What a waste of my time!!!

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Brilliant and touching

A Major Disappointment

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.

I had no idea what to expect when I put this movie in to watch. I'd heard nothing about it, found little online and had watched the trailer getting an idea of what was to come but not quite. The end result was mixed.The film begins with the investigation of a double murder in a London home where detective Chris has been called on to the case. Deciphering clues and after some assists from an old girlfriend, Chris finds that there is a connection to a psychoanalyst. He goes undercover as a patient with the woman to see if he can access more information.And that's where things begin to go a bit off kilter. As the movie progresses forward we as the viewers suddenly find that perhaps what we saw at first was not reality at all. Instead, we find that Chris may indeed be a patient of the psychoanalyst but not in an undercover capacity. Instead, perhaps the entire scenario of his being a police detective is the delusion that he as a patient is suffering from.As the story twists in that direction we learn more about Chris. We find that he suffers from a deep form of depression that is compounded with other events that take place as the film moves on. As the detective he was trying to find out information on another patient named Coulson. The two eventually meet and form a friendship. But Coulson soon begins to become agitated, telling Chris not to trust the psychoanalyst and predicting she will find a reason to send him on to another.When she does exactly that, Chris begins to wonder if Coulson is correct in his conspiracy theories concerning both the new and the old psychoanalysts. More clues come, or at least through the eyes of Chris, that make him ponder everything that is going on around him. As things he takes comfort in suddenly begin to change, he begins to wonder of the improvement he was showing was staged or if he is indeed losing his sanity. The last segment will make the viewer wonder the same about their own view of what's going on.The movie is a dark film to say the least but interesting at moments. On the whole there are some points that will feel like they drag on too long or go nowhere. Still, it at least takes chances and goes places we've most likely never gone before. It's original and there is something to be said about that. The acting is well done but the story is the centerpiece here.Arrow Video has done their usual solid job on this one offering a well done presentation. Extras include interviews with the cast and crew, the film makers commentary track, THE BARON a short film by director Gareth Tunley and the original theatrical trailer. This is not an Arrow release of a classic film but something new. It's worth taking a look at but for me I can't recommend adding it to your collection. That will depend on your own tastes.

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.

The Ghoul is not a horror. It's a highly engaging thriller, I saw at a Q&A screening in London. The story is in some ways reminiscent of Memento and Fight Club, but is completely it's own and highly original.It's about the inner psyche of a paranoid unemployed amateur detective in London who's trying to figure out his own life and his increasingly mysterious hallucinations. When he begins spying on his therapist, he meets another patient, who appears to have severe delusions, and he becomes convinced the therapist is embroiled in an elaborate conspiracy against him.Brilliantly written script, brings into the psyche of the main character while keeping you on the edge of your seat right up until the end. With some really incredible acting, The Ghoul is a highly engaging and satisfying film, despite the incredibly tiny budget it was clearly shot on. Brilliant and thought provoking.