Day 24: Ghoulies

Charles Band's Ghoulies was made in an attempt to cash in on the success of Gremlins, which was released the previous year. Surprisingly, the film bears little to no resemblance to it's inspiration. This is both a good and bad thing in this case. Nobody wants to see a complete ripoff but with a lower budget. Nobody really wants to a series of boring satanic rituals either.

Johnathon inherits an old mansion when he learns that his estranged father has died. Upon moving into the mansion John informs his girlfriend that he plans to quit school in order restore the old home. Johnathon begins acting strangely and begins performing black magic rituals out of instinct. His dead father is seemingly using Johnathon from beyond the grave to resurrect him.

The consensus states that Ghoulies is actually a horror comedy more than a straight forward horror film. I don't really see it. Most of the actors try to play their roles seriously. Sure the dialogue is cheesy and the actors aren't as talented as they probably believe. But there aren't any moments where the film seems self aware. It just mostly plays out as a bad horror film that's actually trying to be good.

Are you a fan of demon summoning and black magic rituals? If yes, this movie is probably for you. The pacing here is absolutely dreadful. We're given ritual after ritual after ritual for what seems like 3/4 of the movie. The only thing we're given to break up the monotony is a very short but entertaining party scene and an almost sex scene (That ends up being another damn ritual!!) Once the film actually gets going, its pretty good. It just takes what seems like an eternity of ritual scenes to get there.

The Ghoulies themselves don't have much to do for most of the movie. Once they do actually get some action, it's pretty straightforward killing. If Band was planning to cash in on Gremlins couldn't he have at least ripped off the wackiness of the Gremlins? The Ghoulies just kinda wander around awaiting orders from Johnathon. Sure, they look kinda stupid and funny but that doesn't compare to how off the wall the Gremlins are.

The final act of the film is where all the action is. I'm not entirely sure that it warrants an entire watch just to see these scenes. Sure they're good fun and all, but nothing that really separates from any other horror movie out there. If you're in the mood for a good Gremlins inspired small monster film, just stick with Critters.

Body Count:0?

Side Note: The giant Jack in The Box scenes are actually kinda creepy. One of the better things about this time waster. I'm a sucker for a good party scene and this movie has one. It's short, but the dancing is priceless.