The Ghouls

First and foremost, the distributors fooled me. The box implied that this was a large scale zombie movie and that there would be a handful of survivors in a ravaged city. This was simply not the case. However instead of being angry as would generally be the case, I was taken aback. This movie is no zombie fest, but it was a very dark and thought provoking movie. I was pondering it long after the very odd and fitting credits rolled. Ghouls, is about a sleazy paparazzi reporter who makes his pseudo-living by filming scenes of crime, murder, and tragedy. The gruesome sights never bother him until he finds himself on the receiving end of the horror. Ghouls come in two varieties here: the flesh-eating type and the social type. There are some powerful themes running throughout this gem, largely about the media but also some other ideas, like smoking, identity and overall moral standings in our society. I had some trouble warming up to the "hero", but I realized we aren't meant to like him. You might pity him, sympathize with him, even feel concern for him, but you never truly like him. Much better than I would have expected, but this IS a thinking movie-goer's zombie film, action isn't the real point. If you're thinking about buying this solely to see scads of the undead, look elsewhere.

Independent fear-maker Chad Ferrin's, low-fi, high die, superlatively-splattery, gut-swingingly grisly subterranean snuff sensation 'Cannibal Dead: The Ghouls' is certainly not for sensitive Sally's, timorous Timothy's, or the frequently faint of fart! Something far worse than a City Load of septic sewage fulminates evilly beneath the mean streets of L. A. And preternaturally perverse paparazzi Eric Hayes (Timothy Muskatell) shall certainly grue the day he deigned to opportunistically film these deranged denizens of the dark that cavort cannibalistically upon the ferociously flayed flesh of all those who foolhardily descend into their diabolically dank domain! Old school ghouls, sinister splatter mad-hatters, gruesome gore gourmands, morbidly-minded morgue maniacs, grisly graveyard gawpers, and brain-dead zombie freaks will dig gravely upon the gloriously ghoulish, salaciously sick-headed shenanigans of Ferrin's locomotively lurid, voluptuously visceral, deliriously dismembering blood feast! Like Gorefather H. G Lewis hungrily buzzed on high grade hydroponic hemp, this moonshine mental, membrane-slinging murder movie is the snuff of low budget legend!!!

THE GHOULS review

It's hard to fully immerse yourself in the latest low budget trend of DV filmmaking. Unless painstaking measures are taken to mimic the cinematic conventions of film, like depth of field and the crispness of the image, one can easily lose focus on the story and be distracted by the the quality of the picture, which is more along the lines of a cop corralling a perp or a father getting kicked in the balls by his kid. However, Chad Ferrin's latest offering (I saw his first film UNSPEAKABLE at Sundance in 2000) uses the DV format not in an aesthetic gimmick (like BLAIR WITCH) but to further the dread and grit of his subject matter...for what it's worth I was appalled and enthralled...and it scared the shit out of me.

THE GHOULS follows a down-on-his-luck video muckraker (Ferrin sets up the main characters moral decent in a shocking prelude that will be a true litmus test for any viewer...not giving anything away but if you can survive the opening moments, you're in for a ride) as he prowls the streets, a stringer looking for a lead to both pay the bills and support his crank habit. To be frank, our protagonist Eric (Timothy Muskatell) is a piece of s**t that Travis Bickle would scoff at; We see him drown his sorrows in drink after coercing a man to murder while he shoots the "exclusive" footage, moments before the cops burst in. Yet with the over-saturation of media bloodhounds also scanning the street looking for a good lead and a juicy shot to sell, our hero is mostly plopped in a bar booth, killing brain cells and wallowing in his inner pain.

Nice horror in-joke: Cast as the TV news producer who sometimes buys Eric's footage but mostly berates our hero, Joe (DAY OF THE DEAD) Pilato is in fine form and, with Ferrin being an obvious Romero fan, gives the actor great lines and exploits Pilato's ability to make the word "fuck" seem evil again, like it was when you weren't allowed to say it in public when you were a kid.

However, things change suddenly as Eric drives into the depths of Downtown L.A. one lonely Christmas eve, where he stumbles upon a gruesome, cannibalistic murder that happens right before his eyes in an alleyway, and from here the film goes full tilt boogie. Using his camera and the help of another video freelancer/"vulture" (Trent Haaga, who is by and large one of the best actors in the low-budget horror scene right now and used effectively as both comic relief and the "young sage competition" cliche), Eric returns to the scene of the crime to hopefully capture another murder, which could be the shoot of his career, but of course, like every good horror film, our hero is pulled into the darkness...and comes face to face with THE GHOULS, and himself.

Honestly, I don't want to give anything else away mainly because when I was watching this, it was hard to take in, especially since the main character is so unlikable. But as the plot progresses he is faced with strange phone calls at night, bodies piling up around him as well as his own demons. Plus, the film boasts the most disturbing performance from a Down's Syndrome actor EVER.

On that note, along with Pilato mentioned before, all of the performances are effective in a low-key way. There is little "acting" here, mostly reacting and silence that says so much. Haaga is great as the "sidekick" but doesn't use the usual trappings to illicit a laugh; rather he serves as a humorous light is the depths of scum that surround this film

The film, shot on digital video, looks very good for it's limitations, and Ferrin knows where the camera needs to go to feel "real", and once the film gets into gear I never once got taken out of it because of the medium. However, the sound design and the sets, for example the ghoul's lair and the cavernous pipelines and sewer systems, are AMAZING, especially after finding out there were mostly created and not found locations! The sound effects, which most filmmakers either take for granted with "scare stings" or neglect all together, make this film SCARY. The makeup effects are also effective and are a notch above TROMA quality but Ferrin is not afraid of a little splatter (thank god).

I wish i could say something negative to balance out this review but I was very happily surprised with this. When I heard Ferrin was doing a digital feature, I was dismayed because I tend to not have the ability to enjoy a film on video unless it has an obvious contextual reason. Yet THE GHOULS inspired me to say "fuck film" and tell a story with whatever you have available, and Ferrin scares and disturbs with great style.

Heh, to start this all off.. This movie was packaged along with Hannibal Rising. My friend and I thought to ourselves, "Oh, a free movie! Hey, this looks pretty cool." Unfortuantly, we were wrong. The whole 30 minutes that we wasted (Honestly, me nor her could sit and watch the whole thing,) was horrible. Not just the subject matter but the filming. I know that it had a strong underlying subject, but I (as well as almost everyone else who saw the cover and read the back summary) was fooled.

Just as a warning.. Don't buy Hannibal Rising (Unrated) that comes with The Ghouls. It's just a waste.

I first heard of Chad Ferrin one night while watching a Troma film. There was a trailer for the movie Unspeakable on it,now let me tell you i was blown away by what i saw.very disgusting and morbid,and I LOVED IT ALL !!!! That movie prompted me to name my site after it.Unspeakable when first looked at would make one believe the content is much more different than the norm,hence Unspeakable Magazine...A site for the overlooked companies in this lovely horror genre.People like Chad Ferrin defy all odds of small indie filmmakers not being able to put out good quality films like the big dogs...horseshit..from the two films i've seen from Ferrin i'm a believer in what he's capable of. The Ghouls stars Timothy Muskatell(who is also in Unspeakable) as Ric Hayes, one who videotapes various police chases, amubulance runs, and random street violence and sells their tapes to the highest bidders, sort of like a ghetto paparazzi. From the start of the movie there is a pretty disturbing scene that'll make you go "WTF". Ric takes a tape he just filmed of a murder to a local news station only to find out he's been beatin to the punch, then realizing his life is a big pile of turds.Things start to downspiral from there. After a falling out with a local news broadcaster( Joe Pilato from Day of the Dead), missing out on a big police chase, and unsuccessfully trying to reclaim his love interest(Tina Birchfield), Hayes solves his problems with glass after glass of alcohol, more cigs than a AA meeting ashtray and the occasional snort of I believe coc.well one night on his way home, he sees a couple of bums who look like their about to rape a young woman. He follows them into an alley with his camera running, shocked to discover that they weren't bums at all, but flesh eating ghouls who have torn the woman apart. Narrowly escaping them, Eric flees to take the news office, only to discover he was too damn drunk and his dumb-ass had forgotten to put a tape in the camera.

Determined to find out what he saw, he enlists the help of another stringer named Cliff(Trent Haaga)which i might add did his usual brilliantlly funny job.. Each armed with a gun and their cameras, they split up and head out into the streets to investigate and find out what these ghouls really are. But when Eric gets the footage he desires, he's also lead to realize what kind of horrible things he's filmed and how big of a skank he is by doing so. However, maybe he can use his talents for good by warning the public of what is lurking in their streets... if only he can get the footage.And finally pull himself out of the gutter.

The Ghouls is a horror film that features a great cast, with many familiar faces to Troma fans (Troma released Ferrin's aformentioned first film, the shocking and overly disturbing Unspeakable). Along side Haaga and Musketell The Ghouls cast only gets better, James Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, and the ever so lovely Tiffany Shepis( even though you have to be a die hard Shepis fan to notice where she's at) also appear in the film. .Not since the Hellraiser series have I seen gore and other special effects at this level ,and I say Hellrasier due to the type fo gore this flick has.Once you watch the movie you'll understand couldn't really notice and negative aspects about the film.One of my favorite parts of the movie is the suprise ending.I laughed bu tat the same time was appalled.Now that's entertainment

The Ghouls sways away from the normal horror flick and adds some flair .The Ghouls is deffinatelly a must see for any true diehard horror fan. I knwo it's not even out yet but I'm foaming at the mouth awaiting his next flick.Keep an eye out for The Ghouls in your local video stores.This guy's going somewhere. Spellcaster of Fear