What is more scary than a ghoul? Why a foreign ghoul of course! Gad! Watch as our attractive young upper-class British protagonists get terrorized by the nasty corruptions of the orient and the working classes.Four young flappers challenge each other to a motor-car race across the country side. Predictably one of the couples runs out of petrol and is enveloped by fog on a marsh. The young lady is frightened by a rough-working-class type and sets of on foot to the manor to find some of her "own sort" only to discover the master of the house has been lured and corrupted by the exotic ways of the Indian orient. Much ham-acting ensues, as posh young ladies get chased by characters straight out of a Tory fever-dream.This movie starts slow and stays slow, as bit by bit the rather predictable details of the story are revealed. Unlike the original film "The Ghoul" 1933, this film has no excellent character acting to save it from being yawn-fest.

First off this is NOT a remake of the 1933 film "The Ghoul" starring Boris Karloff - this is a completely different movie all together - one has nothing to do with the other.Secondly this 1975 film starring Peter Cushing "The Ghoul" is also known as "Night of the Ghoul".Third: This film is actually a good horror film. Not only because the great Peter Cushing stars (and is outstanding in it) but John Hurt's performance in this is very convincing as well. Gwen Watford is good in this movie too. The movie is worth watching if you like horror.Fourth: The sad trivia behind Peter Cushing's performance: There is a photo in the film which is/was Cushing's wife Veronica Carlson who died in 1971 - so Cushing's emotions were real at this point and not an acting job. It is said that this also effected the emotions of others on the set.8.5/10

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.

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!