a5c7b9f00b An Egyptologist returns from the dead to take revenge on those who have violated his tomb. On his death bed, Egyptologist Professor Henry Morlant orders his servant to wrap a valuable jewel in his hand and place a statue of Anubis along with his body in the family crypt. His hope is that Anubis will accept the diamond and allow Morlant to pass through to the afterlife. When someone steals the jewel from his tomb, Morlant rises from the dead just as he predicted he would and seeks his revenge. The heirs to his estate, Ralph Morlant and his cousin Betty Harlon and her friend Miss Kaney arrive at the estate just as their uncle rises from his grave. With the assistant of the butler, the local minister Nigel Hartley, the elder Morlants solicitor Mr. Broughton and an Egyptian, Aga Ben Dragore, they try to make sense of what is happening and determine who among them has stolen the jewel. Till I rented this little flick, I had never heard of it. I stuck it in the DVD player and it started like most old movies–credits, awful music…you know the drill. Then it put me to sleep, literally. Upon waking up, I went back to the scene where I fell asleep, about 13 min in, and continued. The opening scenes when Boris's character was about to die kinda dragged, hence me falling asleep, but after his burial the movie picked up steam.<br/><br/>This movie is a blast. I laughed my butt off in some areas, an example of the humour : "I advise you Laing to be very careful." Laing–"I have a careful nature." "You may be putting yourself perilously near dishonesty." Laing–"I've seen men nearer."<br/><br/>Another area that makes me laugh in this movie was the acting. Was it on purpose that every line, every gesture was acted out like it was a bad high school play? If it was…awesome! I throughly enjoyed the ham. In fact this movie would make a great drinking game. Every time a woman faints, every time a line is over acted, every time an actor overacts, take a drink. You'll be wasted in no time.<br/><br/>Enjoy this flick. I know I'll see it again. Like the ark of the covenant, which was unearthed cinematically to the regret of all concerned, the once-lost film "The Ghoul" should have stayed buried. One of the supposed lost treasures of early horror cinema gained some classic reputation based mainly on photos from the film and the fact it starred Boris Karloff at the beginning of his fame. Unfortunately it does not come close to living up to its lofty expectations. While it does possess some eerie moments "The Ghoul" is a wasted opportunity that relegates its great star to nearly a walk on role.<br/><br/>Karloff stars as Professor Morlant, and Egyptologist who believes that if he is buried with a certain jewel in the presence of a statue of Anubis he will be granted eternal life. On his deathbed he coerces his servant, Laing, into agreeing to prepare his body after death for the resurrection. So far, so good. The professor dies, his body is interred in the crypt, but his servant, in the fine tradition of horror films, disobeys his master. Soon several relatives and fortune hunters congregate at the dead professor's home on the night of the next full moon. At midnight, Professor Morlant rises from his tomb and, pretty miffed that his jewel is not where it should be, takes off for his house to find his precious.<br/><br/>This setup sounds perfect for a horror film but the show goes off the rails when it should be gaining full steam. Most of the people in the house are ripe for the kill and deserving of it as well. Yet somehow Morlant only kills some poor slob in the woods while moving ninja-like around his abode. He eventually regains his stone by rendering his niece unconscious and . . . the rest is so absurd and disappointing that one has to witness it for oneself.<br/><br/>Karloff is on screen for about 12 of the 77 minute running time which is bad enough. Five minutes of that is him dying in bed and gasping instructions to Laing. Many reviews point to the wonderful old-age makeup he wears but it consists of some wrinkling around the eyes and a ferocious unibrow. More striking in the cosmetic department is Cerdric Hardwicke who looks like a troll from Gringots Bank. He, too, sports some pretty aggressive eyebrows and a lower lip that is permanently inflated to "kid with a boo boo" proportions. Complete with two black eyes and a bald head he's ready for the next Harry Potter film.<br/><br/>The remaining screen time of Karloff consists of him stalking around like the Frankenstein Monster and outrageously pantomiming like Lon Chaney Jr. at his worst. I'm not sure what Karloff's directions were for these scenes but he absolutely comical and makes Bela Lugosi look like a master of subtlety. This has to be one of Karloff's worst performances.<br/><br/>The rest of the cast is no better. Hardwicke looks like a troll but performs in a pretty monotonous fashion. As the young romantic lead and Karloff's nephew, Anthony Bushell shouts all his lines and is a thoroughly unlikeable character. He is rude and obnoxious and should have been the first person Karloff kills. Ralph Richardson makes his film debut and probably spent his career forgetting this turkey. Harold Huth plays some Arab sheik who is after the gem and reminded me of Joseph Calleia. Earnest Thesiger portrays the unfaithful servant and in typical fashion makes a meal of his lines before becoming hysterical when his boss returns. Somehow he avoids being killed as well (Think of the movie "Alien" if no one but John Hurt died; that's what this picture is like). The ladies are unimpressive in their roles to make the bad acting unanimous.<br/><br/>I could go on but what's the point. The ending contains several aggravating twists and undoes the supernatural air the film had built up. Ultimately a disappointing movie and not worth the anticipation of viewing it. Fortunately Karloff would rebound nicely in the next several years and contribute more classic performances in better films.
eksilupe Admin replied
347 weeks ago