Ghoul - Die Legende vom Leichenesser

Ah, found footage. A niche genre that at its best can be exceptional, and that at its worst might be more unwatchable than even the worst of conventional film-making styles. Given the conceit of three amateur filmmakers making their own documentary, there is at least standard plausibility for the camera constantly rolling as it does. Given that conceit, too, it's arguable that 'Ghoul' is a tad on the exploitative side of cinema as the picture begins with denoting a terrible real history of orchestrated famine, and accounts of cannibalism, as the basis of its narrative. From there one might reasonably say that the proceedings become fairly routine for this type of picture; that Czech filmmaker Petr Jákl and his cast and crew were able to shoot on location in the Ukraine enters in the equation mostly only as a matter of flavoring for this specific tale. Maybe it speaks to my expectations more than anything else, but I was also a bit surprised that the course of events is limited to a single primary location, and a nondescript one at that; for some reason I assumed something a little more dynamic. In any event, none of this is an inherent mark against this feature, and while how much one enjoys 'Ghoul' will mostly depend on how much one likes found footage in the first place, I think this is at least moderately entertaining.

True, there's perhaps nothing here that we haven't seen before, and for lack of any especial spark, this will struggle to stand out in a crowd or rise above a basic level of horror fun. For what it's worth, though - while overall "average," I'd say this is about as well made as most any such title. On the one hand, I like small touches like Inna's witchcraft, and nuanced inclusion of folklore about consuming (human) flesh. I think the cast is swell, effects and special makeup look good (including blood and gore), and there are some smart ideas scattered throughout, including the more subtle instances of sound effects or visuals. At its best, in some measure 'Ghoul' successfully crafts some fine atmosphere, and some chilling moments. On the other hand, especially as the length progresses, the movie does fall into some of the common traps of found footage specifically and horror generally, and is prey to the same criticisms. Unsteady camerawork, long darkness, and bursts of loud audio mean that even some scenes that are otherwise worthy are beleaguered by a sense of being arbitrary and far-fetched. That's to say nothing of other scenes that as they present are too blunt or tactless at the outset, just flailing and/or "too much," and the climax and ending are rather overfull.

If my words seem blasé or noncommittal, take that as a reflection of the feature itself. It's not bad, and I can safely I say I do like it - it's also nothing special, either. There are no major, glaring flaws; nor are there any major, luminous strengths. How much you like or dislike this will correspond exactly to how you generally feel about found footage at large. It's duly enjoyable if you come across it; there's also no reason to go out of your way for it. When all is said and done I had a fairly good time watching 'Ghoul,' and maybe that's all it needs to be.

Found footage movies are okay if they are done right. This one was done pretty well. I liked the plot quite a bit, and it was an interesting take on Andrei Chikatilo. The people that made this movie also must have done a fair amount of research into Chikatilo because they did a great job relaying his story. A lot of movies don't do that any more. They paid subtle respect to the true story of that real monster in a lot of ways that people may not have noticed. Chikatilo did most of his murders in rowed forest area's, just like where they are in the movie. The information about his brother is very accurate, according to Chikatilo anyway. The acting was pretty well done for a low budget movie, and it was a very creepy story.

A lot of the criticism on here isn't warranted. It seems if the story doesn't hit you over the head with the plot now days people don't get it. It's fun to have to think about what happened, give it a try. Also the camera was shaky because that's how a found footage movie should look.

Honestly I thought it was a pretty good film.

Yes, it's a clichefest, but very well-made, entertaining and scary one. If you know the culture, the language, the way Ukranian people speak, behave and live, you'd know how realistic everything is in this movie. The characters are also not as dumb as you usually see in everyone's favourite Hollywood horrors.

If you're found footage fan, I can definitely recommend this movie. I think I already watched at least a half of all digitally/physically distributed found footage movies in the world, and I can say it's a really good one.

There are at least 3 fake reviews on IMDb for this movie at the moment, one positive and 2 negatives (accounts registered only to post a review for this movie). One of these fake ones says "worst move of all time" and doesn't even say why, so connect the dots for yourself.

Nothing outright sucks about this movie, but it doesn't really do much interesting. It's not bad, but some of these reviews are truly perplexing.

If you are a found footage fan, an interesting premise and real world link are worth a single watch, but wouldn't be the end of the world if you missed it.

Ill start by saying how much i cant stand found footage, dark or shaky cameras. This movie was obviously done w a minimal amount of $$$ yet they still managed to pull it off. Maybe its the fact that i watch so much serial killer film and documentaries, this little film intrigued me when they began talking about a cannibal serial killer whose spirit was in the house where they were to film. The acting was a bit better than Blair Witch. One thing i dont like which is in every single movie nowadays is the stupid decisions people keep making. Id like a bit more reality where people actually listen to their friends or their basic survival instincts but oh well. When those characters die horribly i feel a slight smile on my face. Anyway im rambling cuz i only rate movies on here, almost never write reviews. Watch it if youre chill and dont expect big production. Youll be surprised at how well they pull off the creepiness.