There’s bad horror, and then there’s Ghoul — a Czech 3D found-footage movie that somehow manages to make cannibalism, communism, and demonic possession feel like an Ambien overdose. Directed by Petr Jákl, this 2015 “horror” film allegedly combines the true history of the Holodomor famine with the legend of Andrei Chikatilo, the Soviet serial killer who ate people for breakfast and still had more charisma than anyone in this cast.
The idea sounds promising: American filmmakers travel to Ukraine to document historical cannibalism and accidentally summon the spirit of the USSR’s most infamous man-eater. What could go wrong? Well — everything. Everything could go wrong.
1. Found Footage Fatigue: Now in 3D!
Let’s start with the format. Ghoul is shot in “found footage” style — which in 2015 was already the cinematic equivalent of that leftover Halloween candy you find in February: stale, sticky, and regrettable.
But Petr Jákl, not content with mediocrity, decided to make it 3D found footage. Because if you’re going to waste the audience’s time, you might as well make it physically uncomfortable, too. Nothing screams “immersive horror” like grainy night vision and shaky handheld shots of people arguing in the dark — now popping out of the screen like a migraine in stereoscopic glory.
2. The Plot: A Borscht of Bad Ideas
The setup is simple: a trio of American documentarians — Jenny (Jennifer Armour), Ethan (Jeremy Isabella), and Ryan (Paul S. Tracey) — head to Ukraine to film a documentary about cannibalism during the 1930s famine. Because apparently, “Yelp reviewer visits Chernobyl” was too subtle.
Once there, they meet Katarina, a psychic with the emotional range of a malfunctioning Roomba, who warns them that evil spirits still haunt the land. Naturally, our brave Americans respond by drinking, mocking Slavic superstition, and performing a séance inside a haunted farmhouse. Because if horror movies have taught us anything, it’s that white people can’t resist a pentagram when vodka is involved.
During the séance, they “accidentally” summon the spirit of Andrei Chikatilo — the real-life cannibalistic murderer who terrorized the Soviet Union. If you’re unfamiliar with Chikatilo, imagine Hannibal Lecter, but with worse hygiene and a Soviet passport.
After that, strange things happen: doors slam, cameras flicker, people scream, and viewers begin to realize that death might be preferable to sitting through another hour of this movie.
3. The Characters: Bland, Drunk, and Disposable
The Ghoul crew is a masterclass in making you root for the supernatural villain. Jenny, Ethan, and Ryan are the kind of people you’d actively ghost after one group chat. They spend half the movie drinking and insulting locals, and the other half pretending they’ve never seen a horror film before.
Ethan is the obnoxious alpha male who thinks ghost-hunting is foreplay. Ryan is the brooding cameraman whose defining character trait is “owns a camera.” Jenny, bless her, has “final girl” energy, but she’s trapped in a script that treats character development like it’s optional.
Even the psychic, Katarina, is written with all the depth of a fortune cookie. She’s supposed to be their mystical guide, but she mostly serves as a delivery system for vague warnings like, “He is coming!” or “We must not disturb the spirits!” before immediately doing exactly that.
When she eventually becomes possessed, you don’t feel fear — just relief that at least someone in the movie is finally acting.
4. The Ghost of Chikatilo: Hangry from Beyond the Grave
You’d think that summoning a cannibalistic Soviet ghost would lead to some truly horrific moments. Instead, we get a series of half-baked jump scares and blurry close-ups of people hyperventilating.
Chikatilo’s spirit, when it finally appears, looks like the ghost of a man who died of boredom waiting for the plot to kick in. He’s less “terrifying manifestation of evil” and more “uncle who shows up uninvited to your BBQ.”
The violence, when it comes, is both offscreen and underwhelming. One by one, the crew members disappear, scream, or get dragged into shadows by invisible forces — basically the Paranormal Activity playbook, except without the suspense, coherence, or budget.
By the time the psychic is possessed and the ghost starts his “killing spree,” the audience is long past caring. The scariest part isn’t the murder — it’s realizing you still have 30 minutes left.
5. The Holodomor: The Tragic Backdrop Nobody Asked For
Now, here’s where things get uncomfortable. The Holodomor — the real-life famine that killed millions of Ukrainians — is one of the darkest chapters in 20th-century history. So naturally, Ghoul decides to use it as background flavor for a movie about… haunted shower curses and ghost cannibals.
It’s like making a Ghostbusters sequel set in Auschwitz — tonally offensive and creatively bankrupt. The film tries to blend historical tragedy with supernatural horror, but the result is less “thought-provoking social commentary” and more “awkwardly racist travel vlog.”
Every time someone mentions the famine, you half-expect a title card saying “Based on actual suffering (but, you know, not really).”
6. Found Footage Logic: Because Common Sense is for the Living
Like every found-footage movie ever made, Ghoul relies on the audience accepting that the characters would keep filming while being hunted by evil spirits. Even as people die, the camera keeps rolling, because apparently documenting your own death in HD is worth more than survival.
We’re supposed to believe that these Americans — trapped, starving, and terrified — are still managing perfect framing and sound design. I’ve seen TikToks shot with more realism.
And the 3D element? Completely wasted. Not once does a severed limb or demonic face pop out at you. The only thing that jumps is the audience’s blood pressure when they realize how much time is left.
7. Performances: Acting So Wooden It Could Ward Off Vampires
Jennifer Armour does her best to make Jenny sympathetic, but the script gives her nothing to work with. Jeremy Isabella and Paul S. Tracey appear to be competing in a contest to see who can overact harder. Every line delivery feels like a high school drama student auditioning for Blair Witch 4: Eastern Bloc Boogaloo.
Alina Golovlyova, as Katarina, deserves credit for managing to look genuinely miserable — though it’s unclear whether that’s acting or just the result of being in this film.
8. The Ending: Because the Director Had to Stop Somewhere
Eventually, everyone dies. Or gets possessed. Or both. The last surviving character screams into the camera as Chikatilo’s ghost closes in, and then — mercifully — the screen cuts to black.
It’s supposed to be chilling. It feels like mercy.
There’s no resolution, no moral, no explanation — just the sense that you’ve wasted 90 minutes of your life watching people make bad decisions in a forest.
9. Why It’s Accidentally Funny
The only thing scarier than Ghoul is how unintentionally hilarious it is. Characters deliver lines like “We shouldn’t have mocked the spirits!” with Shakespearean gravity, seconds before running headfirst into a wall.
The jump scares are so predictable they might as well be on a timer. The music swells every time someone says “Chikatilo” — as if the name itself were a trademarked product. And the 3D effect occasionally makes it look like people are tripping over their own subtitles.
If you watch it drunk, Ghoul might actually work as a dark comedy.
10. Final Thoughts: Found Footage, Lost Cause
Ghoul had potential. The idea of blending true historical horror with supernatural folklore could have been fascinating. Instead, it’s a mess — tonally confused, poorly acted, and edited like a YouTube conspiracy video.
It’s not the worst found-footage horror ever made (looking at you, The Devil Inside), but it’s close. Watching it feels like being haunted by the ghost of better movies.
The only truly scary thing about Ghoul is realizing it somehow got a theatrical release.
Rating: 3/10 — A found-footage film that proves some things should stay lost. The only real ghoul here is the one eating your time.
