deletewindowson So what gives? The description gives the whole thing away. Where's the sense in that? Right away we know the ghoul is this doctor's son who's a cannibal. I'm sorry I stopped in to see if this is worth watching. Now I know what the story is there's no point is there. I was somewhat intrigued to begin with because John Hurt seems to be assistant to the stooge of the ghoul. So I thought I'd pop over here and see what the fans think. Actually I just wanted to see if it really was John Hurt or not. But lo and behold I made the mistake of reading the description and now I know it all. Where's the mystery now? The guy that always plays Van Helsing or Baron Frankenstein is the doctor and his son is the ghoul. John Hurt is the murdering psychopath who stooges for the Indian woman who stooges for the ghoul. And the doctor is a lying sack of feces. The whole gang is a bunch of utter scum. Since I don't like any of these rats I don't think I'll watch anymore. Bye. Oh yeah.. whoever wrote the description is an idiot.

kensworld-135-305975 I must be one of the few people on earth that likes this film, for in general terms it has been dismissed by critics and fans alike. I guess therefore, it is down to me to explain the appeal of 'The Ghoul'. Well, first and foremost it has Peter Cushing, who makes the film, and gives one of his best ever performances. Filmed when he had recently lost his wife, this must have been a difficult time for him, but he nevertheless rises to the occasion and gives a most sensitive performance. There is one touching scene where you see him look at an actual photo of Helen whilst talking to Veronica Carlson. Apart from Veronica Carlson, the film also benefits from some fine performances from John Hurt and Gwen Watford. It's a film supposedly set in Cornwall with swirling mists from the moors, adding to the atmosphere of the house itself. The opening of the film is quite unique and conjures up an atmosphere right from the start, even if there is a certain amount of deception involved. Peter Cushing was one of my favourite actors and it is unfortunate to say the least, that this film has not been issued on DVD, supposedly because Tyburn Films have gone out of production and nobody else has the rights to issue anything from that catalogue. This means that the excellent interview with Peter Cushing called 'One Way Ticket to Hollywood' (only on video) also remains unissued. The two things together would make an admirable issue onto DVD. It would be a shame if these films were lost forever. Peter Cushing doesn't deserve this, nor do his fans! As for now, I make no apology for heaping some overdue praise on a film which has been unfairly ignored and deserves to be re-evaluated.

Paul Andrews The Ghoul starts in 1920's London where two rich guys Geoffrey (Ian McCulloch) & Billy (Stewart Bevan) challenge each other to a car race to Land's End, the very most Northern point of the UK hence 'Land's End' because that's where the land ends. Anyway, to stop any cheating a couple of ladies join the ride, going with Billy & insisting on driving is Daphne (Veronica Carlson) & going with Geoffrey is Billy's sister Angela (Alexandra Bastedo), they all hop in their fancy motor cars & speed of into the night. Now back in the 20's there probably wasn't the road system we all know & love these days & like a typical woman driver Daphne gets lost, almost sends the car over a cliff & to add to their worries they've run out of petrol. They split up & Daphne meets a sinister guy named Tom Rawlings (John Hurt) who tries to stop her going to a large isolated house deep within some marshland owned by one Dr. Lawrence (Peter Cushing) but to no avail, at first Dr. Lawrence seems nice enough but that night Daphne discovers that there is something nasty lurking in the attic which feeds on human flesh...This English production was made by the short lived Tyburn Films who only ever made three films all of which were horror, Persecution (1974), the cool Legend of the Werewolf (1974) & this The Ghoul in '75 before they went out of business, if I'm honest that's not actually a bad resume of films. Directed by Freddie Francis for some reason I have always wanted to see The Ghoul, I recently admitted defeat in trying to see it for free & actually spent some of my hard earned money on a copy & while it's a decent little horror film for sure it did end up disappointing me although I suspect a large part of that is down to the fact I had high expectations for it. The script by Anthony Hinds as John Elder has all the necessary ingredients to be a top British period horror film, the fog enshrouded marshes, the period setting & the attention to detail, the large ominous isolated house that holds a gruesome secret, evil religious ceremonies, some killing & the fabulous Peter Cushing. However the script is a bit, OK very weak when trying to tie all theses ideas together, there is no explanation of how the Ghoul himself gets into the state he did or why he supposedly feeds on human flesh, there seems to be no connection between the Ghoul itself & the religious ceremonies that take place or just why there is so much religious symbolism in the film, what Dr. Lawrence's servants have to do with it & why they help/cover up for him & instead it decides to focus on the attempts to locate the people who have gone missing which just isn't as interesting as the Ghoul aspect. Having said that it moves along at a nice pace, is certainly watchable with some effective scenes & unusually has the balls to unexpectedly kill off one of it's stars about halfway through.Director Francis knows how to turn in a decent horror film with plenty of atmosphere & fog, the house sets are also excellent & very detailed with great attention to period detail. There are a few creepy moments with the attack of Daphne standing out. I thought the scene when John Hurt threw a rock & hit Veronica Carlson on the head to stop her going to the house was pretty funny though, surely there were easier ways? When finally revealed at the end the Ghoul himself (Don Henderson) looks rather silly, he looks like a bald overweight bloke painted grey. There's not much gore, someone gets a knife stuck in their head, there's a joke meat hook hanging & some stabbing but nothing else.Technically the film is impressive & would certainly give any other period horror film of the time a run for it's money. Peter Cushing is great as always & the rest of the cast is good to that includes John Hurt & Ian McCulloch who would both go on to arguably bigger & better things...The Ghoul is good film & I won't say it isn't but the story & it's ideas are never really tied together in any sort of convincing way, it's worth a watch but I think my expectations were just too high.

GroovyDoom SPOILAGEI enjoyed this movie to a certain degree. It's a passable time killer, and it presents an interesting situation (if overly inspired by "Psycho"), but the real interest here lies in the sets, particularly the sprawling mansion where the action takes place. Filled with ornate woodwork, yawning fireplaces, and staircases that go up, up, and further up, this place is a morbid dream house. The fact that it is isolated on an English moor makes me wonder if places like this actually exist. What I mean is, why would anybody with the money to build such a magnificent home want to put it in the middle of the marshes? Why would they choose such an inhospitable place to live?Ah but anyway, back to "The Ghoul". Snooty partygoers get drunk on champagne and make an ill-advised effort to "race" their cars to Land's End.It doesn't really go as planned, however, and one couple breaks down near the manse of Peter Cushing, which houses "The Ghoul"--Cushing's insane son who is into cannibalism. One of the women wanders to the mansion against the warnings of the mad groundskeeper, and she winds up as ghoul-bait. The groundskeeper kills her male companion (what, the ghoul doesn't like male flesh?) and eventually another couple comes looking for them. The scenario is repeated, but Cushing has reached the breaking point and decides to shoot his son, and himself.There's a lot of kookiness going on in this movie, and some uncomfortable positioning of Indian culture as some exotic evil, but as I said before, what really makes this movie work at all is the attention that went into the building of the sets. I have no idea if the house is real or just a set itself, but those staircases...and that woodwork!