A tedious and silly horror flick, filmmaker Kentarô Hagiwara’s Tokyo Ghoul—based on a popular Japanese manga series—is set in an alternate reality where "ghouls" live among humans. Since they are indistinguishable from people, it’s hard to recognize a predatory ghoul who may look normal on the outside but is just waiting to catch and eat someone. Which is precisely what happens to college student Ken Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) while on a date with a seemingly demure girl (Hiyori Sakurada). Surviving the assault, Kaneki discovers that he has been turned into a half-ghoul (why only half?) during hospital treatment, a horrifying change that makes him a reluctant monster who can only tolerate humans as food. Falling in with a group of ghouls cared for by an older café owner, Kanecki finds a place where unwanted and criminalized ghouls help one another. Subtlety would have gone a long way here, but this is a movie in which monsters sprout vine-like tentacles from their backs to amputate and kill others with (which looks cheesy and laughable). Along the way, almost every conceivable bodily fluid is spilled by the bucketful. And lead actor Kubota’s whining and shrieking only encourages viewers to side with ghouls who are looking to eviscerate him. Not recommended. (T. Keogh)
Tokyo Ghoul
Funimation, 120 min., not rated, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $34.99 Volume 33, Issue 4
Tokyo Ghoul
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