Despite the fact that the genres indicated horror is primarily a fantasy action movie (without the usual fantasy attributes and in a rather unusual setting of criminal Russia of the 90s) and the action movie is extremely suitable! Yes, it is extremely budgetary and the production of the fight is lame. But it is fanatic, as brutal as possible and with a very cheerful soundtrack, in general, I was extremely excited! I don't know why he killed the girl. Sort of to morally break the enemy, make it easier to defeat him, but I'm not sure that's how it works. But in principle, GG is repulsed there, so it is not to say that it does not fit into the image of the character. And in general, I did not immediately get it, but this is literally a budget Russian Blade, released a year before the film adaptation of Blade himself. Just a brain explosion.
Don't believe Bad, he'll advise you to delirium. .
Of the 25 reviews of this, Khm, the creation of domestic cinema, only one negative. 22 positives. As a result, the passing thrash from the 90s has not an outstanding, but quite tolerable rating on the KP. What this creation does not deserve. It hurts me when good, great and even really great movies get bad reviews and bad reviews. But it is very sad when the absolute slag at the same time receives the praise of the audience. The reasons for this phenomenon in this particular case are clear to me: marketer and video blogger E. Bazhenov (aka Bad Comedian) once “licked” this creation on his channel and called it, a little bit like “Russian Blade”! I was younger and dumber at the time, and this is what I want to say. .
The Ghoul is a typical movie from the 90s. Cheap craft, shot by someone, it is unclear how and why. And believe me, this is not a case where enthusiasts without a budget shot something worthwhile. Nope. Not at all.
A horror movie (and a picture of itself is positioned) can be made without a budget. The main thing is to create the right atmosphere. The Ghoul doesn't have either. I can turn a blind eye to the technical flaws of the picture, if it has any other merits, at least a tolerable script. But the Ghoul script is terrible (if it ever was). Here begins the movie. Two vampire hunters come to town. One older, one younger. Even before the opening credits, the eldest of them is killed, and only the hero of A. Serebriakov remains with us. Why should we care? We barely know who it is, we have no idea how they treated each other - they told us nothing. They won't. The authors of FIG, and the audience even more. And that's the whole movie. We are shown some types (I can’t call them characters), some events, then “types” “wet” each other. Okay. That's the whole scenario here. At first, it seems that the idea of crossing a crime film with a vampire theme is not bad, but in fact, no interbreeding has occurred. This is an ordinary Russian movie about bandits, shot in the 90s. Just a set of scenes, heroes and situations. Characters, dialogues - no, not heard. The girl in the plot is present only so that the hero saved her and slept with her. Others appear on screen to be killed in the next scene. There is no question of any disclosure at all.
I’ve already written too much about this movie. He doesn't deserve your attention. Do not believe Bad and his sectarians - this is not a "Russian Blade", but an ordinary meaningless thrash. Even the presence of good actors does not save this craft (because they have absolutely nothing to play here). Come by.
In the late nineties, abandoned and looted Russian cinema was only groping for new branches of development. One of these branches was cut in the bud, but the evidence remains - a unique film Ghoul.
Frequent practice then were genre experiments: Eyramdzhan looked towards plot porn, Kokshyonov invented a brainless comedy, Okhlobystin - an absurd comedy, and film critic Dobrotvorsky and screenwriter Murzenko decided to resurrect folk ghouls in modern Russia.
In a small seaside town, cut off from the mainland by the Gulf of Finland, comes a Specialist armed with a certain device. His work was commissioned by a local authority, frightened by rapidly breeding ghouls, leading a struggle with their brothers for power. What a people they are! They're scumbags! No law, no concepts. They come alive. But the ambiguous finale suddenly poses quite different questions to the viewer.
Dobrovorsky about the film: We're making a not-so-canonical vampire movie, because everybody knows that a vampire needs to be killed with a stake, cut off his head, garlic and whatever. We have a vampire is rather an etheric body, a world evil.
Only here it was the stake that remained in Upyr as the main weapon. A reliable Coke hasn't been invented yet. And the presence of the etheric body is felt here in every frame: it is here and the motivator of the actions of the heroes, and the cause of all events, and simply infernal chthony, paralyzed the city.
Ghoul, of course, is more of a criminal action movie than a horror. Much more screen time here is devoted to the cheerful urine than trying to scare. The film is not scary at all, but very atmospheric, mainly thanks to cheap film, summer Kronstadt, the work of the cameraman Martynov and the music of the Tequilajazzz band.
The film studio Hard Time, which grew out of the creative association Che-Payev, by 1997 already had several low-budget film experiments. A few cheap genre films were supposed to save the young film studio from bankruptcy and start a new wave of Russian cinema - uncompromising and transgressive. But insulted to the depths of zhelvakov Nikita Sergeich, who again headed the Union of Cinematographers, edited a video especially for the next Congress of the Union, in which shots from Upyr alternated with fragments from a street poll, where children and pensioners repeated in different ways the phrase of such a movie we do not need. Besogon himself summed up that it was because of such films that people stopped going to cinemas (although what could they oppose to video salons?), and added: bloody, cruel and senseless. As a result, the film did not receive wide distribution, and at the studio Hard Time was shot another film, after which it closed forever.
Ghoul (1997) Who has lost his heart on the stake, will understand.
Recently returned to this film, another synchronized moment that the group Tequilajazzz April 10 this year played in Moscow their nostalgic concert.
Watch how competently the director Sergey Vinokurov built everything. He did not imitate US film products at all (they have ' crown' thriller card: a stretch of terrain of 600 meters is taken. At these six hundred meters there is a stand-alone & #39, a lock-in & #39, in which there is no logical link for those who are involved there from any other territory of the United States. Zats all ).
Our director did not cut the viewer's visual perspective. A lot of space outside the city, geometric symmetry in the ridges of frozen metal, a lot of air and windy sandy sun over a gray strong stone city. The post-industrial cleanliness, the purged landscape, and the director of all this space -- closed. The viewer has no way to get out of there. As soon as the ramp of a heavy ferry heavily descends, the entire population is on ' Reserve ' territory.
The role of the Girl / Lyudmila Kurepov, the daughter of a local authority (as the librarian called her in his explanations). And all the characters of the film do not lie, telling someone about their specific actions. The librarian, a cock with eyes, spoke his philosophical concept in detail, following his reaction.
Even when the Specialist/Serebriakov found himself in the almost Moorish, architecturally southern, thick arched, softly flaking walls, the Girl explained to him that she had found him by accident. It seems normal, but something is wrong. And the specialist felt it all the time. She said that her father loved her very much, feared for her, only did not explain anything, but kept her to himself constantly, and now she too feels that he is near. It's almost true, too. The girl lists external events. As if she did not hear the meaning of disturbing conversations in the city, and as the father-authority shouted dictionary phrases Specialist about the current socio-demographic situation in the city.
Not the father she ' near ' felt. Maybe someone who has a lot of black, not because he is afraid of light, but because black is the Void in which he inhabits. . .
Very interesting the whole story is written out. Does the Girl have a premonition that someone else will appear, someone else, or is it the presence of the very character stratified in the air, who was watching everyone?
Who is not clear, ' who won ', watch the shadows on the way out.
The innovative plot of Konstantin Murzenko and the script of his friend, Sergei Dobrotvorsky, concerning such a form of need as a ghoul. Cinema with ' hard' breath, but it's breathable, it's a movie of uncontrollable street life. I advise you to watch it not as a movie about a social brew. Do not pinch the perception of the genre type. Watch as a brilliant warning film about the organic personality.
Ghoul as statement about life in post-Soviet world
I have long believed that the “right” creators, making a cult product with the theme motifs in the form of zombie apocalypse or vampire action, actually tell us about something completely different, about what they really care about. Under such “fantasy sauces” make social dramas, and creative research on inequality and the consequences of social stratification, and sketches about the fragility of civilization and humanism. Recently, driven by a fit of nostalgia, he revised the film “Ugur” in 1997 and realized that he had not seen such an accurate statement about post-Soviet life and the atmosphere of the post-Soviet world for a long time, not to mention the fact that the film is worthy of attention from an artistic point of view.
Those who lived in the 90s or were interested in these years, know how different their memories are. Opinions range from “Saint Yeltsin” to “gangster boundless”, from “inevitable market reforms” to “stealed the country”, which always happens at the break of epochs and the change of socio-political formations. Without going into details, I confirm that the time was peculiar, complex and different for everyone. One of the symptoms of modern times was the notorious “brothers”, who climbed out of all the cracks and still do not climb back. The creators of the film came up with a brilliant and lying on the surface solution: to make a noir fantasy-vampire action movie in which a harsh hero destroys bandos-bloodsuckers). And all this was conceived and realized even before "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Blade" and other films, much later rethinking the classic vampire chronicles!
The scene is an isolated town on the island, in which Kronstadt is easily guessed, with its abandoned and rusting ports, unused docks and moorings, empty barracks. And this is the first symbol of the '90s - a lost city, almost deserted, with paralyzed industry and rusting assets. The city here is almost an independent hero, who is secretly present in many scenes: "disassembly" against the background of broken port cranes, the meeting of the hero and his beloved among the scrap metal, a suite of rooms of some industrial enterprise as a lair of ghouls - everything here plays to create an atmosphere of despair, abandonment and the end of the civilized world.
The main character is a man without a past and without a name – charismatic Alexei Serebriakov, still very young, still pretty and athletic. He is the personification of all the heroes of spaghetti westerns and samurai films, and therefore took something from both Clint Eastwood and Toshiro Mifune, and brought his charm – is on behalf of some secret organization engaged in the extermination of vampires, called to protect “normal” bandits from ghouls. Only at the time of his arrival, there are almost no “normal” ones, soon all will be converted by the main bloodsucker Gyur. So far, there is still a “gentle” boss (Igor Shibanov), trembling like a leaf in his apartment, who made an order for a specialist to exterminate evil spirits, but has already changed his mind and abandoned his plans. Everyone convinces the Glavhero to quit the dangerous business and return with a report on the successfully completed work, but only he has a personal account to the Ghoul.
The background of the film in the form of extermination of vampire brothers gave the authors the opportunity to add an entertaining action, although the combat scenes themselves, as well as the film as a whole, are filmed extremely budgetary, but cheap and angry, now you will see this in the cinema, only in an exorbitant grand house. In general, brothers are another of the terrible and iconic things of the 90s. Here they are in all the “beauty”: in mandatory black leather jackets, walking on a gentle hair dryer, dangerous and cruel, die in packs with stakes in their hearts. All this takes place under the “branded” guitar sound of early Tequilajazzz, sometimes sticky as time, sometimes tough as a stake, hammered into the heart.
And here we come to the most important thing: the theme of the 90s in “Ugur”. I do not know whether the creators of the film invested this meaning or it happened, but the main villain Ghoul with the film acts as some inevitable evil: I do not understand where and do not understand why, but seriously and for a long time, and therefore - you need to survive. As in the perestroika and disintegration of the country, as in the crisis, as in the epidemic. Here everyone survives as they can: some have settled in, and others have left, others are six with the hope of getting into a new life, others resist with varying degrees of success. No wonder the Ghoul is present the whole film secretly as the main motivator of the actions of all the characters, as the cause of all events, but show it only in the last ten minutes of the film and in the most unexpected way (I will not spoiler). Especially amusing looks the stream of reflections of the “blessed”, telling about previous events in the spirit of “what country has passed. li”: they say, life has gone wrong now, authorities and thieves’ traditions are not respected, the crowned thief “king” who arrived in the city was kicked out like a shivka, etc.
As it turned out for a strong artisan, director Sergei Vinokurov – I do not mind, after “Ugur” he did not shoot for a long time, now he works on various TV series “about the Caucasus and about Chechnya, and about special forces”. Although it is possible that in this he was strongly “suggested” by the permanent Nikita aka Besogon Mikhalkov, who managed to pour the film in absentia, without ironing, with such crap that the prospects for the development of the genre came to naught.
The main disadvantage of the picture: excessive budget and minimal financial investments in everything that is especially noticeable on special effects and staging scenes of fights.
Rarely what movies of the 90s can now be watched without irritation and the desire to immediately press the off button. "Ghoul" can be watched, even without paying attention to the numerous generic problems of Russian perestroika cinema. By the way, in 2014, Badcomedian shot a video for the Ghoul and recommended it for viewing.
P.S. It is not available on film services, it is available on YouTube.
In a small town, a ghoul appears, who turns the local bratva into his subordinates. Then two hunters come to the city to restore order and deal with bloodsuckers. But one of them is quickly killed and the second has to act alone.
The film was shot for pennies at not the best time for Russian cinema. In 1997, a few domestic paintings were released on the screens. It was an experiment: to make a vampire horror on Russian soil, combining the theme of bloodsuckers with gangster. By the way, the realities of the criminal world of that time here look authentic and without any gloss. In fact, the film has its own atmosphere. Another thing is that from the technical side everything is very weak, and the meager budget is striking (the film was shot in Kronstadt in two weeks and almost one take).
In many ways, here helps the picture playing Alexei Serebryakov in the lead role. He just exudes brutal and charisma. The soundtrack from Tequilajazz adds a lot to the atmosphere and tangibility of what is happening on the screen. The picture can be called a kind of horror noir of post-Soviet bottling. Well, to the credit of the authors, they did not make a straightforward and predictable ending, making an open ending and catching up with philosophy on the theme of good and evil.
In general, this Blade turned out in Russian, a year before it, with a domestic flavor.
Sergey Vinokurov shot a very non-standard picture in the genre of horror and fantasy. It is unconventional because the realities of the 90s are very pronounced against the background of everything that is happening, and it would seem, how can we combine our original crime with the genre that at that time was just opening up before our domestic audience? It is possible!
It is not necessary to evaluate this film from a technical point of view, but from the ideological side this film is quite unusual. Taking advantage of creative freedom, the authors were able to contribute to our hardened genre a large share of fantasy action film. In the reviews, many wrote that if this picture did not present a line of gangster showdowns between local authorities – the movie would simply be incomprehensible. But in my opinion, the already worn-out topic of ghouls and vampires was beautifully revealed in this film. It fits perfectly into the plot and one does not interfere with the other in any way. Usually in vampire-themed paintings, for the most part, the problem of the eternal life of these creatures prevails, but Upyr has a slightly different philosophy. And everyone watching this movie will understand it in their own way.
And imagine what would happen if in our time and the same director decided to shoot something like this... The scene and the overall theme would have remained the same, but the plus would have been the quality and a darker atmosphere. The character of the main character is left as he is, but the role of the other actors to pull out of the image of the brothers of the 90s and transform into a modern way. Perhaps it would be a strong noir fantasy.
I'm sorry for being too imaginative, but sometimes a fresh look at old things is necessary. Especially in the piggy bank of domestic cinema to this day you will not find worthy paintings of this genre. We have not removed anything better, and apparently the situation will not change in the coming decades.
Russian realities gave rise to similar pictures. In difficult years for cinema, in order to avoid the collapse of the Gorky film studio, an atypical for that period film in the genre of a mystical thriller appeared.
Although “Ugur” is mostly a standard Russian action movie, with criminal authorities and naive scenes of shootings, it breaks through an unexpected mystical storyline in which, in general, it is not clear which is worse: criminals or ghouls? And the ghouls in the film are quite canonical - not reflected in the mirror, killed only by a aspen stake creatures sucking human blood.
And amid this mystical realism, against the background of old rotten buildings and the grayness of the surrounding world, you can see a wonderful psychological drama - the struggle of the protagonist with himself.
The protagonist, being an ideal weapon, does not spare anyone - neither those ghouls, nor his fleeting love, nor himself.
It is clear that the film had a hugely small budget and the focus was not on the visual component, but on the plot and its characters. In the film, strong characters are detailed characters played by remarkable actors.
There was a complaint about the musical accompaniment. Tequilajazz soundtracks fit perfectly into the picture, the problem is that they are not always appropriate.
In general, the "Ghoul" produces a strange but positive impression, forcing after viewing, for a while, to think about the picture.
A parable. Without extra sentiment, as it should be, when we are not talking about some mythical evil spirits, but about normal bloodsuckers, of flesh and other things, quite comfortably coexisting side-by-side with their food - normal people. They were, are and will be ' Nineties' the last century is not an exception, but on the contrary - a season of increased activity, when our reality represented a continuous quarantine zone. The whole point of the film is in the words of one of the characters:
' - You know, they drink blood from the people. . . '
- nothing to add. And beautiful, manic-pleasant uncompromising Glavger, to demand the viewer - no one will remain alive, only so - Old Testament uncompromising. Especially pleased with the ellipsis in the final - no hepiends, otherwise it can not be. And the grayness in the frame in a mixture with the soundtrack make the desired atmosphere, heavy within reasonable limits.
A good, underrated movie.
I expected much more meaning, because the film was shot in difficult times and not only for cinema, but also for the country as a whole. To present our criminal brothers as such ghouls who hold the whole city in fear, there is no innovative idea, it was spinning, and it is spinning in everyone’s head. They have sucked all the blood of the people, and when their time has passed, they put on expensive suits and now sit in high offices. Still parasitic, soaking up to his confused electorate. What do you get from them?
You might be disappointed if you start comparing it to Blade. I'm sorry, but it's a rather stupid occupation, absolutely two different paintings, even in genre and especially in its presentation. Vampires are only nominally present, the stakes in their chests are quite real, which are indicative as a boiling point - it is reached, violence only breeds violence. Complete victory of evil spirits, but there is no other way, rebirth through defeat – the struggle will surely resume, but people will become a little smarter.
It can be noted atmosphericity, which even though absorbs the viewer only partially, but it has its own unique style. The picture is interesting and it is enough to sit until the final credits.
No matter how through poverty, but the acting pitch was still above average. Any actor who had at least a little text was distinctive and despite this organically fit into the overall picture.
The film can be recommended for viewing, although I will not have a desire to see it again, but it will do well for once. If there is an irresistible desire to see a sea of special effects and wildly staged fights, then pass by, this is clearly not the movie.
The dark world of the 90s will open before us, the devastation in the streets and in the minds of people, the once great power has become a gloomy shadow, it seems that the worst can not happen and yet it happened. A ghoul appeared in a remote town. The caretaker who had to report him decided to retreat from his duty, he became curious about the reason for the ghoul's interest in bandits, he thought that for the first time in the entire struggle with this dishonesty, evil will do good in the time of good and made a mistake.
Year, genre and country creator can scare away the viewer. I confess that I myself postponed watching, but still decided thanks to Serebriakov, who I consider one of the best actors of our time. And he wasn't disappointed. The script is executed at a height, the characters’ features, their ambivalent, and sometimes not decisive, are subtly noted, since that time was as crucial and uncertainly dark as the soul of a ghoul. A good selection of actors, everyone appears at his due time. The intrigue is the appearance of the vampire, his essence as well as his chosen face will open only at the very end. Amazing background, natural, spacious and gray. The city, once large and industrial, has become a ghost. Music only enhances the mystical atmosphere. But the main advantage is the style. There is no familiar to the public trends of Brem Stoker or Hollywood horror films, in everything you can guess the icy breath of the works of Tolstoy and Gogol.
The denouement of the film remains open, the preceding battle, though shrouded in mystery, gives us an idea of what really happened. It kind of draws a line under the main character: what he has become - a ruthless hunter able to pierce the heart of his beloved and what he was - a man with a strong will, wanting to live. The ghoul, although given a minimal role, still got the most important idea of the film. He is a pure crystal, colorless, seeking meaning, color, image in the world around him. When he was among the bandits, the ghoul took them for his background and absorbed them like them, but the appearance of the hunter opened up for him the opportunity to leave the city that had bored him and start over. Will he be able to defeat the hunter and leave the city and will become the main mystery, as in the last fight will meet two halves of one person – a ghoul hunter.
A violin boat with a frowning rower quietly carries another soul through the waters of the Styx. No one willingly wants to go to the dark Hades, where there is no daylight, and the cries of sinners sound terrible cacophony. The gloomy atmosphere of the ancient Greek realm of the dead is not difficult to transfer to the screen, would be a suitable city, vehicle and escort for a new guest. All this was found in a remote Russian province, where a mentor and his student arrived with an unusual task. They will not conduct seminars, but hunt ghouls, because in essence this is the only thing that interests them in life. Hidden evil pretty soon makes itself felt - blood-sucking wounds from a bite on the teacher's neck force the young man to take a stake in his hands and make a strong blow. Now the hunter is alone in an unfriendly place, where there are no allies, and around the opponents are secret and obvious. He is looking for a purpose, because the order is executed, and, according to his own code, must be executed at all costs.
In the legends of Nosferatu, all the colors of the gloomy palette describe the campaigns of the restless dead for fresh blood, but in every settlement that has become a refuge of vampires, one day finds his chosen one, whom the stepsons of the night fear. The images of these hunters have few in common. Neither Stoker’s Van Helsing nor Marvel’s Blade would fit into the atmosphere of a silent provincial town where voracious bloodsuckers have built their nest. This cursed land needed its own "cleaner", in Bessonian verbose, reliable and ruthless. And although outwardly Alexei Serebriakov does not resemble Jean Renault, the role of a vampire fighter suited him flawlessly. In fact, the domestic hunter for evil spirits is the same “fan” from the perestroika cinema, who has grown up, but never learned something more interesting than his craft. Only now Serebryakov demonstrates in practice not the effectiveness of karate-do techniques, but enters into a duel with an unknown enemy who needs a mysterious device that identifies a ghoul under a human guise. The dual essence of the avenger is emphasized even by the characteristic combination of a snow-white shirt and a black leather jacket. Elusively, he turns into a damned guard, living only as long as he has someone to hunt.
Captivating in its horror Transylvania on the screen could not be – the budget of the production determined a very ascetic design of the film. But an amazing thing: to create an environment of a cruel city, drowned in impurities due to the abundance of sins of its inhabitants, such a modest approach turned out to be the most true. The allegorical film language of Sergei Vinokurov reliably conveyed the characteristic picture of our country of the 90s. The gloomy years, which are called “dashing” or “fat”, are recreated with the help of numerous details that complement the contour features of the unknown city. The inhabitants of this God-forgotten place are similar in expressing their fear, and therefore no one is happy with the “savior” that everyone sees in him the same ghoul he came for. Around and everywhere there is devastation, what can we say if the main “authority” is like a driven wolf, into which a hunting bullet is about to scream. Vinokurov created his people as meaningless creatures unable to resist the suffocating atmosphere of despair. Invading the urban silence with thunderous rolls, the chords of the rock band Tequilajazzz become almost the only proof that life has not yet died in the cursed lands, and at the same time indicate that the film belongs to its time: a cool fighter is a cool soundtrack.
Repeatedly, the characters of the film will look anxiously into the mirror - evil penetrated too deep into the city's womb, and, in fact, became one with him. Vampires are not reflected in glass, which does not prevent them from successfully existing in an atmosphere of universal illusion. The long campaign of the silent hunter became a symbol of the impasse in which our country was at the turn of the last century. On the example of a fictional city, Sergei Vinokurov reproduced a fragment of Russian history in miniature. People’s fear of an invulnerable enemy is a mirror of people’s fear of change that invades our lives without asking for readiness. Inexorable time quickly broke the fashion for the "brothers", which is why they are depicted in such a popular "fist" style. Disdainful of moral norms, they were the very inhumans who could be called vampires, ghouls, or gullies, but the essence remained the same. Swamped by the muddy waters of lawlessness and general disillusionment, the country willingly accepted into the ranks of its elect people capable of "solving issues." Hiding the climax of the film at the end, Vinokurov provided the opportunity to choose whether the hunter was just a tracing of the criminal idols of past years or deserves to be the personification of the era. The modest fame of the Ghoul did not affect the classification of it as a high-quality fighter with a bias towards mysticism. A quiet city is a quiet hero. It flashes like a shadow, but will always be there when the time comes to plunge a sharpened stake into someone’s chest.
Especially for those who assess the budget spent money, the promotion of actors and the latest 3D special effects: the tinkering in the frame of sophisticated transformers and avatars will never replace the real game of actors, a well-chosen soundtrack and “atmosphere”, which is “born” by a talented director. “Brother” Balabanov, “Pulp Fiction” Tarantino, “Cards, Money, 2 Guns” by Guy Ritchie – these are like “Ghoul” films created on small budgets, but entered the history of cinema and which can be reviewed again and again. What’s the point that Fedor Bondarchuk spent a lot of money on “9 Company” and “Uninhabited Island” – more than once these “masterpieces” are unrealistic to watch, the same can be said about “Avatar” Cameron and the new “Star Wars” Lucas - spent a lot of money, in the frame everything flies, molds and explodes, and despite many enthusiastic reviews, I personally never for a second did not leave the feeling of fabulousness and unreality of what is happening on the screen, although the same Cameroonian "Aliens", when the skin feels the dampness of the steel rusting walls of the abandoned base of colonists on LV-426, the shock and confusion of space paratroopers, just recently laughing at the waiting danger, and the horror of the death of people infected with the larvae of the aliens, the same and the early episode of the massive Star, which is destroyed by the 3-million-year-old Stars. I apologize for such a retreat, but I just wanted to say that the atmosphere of the film is not always its saturation with the latest special effects, here it is more important revolutionary, the experience of the actors of the roles and the director of the whole picture in himself.
And as for the “Ghoul”, the game of Serebryakov a kind of “terminator of domestic vampires”, his short haircut, leather jacket, confident look, stiffness of strokes and movements, played just flawlessly. The role of the “authority” sweating with horror, trapped in the apartment, who is afraid of every rustle outside the door, is also impeccably conveyed. In general, the film is strong precisely by the play of actors, the plot, the atmosphere, the chosen place for filming, the strong soundtrack of Tequillyjaz, which, by the way, enters the most necessary moments with the right composition and all this gives rise to an indescribable atmosphere of doom, abandonment, horror and rigidity, which must be opposed to all this in order to survive. This film I want to put on the same shelf with “Brother”, as a rare masterpiece of that time, from a huge number of really tasteless then and today domestic thrash.
I watched this movie in the late nineties... I was 18 or 19 years old at the time and it was a secondary film. I only remember the soundtrack. But I've gotten a lot older, and I just happened to come across this movie. Over the years I have become a good photographer and gained some knowledge about composition and so on, plus just got older.
And I'll tell you, this movie is amazing! just list why:
- Operator's job is great! The angles are chosen perfectly, the picture is simply fascinating - bravo. And the installation is just right.
- The sound deserves a separate conversation. The music of Tequilajazzz generates an incredible tense atmosphere.
- The plot is as simple as two pennies, but there is absolutely nothing superfluous. Surprisingly, I have absolutely no complaints about him. And the ending was pretty good.
- The actors are all in their seats. And young Serebriakov is generally good. Minimum words, maximum action. A real hero, though not quite as positive as it turns out at the end. .
- And most importantly, the atmosphere! The film captures from the very first frames and keeps in suspense until the very end. If you try to find an analogue of this film, then in my memory only the Raven with Brandon Lee pops up.
The film was made by talented people. And let it be cheap, on bare enthusiasm, but everyone seriously approached his business, with a soul! Thank you to them.
I can tell you right away: it is likely that in this review I will think. I will pull out of the film what is not there, and what the creators of “Ghoul” in it and not invested. But it's essentially postmodern. You have before you a cultural text and you see in it what you want to see, you turn it in all directions, being free from unambiguous interpretations.
I will start with what I immediately liked, what I noticed or what I was surprised by:
1) Aesthetic. This point is very important and paradoxical. As a result of the transfer of the mystical component to a purely everyday aesthetic, the theme of vampirism played with new colors. We have nothing here that translates into a full-fledged romantic story or action in the full sense of the word. No Gothic towers and bats, bloodied lips and languid eyes with a breathy appeal: "Come-and-and-me..." We have a picture in the form of a Russian provincial small-caliber household, which is only a metaphor. Magical realism, if you will. You’ll never see someone bite you in a movie about vampires. For the indicated genre of the picture is a very cool move.
2) Location: A provincial port city that can only be reached by ferry. (The classic myth is that vampires cannot pass through running water.) Read Montagu Summers and other researchers. Despite the fact that the characters say that the whole series of events revolved unexpectedly and suddenly, I make the assumption that the vampirism in the film is not a foreign or incoming infection, but a phenomenon that was cultivated, nurtured and formed in ourselves. By ourselves. In such a local closed society. The film somehow casually mentions whether the visitor Ghoul or not, but it is not presented as something infernal and diabolical.
(3) Conditionality of the scene and characters. Schematicity reveals the character of the characters where the character is needed and masks the details where they need to be hidden. Abstract city, minimum identification marks, labels, advertising, no-name characters, only symbols or nicknames: authority, librarian, Ushnoy, Ghoul... The main character’s clothes, so slightly official, which says nothing about his belonging to any subculture and so on, only heavy shoes can talk about his possible military past, or a cigarette in his teeth about a possible prison, the hairstyle can generally talk about the first and second. Colors of the hero: black and white top, black bottom. Clothes of ghouls and their minions: black and white top, white bottom. I say again, perhaps this is my invention, and the clothes bought at random, based on a meager budget. But somehow, visually, it turned out to be a clearly lined line.
(4) The resulting from the previous paragraph is a certain parable of the narrative, aphorism and conciseness of the dialogues. Reflexive, often seeming illogical actions of the characters.
5) Music. St. Petersburg to every note of the Tequilajazz soundtrack. Where you need a pumping, melancholy, neutral, dirty and at the same time very stylish, with such a tin alternative sound. One of the most memorable soundtracks in domestic cinema.
(6) Acting and dramaturgy. Everything is so in its place that it is amazing. Minimum star faces, maximum fit into the situation of types. Alexey Serebryakov is a unique actor who carries the combination and experience of both the old, Soviet and modern acting schools, an actor-analyst, an intellectual digger, an actor of unlimited possibilities. A man with tremendous energy in the film, with an inner core, he carried the mystery and intrigue of his character to the end, without splashing a drop. Thanks to this, the type of a new hero was formed on the screen.
7) Film crew work. The coolest locations and colors, cellars with tiled walls, illuminated by such a green hospital light, dark post-apocalyptic catacombs, in which Serebriakov resembles Stalker Andrei Tarkovsky, craggy houses, deserted streets - an exact hit. That’s when this famous perestroika “black” works and works 100%. The 90s are a historically troubled and difficult time, which destroyed and swept away a lot. If this stain of our period history had not happened, this film would not have been born. It is so deeply imbued with these post-construction winds (the 1997 film), winds of discomfort and anxiety, lingering depression, breakdown and reassessment of values that this atmosphere flows through every frame in ascetic shooting, in a colorless video series, urban sound series. '90s Child movie. Vinokurov, Murzenko and Dobrotvorsky very accurately and at the same time in their own way caught the necessary trends, very original, non-standard. In this respect, "Ghoul" is definitely an author's film.
(8) Questioning. For the formulation of the most important question: “Who is the ghoul here?” a completely simple, I would say, perfect in its simplicity technique was chosen. Artistically loyal. I’m talking about the moment when Serebryakova’s hero meets the main ghoul in the catacombs in the final. This is exactly what you need: a very talking, metaphorical, and therefore not seeming banal final scene. It puts all the dots on the i very clearly and, I think, exposes the very essence of the whole story. Remember when the protagonist goes deep into the catacombs, and his device reacts to a ghoul that is somewhere nearby, flying through the corridors with an alarm. Who's the machine responding to? A ghoul? Or the hero Serebryakov, who, moving further and further along the damp, gloomy corridor towards the enemy, plunges himself deeper and deeper into the darkness? The further it goes, the more the device "screams" ... And yet, notice, in the final dialogue of the two opponents - the antagonist Ugur cries, and the main "positive" hero does not. He's indifferent.
“Ghoul” by Sergey Vinokurov is a film about an emerging new formation of people and a new formation of crime in particular. About how the earth, or rather its dark and bright side sheds its skin, changes the cover. About how in these incredibly depressive 90s it was not at all clear: who is alive and who is walking dead. It is incomprehensible who is man and who is only his shell, the dark spirit that was formerly incorporeal and has now materialized into the most suitable form. It's about what kind of reality we have when ghouls walk around freely and thrive convincingly. There is another force, and for every action you take, nature, circumstances, fate, or higher forces will always find opposition. And that opposition may be at the other end of the spectrum. About how a seemingly living person turns into a “bare calculation”, a walking reflex, which smells dead no less than from a ghoul. And a lot more...