Movielogr
Ghoulies (1985)
Directed by Luca Bercovici
Twitter Facebook Google+Most recently watched by noahphex, zombiefreak, sleestakk
Overview
A young man and his girlfriend move into the man’s old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a need to control ancient demons.
Rated PG-13 | Length 81 minutes
Actors
Peter Liapis | Lisa Pelikan | Michael Des Barres | Jack Nance | Peter Risch | Tamara De Treaux | Scott Thomson | Ralph Seymour | Mariska Hargitay | Victoria Catlin | Bobbie Bresee | Keith Joe Dick | David Dayan | Charene Cathleen | Jamie Bronow | Brian Connolly | Annie Stocking | Craig Talmy
Viewing History (seen 2 times)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03/02/2015 | Movie Screen | Film | Theater | 2 stars |
| 10/17/2011 | TV | Streaming | Video on Demand | 2 stars |
| (Average) 2 stars |
Viewing Notes
GHOULIES isn’t the horror movie it tries to make itself out to be; it’s more campy Eighties fantasy than it is campy horror.
Silly me, I thought the movie would be about the titular Ghoulies (the little goblin-like creatures) but for the most part they just sit around, growl and swim in gravy (GREMLINS did it better); a couple of magic dwarves get more screen time than the Ghoulies!
No, the movie is more concerned with Jonathan’s wacky spiral out of control and rise to genetic power than really trying to craft a horror story. In fact, only one bloody death happens in the first 54 minutes (of an 83 minute film), and that in the first two minutes. And the climax is more of an, “Ummm, ok, what?” moment.
Overall, GHOULIES really misses the mark. The writers should’ve paid more attention to the title and resolution of their movie and less to Dungeons and Dragons.
Reading Bonus: Aside from one or two good kills, what saves the film is Mr. Dick, who thankfully survives most of the film and stinks up the place with his sleaze. My favorite beat was this moment, when he says in response to what the group should do, “How about strrrrippp poookkk-errrr?” He’s obviously quite pleased with himself.
Reading Bonus 2: The movie is rife with bad special effects, but the biggest one that stuck out was that the FX people could not get Jonathan’s glowing contacts in straight at any point in the movie, giving him perpetually lazy (but powerful) eyes.
No comments yet. Log in and be the first!