"The Ghoul" Was Ghastly, Darlings....But In A Good Way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      Svengoolie really unearthed a gem, with a restored version of this allegedly "lost" film, now found and being aired on "Svengoolie" for the first time.

                                       But for the curious, it really does not answer the question--What is a ghoul?  The dictionary defines it in two ways--Someone who feeds on the bodies of the dead, not indicating if they are dead or alive, themselves.  And also someone with an overtly morbid obsession with death.  In third grade, I wrote a lurid short story called "The Ghoul," which I illustrated with a green bodied monster opening a deceased person's coffin.  I am surprised the teacher did not call my mother!

                                       Anyway, that is not the case here.  Boris Karloff, as Professor Morlant, is obsessed with the macabre aspects of Egyptology; in one scene he exposes a tattooed chest, and drives a knife through it, thinking this will bring him eternal life. Huh?  Ralph Richardson, Sir Cedric Hardwicke (before he was knighted) and Ernest Thesiger (who would earn signature status with Karloff two years later in Universal's "The Bride Of Frankenstein" in 1935)--all A-listers--are on hand, as well.  This was said to be the first horror film made in England, and Karloff was grabbed for it, while on a visit overseas to his family.

                                        The plot barely holds together; the visuals are something else.  Stunning, striking, and macabre.  Highly influenced by German Expressionism--remember "The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari" from 1919?  And that chest baring scene!  No wonder Svengoolie urged "Viewer Discretion Advised."

                                           Girls, I am afraid that if you want to see a ghoul conceptualized as I did in third grade--which is how I imagine most of us visualize one--you are going to have to make your own movie!

                                              But, I am willing to watch, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!