The Film: 4/5

A bizarre murder in which two victims took multiple gunshots to the head and chest and kept on coming before finally dying has been committed in London, and homicide detective Chris (Tom Meeten) has driven down from “the North” to investigate. Consulting with profiler Kathleen (Alice Lowe), Chris’ search for a potential suspect compels him to go undercover as a patient of psychotherapist Dr. Fisher (Niamh Cusack), who in turn recommends him to the unorthodox psychiatrist Dr. Morland (Geoffrey McGivern) for further treatment. As part of his cover, Chris begins a friendship with the suspect, Michael Coulson (Rufus Jones), who Morland believes to be dangerous and whose seemingly crazed conspiracy theories regarding the ulterior motives of Morland and Fisher distracts the detective from his investigation and leads him down a darker, more disturbing path adorned with murder, madness, and mysticism. Eventually Chris is unable to tell which of his identities is real – the dogged detective or the paranoid, possibly murderous patient.

The feature directorial debut of Gareth Tunley, an actor and television director who has appeared in several films made by the great Ben Wheatley (an executive producer on this film), The Ghoul is a delightfully brooding and intelligent exercise in ambiguity and misdirection. The plot synopsis I described above does not come close to beginning to cover what happens and the twists and turns taken in Tunley’s original script emerge organically rather than being shoehorned into a conventional narrative to give it a little extra shock value. The Ghoul is only 85 minutes long, and yet so much happens in that short amount of time that I feel it necessary to go back and watch it again to see if I missed anything. However, I did pay close enough attention to what was being said and done because the film’s haunting resolution came as little surprise. This film rewards watchful eyes and an open and alert mind, and you’ll need both since Tunley begins throwing out the puzzling shifts in perception before the first act is even finished.

Despite having a title that has been used for horror movies in the past, The Ghoul is no garish fright show delivering cheap thrills to undemanding audiences. It is a slow burn psychological thriller that uses its central character to draw us into a mystery that plays out in the warm and cozy therapists’ offices and homes of varying sizes in an oppressive and unforgiving London. Chris’ apartment – assumed apparently as part of his cover – is a single room claustrophobic nightmare that makes the average prison cell resemble an expensive hotel suite and likely reflects the character’s isolated, intense state of mind. Tunley’s cinematographer Benjamin Pritchard, a veteran of short films and documentaries, finds unnerving majesty in London and Chris prowls its streets by day and observes the cityscape lit up like a Christmas tree once darkness falls. The director puts us in our hero’s shoes as we are immersed in the mind-melting concepts of alchemy, Mobius strips, and more as he is, and not once does anything happen in The Ghoul that is not viewed through his eyes, which become our eyes as well.

Tom Meeten (Paddington) perfectly fits the part of a man constantly on the edge of sanity and plays the role of Chris with empathy and candor. Alice Lowe, who starred in Wheatley’s Sightseers and is best known from the cult classic comedy series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (a personal favorite of myself and at least one other ECAV regular), is excellent as the woman in Chris’ life whose role unexpectedly changes, as does the character of his partner Jim (Dan Skinner, also good). Savoring his expository monologues and skull-cracking interrogations with eccentric charm and wit, Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect on the original BBC radio production of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) makes for a wonderfully abstruse antagonist as Dr. Morland, while Rufus Jones (The Casual Vacancy) convincingly portrays the open honesty and searing intensity of the murder suspect Coulson. Composer Waen Shepherd contributes a fantastic music score alternately ominous and poignant.

Audio/Video: 4/5

Arrow Video’s Region A Blu-ray release of The Ghoul features a sharp and atmospheric 1080p transfer from a high-definition master supplied by the filmmakers and accurately framed in the 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The digital cinematography brings great depth and mood to the film and is perfectly preserved here, with strong and authentic colors and skin tones, balanced grain, and stunning black levels for the night scenes. Overall, the image is crisp, clean, and stable. The sound mix created by Simon Batchelar (A Field in England) is presented with expansive clarity and dimension on the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, with the dialogue coming across audible and interacting splendidly with the active sound design and Shepherd’s original soundtrack. English subtitles have also been provided.

Extras: 4/5

The commentary by Tunley, Meeten, and producer Jack Healy Guttman covers much relevant ground regarding the production of The Ghoul at a relaxed pace with nary a spot of dead air.  The three participants are also interviewed for “In the Loop” (36 minutes), a new behind-the-scenes documentary produced by Arrow Films that supplements their comments with additional contributions from most of the supporting players (including Lowe, Jones, and others), composer Shepherd, and executive producers Wheatley and Dhiraj Mahey. It’s interesting to see how most of the people involved in the film had backgrounds in the U.K.’s alternative comedy scene, on stage and on television (Lowe naturally namedrops Darkplace, making my heart go a-flutter), but the rest of the story is worth watching as well. “The Baron” (9 minutes) is a darkly amusing 2013 short film written by Meeten and Tunley and directed by Tunley. Based on a character developed by Meeten during his comedy performance days, the short comes with optional audio commentary by both the actor and his co-writer/director. The theatrical trailer (2 minutes) closes out the extras on the Blu-ray, which also comes with a collector’s booklet featuring the essay “The Straight Line and the Circle” by writer-filmmaker Adam Scovell, and reversible cover art.

Overall: 4/5

The Ghoul is a riveting mind-bender of a thriller with strongly developed character work, outstanding performances, and a brilliantly-constructed screenplay that demonstrates Gareth Tunley has the chops to be a major filmmaker. This film confounded my every expectation and I love it so. One of my favorite films seen so far this year, Arrow Video’s Blu-ray release, with its great A/V quality and substantial bonus features, make it a worthwhile purchase.