The Ghoul

If you can locate a copy of this exceptional talkie you are indeed fortunate. It took me years to find, yet it was well worth the wait.

The history of this Karloff gem is fascinating. 'The Ghoul' had completely disappeared, not even the trailer survived. Yet in the 1980's (if I remember correctly), a lone nitrate print turned up in Prague, (with Hungarian subtitles) in *appalling* condition. Apparently, the nitrate film had shrunk to a mere third of it's original width, was exceptionally brittle and in a number of pieces yet was effectively restored... albeit not to the quality of it's release. Therefore, I was prepared to overlook the graininess, variable contrast and sound-track distortions.

'The Ghoul' belongs to Karloff. Had the film not vanished it would have become a hardy perennial of late night television horror alongside the Lemalle classics. As for the cast, sets and script (in that order), the film is superior to other horror classics of the period.

The story-line is vaguely reminiscent... an eccentric, terminally ill man (of Egyptian ancestry) decrees that a rare artefact must be entombed with him otherwise trouble will befall. As to be anticipated, the scarab jewel is removed from the hand of his corpse by a tomb robber not long after internment providing the impetus to wreak revenge in the signature fashion.

The quality of the film may distract some viewers, but the atmosphere retains most of it's inaugural impact. Definitely an eight and a half!

Boris Karloff plays a crazy old guy who worships the Egyptian god, Anubis. On his death bed, he swears that if anyone should steal a sacred jewel from his Anubis statue he will return from the dead to exact revenge. Not surprisingly, several very greedy people come along and try stealing the jewel--only to incur the wrath of the zombie Karloff. Despite the whole Egyptian aspect of the film, though, he was not a mummy nor was this just a rehash of THE MUMMY (also from 1933). Overall, it's a rather standard but well-produced zombie murdering the idiots film--not great, but certainly worth seeing.

By the way, in a funny inside joke, there is a parody of the "desert savage" style of film. THE SHEIK, THE SON OF THE SKEIK and THE BARBARIAN were among several films like this and in THE GHOUL, there is a supposed sheik and a lady who is infatuated with this clichéd image of a macho and sexist Middle Eastern lover.

The surprising thing about THE GHOUL is that it features an impressive background score for a film made in '33, when most soundtracks were almost completely devoid of music. This is something the other comments here failed to mention.

The other plus factor is the brilliant B&W photography done in Gothic style to suit the story elements here. An Egyptologist returns from the grave to take revenge on a servant who has stolen a sacred jewel. BORIS KARLOFF is the doctor with his own rules about how to offer sacrifices to Anubis in order to have eternal life.

The pace is slow and there's too much silly banter that features KATHLEEN HARRISON in a role designed to give the audience comedy relief. RALPH RICHARDSON is excellent as a cleric who seems to be a helpful visitor and ERNEST THESIGER is fine as the nervous servant.

The Gothic ambiance is strong with handsome interiors of a house in shadows and the flavor of an "old dark house mystery" is well sustained. Plotwise, there are loopholes and the story only really picks up once Karloff has returned from the grave.

For fans of this genre, this is an interesting film and Karloff's performance is first rate.

On this site there is a criticism which says to stay away from this film because it is incomprehensible. That's correct for the incomplete copies heretofore available. Now MGM Video has released a complete version on VHS and DVD, a very high quality print. The story is very clear now, and this is one of the high end Karloff flicks. If you like vintage horror films, if you're a Karloff fan, if you liked Karloff's "The Mummy," you will like this film.

T. Hayes Hunter's "The Ghoul" of 1933 is certainly not one of the best movies starring the incomparable Boris Karloff, as Karloff sadly doesn't have the screen time one could have hoped for, but it has its qualities and is doubtlessly worth watching, also for the reason that "The Ghoul" was thought of as a lost film for a long time.

Professor Morlant (Boris Karloff), a dying Egyptologist who believes in ancient Egyptian Gods, gives the instructions for his burial to his butler (Ernest Thesinger). Hoping to gain eternal life as a follower of an Egyptian deity, Morlant wants to be buried in a tomb by his mansion, with a statue of his God and a valuable jewel in his hand...

This movie's biggest flaw is the lack of screen time for Karloff, out of the movie's 80 minutes, Karloff appears for 25 minutes at the most. In other respects, the movie has many qualities, it is very well photographed, the score is great and fits in perfectly, and all that, as well as lots of shadows, make the movie highly atmospheric and obscure, as the film maintains a certain darkness throughout its entire 80 minutes. Karloff is great as always, and, in spite of the fact that he should have had more screen time, this brilliant actor is so eerie and remarkable that he carries the movie. Seeing Ernest Thesinger (Dr. Pretorius in "Bride Of Frankenstein") deliver a great performance as the butler is another great quality of "The Ghoul". The performances are generally good, Cedrick Hardwicke is great as the lawyer Broughton, and Kathleen Harrison and Harold Huth are great fun to watch in the film's more humorous parts. Unfortunately, the movie, which starts out greatly, gets quite boring in the middle, and nothing really happens for quite some time. Apart from the unnecessary boredom in the middle of the movie, and the fact that Karloff's role could have been a lot bigger, the movie is certainly worth watching. When it comes to Egyptian themed movies with Karloff, however, I'll recommend "The Mummy" of 1932, a true masterpiece, ten times over "The Ghoul".

All things considered, "The Ghoul" is certainly no highlight in the great Boris Karloff's career, but warmly recommended to my fellow fans of classic Horror cinema. 6/10