Ghoul is a dark, horror and thriller film inspired by real events. The trio of filmmakers go to Ukraine to shoot a unique documentary about cannibalism. The terrible famine of 1932-1933 drove a lot of local people into horrific deeds. Unexpectedly, their search begins to connect with the story of one of the most perverted criminals in modern history, cannibal Andrei Chikatilo. For a period of 12 years, he committed over fifty brutal murders after which he partially ate his victims.
Together with a local interpreter, a guide and a psychic, the film crew uncovers the secrets of the house where everything took place. However, in an abandoned house in the middle of Ukrainian forests, the filmmakers and their entourage soon become involuntary prisoners. The cramped feeling within the walls of the house turns into frightening encounters with another world. The intention to make a documentary changed to a terrifying struggle for life. Nobody knows who or what is OUT THERE ...
With Ghoul, you can expect a film exactly as you would from a horror film made in a documentary way. Film in the best possible quality, directed by Petr Jakl, who completely amazed me with this long-term project and whom I remember from his previous film about famous Czech murderer Jiri Kajinek.
Filming started in Kiev and gradually moved towards the Russian-Ukrainian border. It was filmed right in a place where the killer Chikatilo lived, and all the locals knew about his cannibalistic lifestyle. The film crew often walked into the forests, which the locals warned them about because they could meet wild wolves and bears - but the crew had no choice. During the filming, Petr Jakl also managed to find people who remembered the famine from the first half of the 20th century. In addition to Ukraine, Ghoul was also filmed in California.
Not only were the audience in cinema scared, but according to Petr Jakl also the actors during the filming. "Some were so afraid that they wanted to give up filming in real places of ancient tragedies," says the director.