Night of the Ghouls (or the more appropriately titled Revenge of the Dead) is yet another silly low-budget effort from Edward D. Wood, Jr. The plot deals with the police investigating strange goings on at a secluded house where a phony swami is bilking money out of elderly people hoping to connect with their departed loved ones. The film has many of the elements typical of Wood films, including stock footage, incompetent policemen, poor special effects, and a serious lack of talent and budget. Too bad Lugosi isn't on hand. He could have at least brought some bravado to the Dr. Acula role.Apparently this is supposed to be some kind of a sequel to Bride of the Monster. It even has Tor Johnson reprising his Lobo role from that film. His burn makeup is actually one of the more impressive elements of this film. But instead of Lugosi as a mad scientist, we get this phony Dr. Acula guy. Kenne Duncan, one of Wood's drinking buddies, is just basically a guy in a suit with a cheap turban on his head. He isn't scary or mystical, he's just kind of an a-hole to everyone around him. True he is theoretically supposed to be a phony, but this setup only allows Wood the freedom to cut even more corners than usual with the production. You say the séance seen looks cheap? Of course it does. The guy performing it is a fake! You get the picture...A good chunk of this film is actually taken from a previous short film with the police detective walking around a theater in a tuxedo. That explains the ludicrous reason they have him wearing one in this picture! "I was just on my way to the opera when I got your message...." Ha! Some of the biggest chuckles are from: Wood's stock footage not matching up with the movie theme. Criswell, who narrates and also plays a small role, is talking about juvenile delinquency and the footage we see is just of some kids dancing at some kind of 50s malt shop. The bumbling Paul Marco is also back as Officer Kelton. His lines are so terrible, you will fall over laughing! The film's centerpiece is the previously mentioned séance scene. Dr. Acula has some old buzzards on one side of a long table, and some plastic skeletons on the other. We hear an off-screen gong bang several times. A trumpet is lazily hung by a string and it keeps blurting out some off-key notes, randomly. There are a couple of random shots of a guy in black-face mumbling incoherently. Some guy with a sheet over his head randomly dances around as someone plays an old fashioned slide whistle. None of it makes sense. The old buzzards just stare ahead, not reacting to any of it in any way. In other words, this scene is everything we've come to endear about Wood films. There is a nice little plot twist at the end that makes it all worth it. Kind of. Like many wood films, this can only be viewed for novelty effect. Definitely worth a look, but Lugosi would have improved it. He may not have even been alive by the time it was filmed, however. 4 of 10 stars.The Hound.

Ed Wood got another one through. This one involves and old house where something happened, ending up in the burning of the principle characters. Anyway, an old couple taking a short cut see strange goings on and weird creatures wandering around a spooky old house. An experienced ghost hunting police detective goes to investigate and comes upon a phony medium (in a turban) named Dr. Acula and his dog and pony show used to bilk people out of their money by bringing the spirits of the dead to life. Anyway, there's a disjointed bunch of activity that takes place. We get to see old Tor Johnson, who is partly blind and half burned but still a giant of a man. The problem for the con man is that there are some residual ghost/zombies around, running amok, killing people in the woods. Don't ask. The plot is stupid and the characters beyond belief. Still, it is Ed Wood. Need I say more?

Okay maybe I'm being too harsh. This film isn't as enjoyable as Plan 9 From Outer Space or Bride of the Monster the other Ed Wood movies I've seen. It's not as entertaining. When I'm talking about Wood Plan 9 From Outer Space is obviously what comes up. But this film barley ever is. It's a simple plot. Dr. Acula (Get it) is a phony psychic that is a con artist that pretends to tell people that he can bring the dead back to life. And in a Wood movie, if it's supposed to be fake, then it really is. I have Halloween decorations more realistic than this. Anyway they're infiltrated by two police officers. Lieutenant Daniel Bradford (Duke Moore) and everyone's favorite Wood idiot Patrolman Paul Kelton (Paul Marco) who was in Plan 9 and Bride of the Monsters. Daniel and Paul eventually escape or something, and then the real ghosts come and attack Acula. That's about it. It's just as campy as Plan 9 but it's nowhere near as entertaining. It's not awful or anything it's just kind of boring.

I actually liked Plan 9 From Outer Space, it's not a good movie, but it is fun and I just cannot hate it. Night of the Ghouls was a movie I couldn't get into at all really, the opening scene is great and very funny and while Ed Wood Jnr is far from a great director I just can't bring myself to say he is the worst director of all time because of the heart he brings to his pictures. Sadly, the rest doesn't work. The production values are very creaky even by today's standards with the editing slapdash and the effects and sets fake, the story is slow and meandering even for a film that is not very long, and most scenes and the dialogue are embarrassing. The acting is amateurish as well, even from Bela Lugosi. Overall, a bad film with only one good scene that saves it from total disaster. 2/10 Bethany Cox