OMG it's been so long. I wonder sometimes if I am losing my mind: I seem to have no sense of time any more. I have been watching so many great horror flicks but can't seem to find the time to write about them. Obviously it's time to find a new "real" job. Real life is cutting into Horror life and that is never a good thing. So now I write about I film I think I saw about a month ago: The Ghoul. Part of TCM's awesome Halloween Horror programing, The Ghoul is one of the great "lost and then found" films. Seriously, it was thought to be lost for 31 years. Maybe there is hope for London after Midnight after all.
The Ghoul stars Boris Karloff as Professor Morlant, and Egyptologist who believes he can beat death by possessing a special Egyptian diamond. Morlant steals the diamond, which sends various Egyptian badies after him.
Not that they are going to have to search long. Professor Morlant dies, presumably from some disease that make you look like a thousand year old Mummy. His servant, played by Ernest Thesiger of Bride of Frankenstein fame, takes the diamond with the (good) intention of giving it to Morlant's heirs, a pair of bickering cousins named Betty and Ralph. As Betty and Ralph try to uncover the mystery surrounding their Uncle, several nefarious characters come out of the woodwork to claim the diamond. Complicating the situation is the return of Professor Morlant, risen from the grave to steal back his diamond.
The conclusion of the film is of the Old Dark House variety, pretty typical of it's time. It was interesting to see such an early British horror film, especially one considered lost for so long. The picture quality is not great, and I wouldn't call The Ghoul scary, but come on! Karloff is in it! That alone makes it worthy enough.
