Towards the Wetland Monsters The first Belarusian horror, the first Belarusian slasher Usually they say so, if nothing else especially can not take and other advantages upcoming picture has no. Therefore, I treat such statements with great skepticism. It was with this that the PR of the Ghouls began from the stage of preparation for the shooting two years ago - in the summer of 2017. I remember the scale and zeal with which the same A. Kureychik and his team advertised their creation: the first video, the drawn introductory part, photos and reports from the scenes ... and then everything went quiet. As with all Belarusian films, he closely followed the project from its initial stage, but he did not expect anything special from the Ghouls. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t disappointed in the movie.
Removing a slasher is not at all easy, as it may seem. Due to the huge variety of horror subgenres and the equally giant stream of films released by hundreds of monthly around the world, the viewer has long been fed up and expects a certain highlight from the next film, but as practice shows, such pictures are units. And the Ghouls, unfortunately, are not among them. All the same long-tried and rather annoying techniques like a sharp sound, the sudden appearance of creatures and strange strangers screaming at the camera distorted faces (who are more afraid of their absurdity than cause horror). Add to this the completely ill-conceived history of the characters, their images, which the actors are never allowed to reveal. What's in smugglers' boxes? Why does a bag of money miraculously appear in some, then in others, third heroes? Where did many of them go, just disappearing at a certain point in the film? Did you have any questions like this when you watched? All this suggests an ill-conceived, somewhere hastily crafted scenario.
Sound was also underperforming. Often (almost all the episodes in the car, as well as on the clearing) it was simply not heard what the characters were talking about. Music (not bad, by the way, selected and organically conveying certain moods of moments) just drowned them out. The actress who played Pauline constantly lacked expression. She seemed to convey her own indignation, constant discontent, but she did it somehow sluggishly. Chinese Xiang came out as some template one-sided character, without a certain highlight. In general, the company is quite predictable. Pampered bitch Masha, her friend Pauline is the complete opposite (most of the plot ran with a bag on her head, I wonder what it was like to play the actress herself?), a boyfriend from France and a Chinese, who does not know where he came from and generally how much the plot needs.
Enough in the film and blunders, absurdities and frankly sagging moments. Polina is surprisingly well versed in the woods... with a bag on her head, an episode with a cobblestone blow to the head, numerous beatings, but that’s not all – it’s still only the middle of the film. The car works with a tape recorder and light in the cabin. This can be listed for quite a long time. But the main thing for a film of this genre is to keep the viewer in suspense. And if in the interval of 20 - 35 minutes the creators somehow succeed (the episode with the lost village). Then the viewer is waiting for a long monotonous period of hanging out with four young people in the forest. They drink vodka, have fun, make love. And all this is so smooth that it quickly becomes boring. Where are those ghouls, monsters, whipping up intrigue? The last 20 minutes are traditionally a new round of tension. However, watching the contact of heroes with monsters, rather, you can not hide smiles from the wildness and stupidity of their reaction. Personally, I saw how the audience in the hall laughed wildly, watching a ghoul twitching on a stake, Masha’s fight with a swamp monster with a fire extinguisher, etc. And it wasn't scary at all. In my opinion, this is the main disadvantage of the picture, along with the short acting of the actors and the script, to which many questions remain.
But even that could be forgiven. Some aftertaste, a feeling remotely resembling fear, still remained near the end of the viewing, if not for its final chord. The episode with the anthem at the very end just “merged”, sorry, you know where, the whole impression. Out of place, out of topic and out of place? What exactly did the creators of the Ghouls want to say? Just once again “fight”, as throughout the picture? (I recognize the corporate style of A. Kuerichik, so clearly manifested in the same “Partizanfilm”). Although the genre of comedy for the film is not indicated. And this greatly interrupted my impressions of the picture.
Still starting the project and PR his film, the creators went from the opposite. As always pouring mud on “Belarusfim”, which A. Kureychik does constantly (do not expect another) producer and one of the authors of the script said that there is no need to spend 800-900 thousand dollars, creating weak pictures, we will spend less on “Ghouls”. Another question is why spend 150 thousand (this is only for filming) and remove blatant slag, which even on TV is unlikely to show?
Still, for the magnificent landscapes, I decided to add an assessment. What pleased the film was the masterful work of the operator. Well-chosen panoramic shots, locations. Amazing Belarusian nature, which dominates the frame. You just enjoy it.
6 out of 10