This movie could have been so much more and it's a shame there were not just a few changes which would have changed this from a slightly below-average offering to a truly great and well-meaning film.The plot revolves around a detective who is suffering from severe depression and enters psychiatric treatment to try and solve a murder case.As the story progresses it's hard to say whether the lead character is indeed a policeman or simply a very mentally ill man who suffers delusions.The main criticism for me is a complete lack of action during most of the movie. This means the plot is wholly bulked by verbal exchanges and little else. I'll also say a lot of the story is fairly samey and there's no real change of pace at any point.The movie is shot in a gritty way and the acting is good as it doesn't (like a lot of modern acting) feel forced and fake.An hour in and I was thinking this could be something special but overall the problems mentioned above as well as a confusing ending left me unsatisfied.

It's strange: I can go through a phase of watching horror films that actually debilitate because of their lack of originality. They tell the same variations of stories, featuring a gang of deeply unpleasant people being stalked by something horrible, or a house giving up its dark secrets to the latest happily married non-entities to have moved in. It sometimes makes me wonder why I love horror so much, when the limitations film-makers impose upon themselves result in such mediocrity.And then, I can watch a run of utter gems. Often low budget, these are films with something original to say, or at least an original way of presenting an established idea. 'The Ghoul' is one such refreshing example – at times I fought to follow the narrative because I didn't want to lose the thread of interest being weaved around events."Fancy a cuppa? Normal or some sort of gay tea? We've got the lot." Says Doctor Morland (Geoffrey McGivern) cheerily, welcoming depressive Chris (Tom Meeten, who has a look of Neil Gaiman about him) into his home, the unorthodox place where Chris's demons are to be confronted. Meeten plays Chris brilliantly, and through the writing/directing, Gareth Tunley really conveys to us the unending depths of despair he suffers as everybody around him leaves or betrays him. Meeten is immediately engaging and has our sympathies with each new heartbreak – the most callous of all is in the casual abuse dished out by Kathleen (Alice Lowe). All the cast (including Naimh Cusack and Paul Kaye) are excellent, in fact.There are lots of shaky panoramic views of a twilight metropolis: a travelogue of a silhouette city. It's interesting that among the credits, the excellent Ben Wheatley (Director of 'High Rise', 'A Field in England' as well as a couple of Doctor Who stories from 2014) features as executive producer. The sprinkling of such city-scape imagery contrasts with Chris's isolated torment as the demons continue to grow.It would be too easy to dismiss this as another 'were the demons real, or all in his head' essay. 'The Ghoul' has so much more going for it than that. A labyrinthine modern day Lovecraft parable that only disappoints at the end - *because* it ends. The journey is more powerful than the destination, perhaps? Either way, I'll be watching this again more than once, but not so much so that I know each line before it's spoken; I don't want to lose the disturbing, frightening atmosphere. A brilliant film - highly recommended.

Researching this film before watching it, unfortunately convinced me it would be worthwhile, however, it's clear now that I was taken in by IMDb reviews that were planted to give the movie an overall favorable rating. My instinct after the first 15 minutes was to turn it off, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt since many British independent films do tend to start slow and build to a thoughtful and meaningful result. Without giving anything away, do yourself a favor and look up the definition for a Mobius strip and then imagine a very abstract story revolving around that meaning with a multitude of loose ends that are never explained and you'll have saved yourself nearly an hour and a half of boredom and frustration.

The Ghoul is not a horror. It's a highly engaging thriller, I saw at a Q&A screening in London. The story is in some ways reminiscent of Memento and Fight Club, but is completely it's own and highly original.It's about the inner psyche of a paranoid unemployed amateur detective in London who's trying to figure out his own life and his increasingly mysterious hallucinations. When he begins spying on his therapist, he meets another patient, who appears to have severe delusions, and he becomes convinced the therapist is embroiled in an elaborate conspiracy against him.Brilliantly written script, brings into the psyche of the main character while keeping you on the edge of your seat right up until the end. With some really incredible acting, The Ghoul is a highly engaging and satisfying film, despite the incredibly tiny budget it was clearly shot on. Brilliant and thought provoking.