244 Having read the book,and hearing that an adaptation was being made of this entertaining book I looked forward to seeing this movie.The screenplay sticks to main points,but the disappointing aspect of the movie was the direction.Usually in lower budget movies you can have a range of good acting and bad.The acting was bad and wooden to the point of ridiculous ,throughout.Atmosphere that was such a major strength in the book was nonexistent in this movie.This goes to show why horror movies are hard to make,without a proper director with skill you get this,not the classic this story deserved.I have faith Brian Keene's next adaption Dark Hollow being directed by Paul Campion will be a better effort.Paul Campion has proved in The Devil's Rock he knows how to create the proper atmosphere in this genre.People use budget for an excuse,that's nonsense as atmosphere isn't something you have to budget for it's part of the construction process.It's just too bad we got this out of this nostalgic classic tisk tisk.

jacobtlong I've been a Brian Keene fan for a while and Ghoul is one of my favorite tales of horror. When I heard there would be a movie I was pretty excited, but I didn't want to get involved in a lot of the hype. As someone who happens to be a Stephen King fan, I know all about bad movie adaptations. Well, Ghoul isn't exactly a bad movie adaptation. It's just not a true adaptation. The movie does manage to convey the spirit of the book to a certain degree when it is not being hindered by the typical downfalls of every TV movie (the shaky acting, the questionable production, the lack of violence, etc.), but the scares and thrills just aren't there. The ultimate difference between the book and the movie is that the book is a terrifying and visceral experience. The movie starts out with possibilities of being the same, but skews off in a different direction and becomes something akin to a Lifetime movie. The ghoul that was so frightening in the book almost becomes a Scooby Doo villain in the movie. The book is terrifying and disturbing. The movie is only slightly disturbing and not very terrifying. The atmosphere of the movie is just too tame and too sterile to warrant terror. The disturbing factor is the relationship between Doug and his mother and Barry and his father, but the book handles it much better. So what the movie had going for it is nothing that hasn't already been done better before. But, judging the movie for what it is, I'd still say it was entertaining up to a point. A decent and watchable film, but I just didn't find it to be a very memorable movie. If you want a great growing-up adventure movie about kids then Stand By Me does a much better job. If you want a great disturbing horror movie about kids then there is always Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. Ghoul just doesn't have that same zing.