Movie Review: Ghoul School is a Gloriously Absurd Fright Flick Experience!

March 26, 2018

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Steve and Jeff, a couple of hard-luck horror hound losers that attend a high school that has to be down the street from Nuke ‘Em High, find their very existence turned upside down when some thugs accost the school’s janitor looking for some…some…I’m not sure they say exactly…and push a mysterious button that releases deadly toxins into the school’s water supply that turns the student body (more specifically the swim team) into flesh-eating, blue skinned, razor toothed monsters! Along the way, Joe Franklin (ask your grandparents kids) and Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling (ask your parents kids) show up for no reason (well Jackie showed up to throw his merch all over every nook and cranny of the scenery), extreme gore splashes across the screen, hard rockin’ ensues, lines are flubbed, and our “heroes” attempt to save the day!
Low budget, low brow, and gloriously absurd, Ghoul School is a whole heap of fright flick fun! There are plenty of ridiculous lines, questionable acting, over-the-top effects, ghouls gone wild…everything that makes a monster movie a great time!
Along with the frightfully fun feature, alternative cinema have included a high school gymnasium’s worth of beastly bonus features! Kicking things off, you get three (!!!) commentary tracks; one featuring Producer John Fedele, Director of Photography Michael Raso, and Horror Director Henrique Couto, one with Writer and Director Tim O’ Rawe, and finally one with Raso flyin’ solo. All of the commentaries are fantastic, and reveal all the ups and downs of making a low budget fright flick, though O’ Rawe seems particularly down on his creation…which is kinda shit considering horror hounds are still watching and loving his baby 28 years later! After that we get a collection of materials (an investor promo with optional commentary, a “makin of”, a photo shoot for the original DVD release of the film, and the original titles sequence) that show how the film was created and marketed. The investor promo is my single favorite part of this entire release…it’s about as rad-ass a thing as you will ever feast your putrid peepers on! Next up is a great collection of student films (4 in all, and most with optional commentary tracks), by the fine fiends responsible for Ghoul School, that feature some amazingly awesome creature and gore effects! A host of trailers brings up the rear of the supplemental material. Another great bonus is a complete comic book adaptation of the film which actually serves as the film’s packaging. It’s a fun read with art that is a mix between Dan DeCarlo Archie work and Hanna Barbera cartoon crazy!
If you love Troma, or the type of flicks you’d find on USA Up All Night back in ye olden daze, then Ghoul School will knock your sinister socks off; it’s absurd, bizarre, off-the-wall lunacy that doesn’t fail to entertain; and with the selection of bonus material present this is a must own for lovers of gonzo cinema!
 

 


 

Share This Article

You May Also Like…