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Night of the Ghouls | Year: 1959 Classification: Horror Directed: - Edward D. Wood Jr. The Lost Ed Wood Film! For years this movie languished at the film lab, because Ed couldn't afford the developing fees! When it's bail was finally paid, the world could finally see the final film in the Kelton the Cop trilogy. This is a kind of sequel to Bride of the Monster, which plays very loose with the facts of that film. A fake medium has set up shot in Lugosi's old house - rebuilt I suppose - Lobo (Tor Johnson) survived its destruction and is still lumbering around, for some reason Kelton the cop has not been fired, there's a couple of ghosts running around, and let's not forget - Criswell in a coffin! Surprisingly, Wood shows a fair amount of competence in the filmmaking department, but at the cost of his usual outrageous gaffes and overwrought dialogue, which makes his other efforts so enjoyable to the fan of bad cinema. Ed Wood is King! Ed Wood has remained the king of cult cinema. I have been a fan of these strange films forever and Ed has been the one with most of my favorites. Plan 9 From Outer Space, Bride of the Monster, and Night of the Ghouls. Night is his best yet and looks terriffic in its new packaging. For years, I have searched out this film and finally found it under Rhino video's Midnight Madness label hosted by Elvira. This video by Englewood looks better and also Englewood has put out videos of other Wood films. It is a film you's expect from MST3K. However,I can not get enough of these films and Night of the Ghouls certainly does not dissapoint in the schlock horror department. Lugosi is missing sadly, but there is Tor Johnson on hand once again as Lobo the mindless brute from Bride of the Monster, now one of the ghouls. This is actually a spooky film and certainly worth a look for fans of the genre and bad cinema fans the world over. Monsters to be Pitied! Monsters to be Despised! "Night of the Ghouls" is Ed Wood's sequel to "Bride of the Monster" with Tor Johnson providing continuity as Lobo the lumbering mute henchman, now with a badly burned face courtesy of the immolation of Dr. Vornoff's laboratory. Thank goodness Tor was able to escape the plastic octopus and nuclear blast at the end of "Bride of the Monster." I wouldn't have thought a 400 pound Swedish wrestler capable of outrunning a mushroom cloud, but you learn something new every day! "Night of the Ghouls" starts with Wood regular Criswell in a coffin (big surprise) rambling on with verbal compost such as "For many years I have told you the almost unbelievable, related to the unreal, and showed to be more than fact." Just when that is sinking in, we get sidetracked on a ten minute plot cul-de-sac about juvenile delinquency ("Is this the major horror of our times?") illustrated with a scandalous sock hop and fist fight sequence. Logically this, of course, leads to a narrated discussion on statistics of motor vehicle accidents (watch for a cameo of Ed Wood himself as a crash victim) as kept by the National Safety Council. Huh? All this may lead you to ask, "Yes, but where are the ghouls?", and a fair question that is. We finally get to see a woman in a gauzy dress looking for all the world like a bad Stevie Nicks impersonator, frighten two very hammy old actors with her terrifying fingernails. I refer to her as the Budget Zombie, and once you've seen the movie, you will understand why. Thank goodness Wood regular Kelton the cop (Paul Marco) is on the case along with Lieutenant Daniel Bradford, professional ghost chaser. (That's the movie's actual words, honest.) Kelton spends the bulk of this film (the third in the exciting "Kelton Trilogy") shivering in a police car after a ghost frightened him so badly he was compelled to run into a tree. Needless to say, all the problems we find are as a result of nefarious activity in the 'old house at Willows Lake' (which was the former Bela and Tor residence in "Bride of the Monster", we are led to understand.) This time it is the home of fraudulent conniver 'Dr. Acula', which may be the worst single pun in movie making history (played by professional heavy Kenne Duncan.) Dr. Acula is busy conducting bogus seances, which are the second least realistic seances ever filmed, narrowly edged out by the disturbingly comical seance in "The Wild, Wild World of Batwoman." Present at the seance are a couple of skeletons, a trumpet suspended by strings playing random notes (you are clinically dead if this does not make you laugh), a ghost which is lamer than any Halloween costume ever (yes; it's a guy with a sheet on), all accompanied by a decidedly un-spooky slide whistle, and last, but certainly not least, a piece of what appears to be a Tupperware of some sort, or possibly a Salad Spinner, 'levitating' in a most entertaining way accompanied by a cat playing a zither (apparently.) You must see this scene to believe it. Buy Night Of The Ghouls at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Night Of The Ghouls Search with the Priority Search Engine on Night Of The Ghouls This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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