Ghoul

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.

It's the summer of '84. Timmy Graco (Nolan Gould) has his two friends and an underground hideout. Tragedy strikes when his grandfather (Barry Corbin) dies. His mother (Catherine Mary Stewart) is worried. There is a local legend of a mine. The three friends discover an underground network of tunnels.

This is pretty good. It's surprisingly good considering the user rating. I don't know anything about the book. Nolan Gould is a good child actor. I wish Barry Corbin would stay in the picture. The drunken father story turns out to be pretty good. As a horror, this needs more jump scares and a better creature feature. Still, this is pretty good low budget TV horror. It's relying on the kids, and they do a good job.

Centers on a group of friends who risk their lives to stop who, or what, is behind a rash of disappearances in their town.

This film has the best of intentions, but never seems to hit the marks it is aiming for. I have not read the source novel (maybe I should), but what we have here is a case of children who cannot act and a plot that is too convoluted.

On the surface, it is about a group of kids who explore the woods and find tunnels under the cemetery that go to an abandoned mining tunnel. Legend has it that a "ghoul" lives in the mines. This in itself makes a good horror story, and by using kids you can have a bit more fun like you would with "Goonies" or "Monster Squad".

Instead, there is a whole other story here about child abuse and alcoholism, and a strong hint of sexual molestation. Does it tie in to the other story? No. Not at all. And while it might be said to be character development, it is never focused on and adds nothing to the film overall. In fact, it detracts, because it seems like the people who make the film do not understand how a story arc works.

If this movie was made with a new cast and a tighter script, I could actually see it being a good -- possibly great -- little picture.

This is based on a Brian Keene novel. I wasted my time reading his dumpster fire The Rising which ended on a cliffhanger. He had ZERO plans to write a sequel until he got taken to task for it. His sequel was utter garbage that had an even worse ending. He said he couldn't think of any other way to end it. Any talented author would have several different endings in mind . But then a talented author wouldn't end a novel on a cliffhanger with no plans to finish the story. It should be a crime that a hack like this gets a movie based on his trash ideas but actual talented horror authors like Robert McCammon get left behind. Anyways, this movie was as bad of not worse than his dumpster fire novels. Don't waste your time.

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.