Ghoulies

Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) inherits his Satanist father's mansion. He throws a party and starts conjuring up Ghoulies, which are sort of demonic goblin things. This is a garbage Gremlins knock-off with no humor, charm, or entertainment value. The best thing about it is that it has one of the coolest movie posters of the 1980's, with the Ghoulie coming up out of the toilet. It's just not a fun movie at all. It's nasty and cheap. Avoid this mess. See Gremlins instead. Or you can just skip this one and watch the better Ghoulies part 2. But yeah, Gremlins is better than that too. So just watch Gremlins or even Critters over this dreck.

A surprise hit in the horror film-drenched 1980s that spawned several sequels, GHOULIES was one ii a long line of puppet movies from the old Empire Pictures, the same folks who would soon bring us RE-ANIMATOR. In GHOULIES, a young man moves into an old mansion and before you know it, he is attempting to conjure up a bunch of hellish critters to do his bidding. Soon enough, he has them going after his enemies. The ghoulies themselves are hand puppets that look pretty ferocious for hand puppets. The conjurer, played by an insufferable actor named Peter Liapus, has been possessed by a dark spirit that resides in the old house. A little too much time is spent on the guy and his conjuring, but once the ghoulies get going, watch out! This comedy horror film stands out among many similar flicks from that era. It was obviously inspired by GREMLINS, but in the end it in no way resembles that now-forgotten classic. Worth a look if you can buy the idea of puppet monsters. PUPPETMASTER had the same theme and look, and was also an Empire Pictures job, if I am not mistaken.

"Ghoulies" is said to be a "Gremlins" (1984) knock off, but many say that it was only a coincidence. "Ghoulies" was being filmed when the latter was still in production. Past interviews states its director Luca Bercovici and Charles Band's Empire Pictures were standing by this.

Bercovici's original idea was a much darker theme with the occult. At the end, "Ghoulies" morphed into a horror comedy, a signature staple seen later with Band-produced films. "Ghoulies" marketed by disfunct Empire Pictures as a horror or black comedy became a standard like Full Moon's "Puppet Master" franchise, 90s Band products.

This film's story is revolves around "Jonathan" (Peter Liapis) who inherited a mansion with a discovered connection to his occultist dead father, "Malcolm" (Michael Des Barres). Then a party of his girlfriend, "Rebecca" (Lisa Pelikan) and friends gather at the mansion for some good old fun with little creatures (recently resurrected) and a lot of gag shots. Pelikan isn't a stranger to exploitation cinema who starred in "Jennifer" (1978), a "Carrie" (1976) knock off.

Presently "Ghoulies" fan circles has given much popularity for its 80s cult status and practical special effects. Even its cast capped 80s era with Des Barres (a rock star turned actor) but the fact is it was Band's controversial ad campaign. A "ghoulie" creature popping out of a toilet graced the film posters with the tagline: "They'll get you in the end!"

Upon its 1984's release, many complained about lobby posters traumatizing onlookers. "Ghoulies" was plagued with legal disputes from its title (Warner Bros. Attempted to sue) to copyright (Bercovici vs Band).

Band can be seen as the home media mogul of schlock and other guilty pleasures made a fortune with this production. His genius can be compared to Roger Corman since many stars from Demi Moore to Helen Hunt plus directors like Bercovici got their first start with Band's productions.

This movie made a nice sum of 35 million at the box office, yet many consider it a poor movie at best. So how did it make this much money? With a good ad campaign, that's how. This movie was the first small creature attack movie to come out after the very successful Gremlins the previous year. Critters, which most consider the better film, came out a year later and made a lot less than this one. Then there was the famous scene of the creature coming out of the toilet. It made it look like a Gremlin type movie...funny with a bit of charm to it. It fooled my parents and we saw this dog in the theater when I was ten. We knew it wasn't quite what it was advertised as though as soon as it started as it has a scene where a guy rips out a woman's heart. It isn't all bad though as there are some scenes here and there that are good, but overall this one is just bad as it is not just about little creatures, but a bunch of other satanic stuff as well as this guy throws a party and does rituals and accidentally raises this one evil guy. Sounds better than it is though as there are no stars in this one and none of the actors in this one can act. You do though get to see the little person who played ET.

Ghoulies was a crazy adventure which I would only admit to watching after I'd had a load of alcohol to drink. It's rubbish...but it's good rubbish nonetheless.

I won't pretend that I've ever understood the plot. But who needs a plot when you've got crazy little creatures running around causing havoc?

The movie is very 1980's and suited that era very well. Most of the people I've spoke to have had good things to say about it. It is one of those films where you leave your brain at the door before watching it. It was quite funny but scary in parts (there's this evil clown doll which gave me the creeps).

All in all, I would recommend Ghoulies to those who don't take life too seriously. If you liked Gremlins, you'll like Ghoulies.