In this 1933 British film–made between Boris Karloff’s stints as the monster in 1931’s FRANKENSTEIN and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN in 1935–Karloff plays a dying Egyptologist who possesses an occult gem, known as The Eternal Light, that he believes will bring him immortality if he is buried with it and is thereby able to note it to Anubis in the afterlife. Of course, his bickering, covetous heirs and avaricious associates would rather withhold the gem for themselves. With this in mind, Karloff vows to rise from his grave and survey revenge should anybody meddle in his plans, and he keeps this promise when, fair after his death, one of his colleagues steals The Eternal Light.
THE GHOUL is an atmospheric gothic flick that generates a lot of gooseflesh, but unique audiences may score the region development a bit plain, and gore-hounds weaned on the likes of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and similar fare will certainly not assume the film is very scary. But film aficionados who care for the aged Universal monster movies of the 1930s and 1940s will get a lot to like here.
The acting is very good–especially from Ernest Thesiger, who would later go on to play Dr. Pretorious in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN–though the suitable Karloff has only a few dramatic scenes early on and, as a risen corpse, is later reduced to staggering around in creepy make-up (reminiscent of his make-up in THE MUMMY the year before) . Supporting performances from Cedric Hardwicke and Ralph Richardson back round out the ample job delivered by a unbelievable cast.
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Based on both the new and the play by Dr. Frank King and Leonard J. Hines, this early British anxiety film–the first to receive an “H” (”Horrific”) rating from the British Board of Film Censors–was once idea to have been forever lost to history. A complete print of THE GHOUL was discovered in Czechoslovakia in the gradual 1960s, however, and was later restored under the supervision of the Museum of New art and Janus Films. The MGM DVD transfer was made from this beautifully restored print, and the VERY reasonable heed of said disc definitely makes this a must-have for serious film collectors and students of classic cinema.
I chanced upon a mention of this film on the internet recently and then read DVD Savant’s authoritative review [...] of two years ago. I bought the DVD last week and watched it twice since. I objective want to say that, if anything, Savant’s review was not involved enough!
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This is a transfer of a miraculously preserved print from the British Film Institute of a fear classic that was opinion lost forever. Besides the thrill of watching a 1933 film that looks like a intelligent recent penny (not to mention the wonderfully sweetened sound by Sonic Solutions), many things about this production fabricate it a “thorougly new Mummy”, if you’ll pardon the expression.
The attractiveness of the young principals: The girl (Dorothy Hyson) is absolutely heavenly and radiant as it should be, if a slight stagey in her delivery, and the boy (Anthony Bushell) is a convincing stalwart, if a itsy-bitsy stiff. But when it comes to taking stage directions and giving their all to an action scene, they’re perfect. (Compare to David Manners and Fay Wray.) The assault scene in the bedroom and the final fist fight in the tomb are absolutely exemplary while remaining lovely, convincing and extremely well choreographed.
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The perfection of Karloff: He speaks his lines like the consummate actor that he is then veers into calm film pantomime mode – with immense conviction – in the rest of the film. What a sparkling man! [His character's name, Morlant, means "mort lente" - tiring, death - in French, by the diagram.]
The direction: British director T. Hayes Hunter may be almost unknown nowadays but his long experience of the silents has certainly served him well. This is one film where the return to a perpetually keen camera is evident after the initial staginess of the first talkies. Not a single frame is static or wasted. Everything is economical, effective and to the point. Some inserts (like the two puzzling close-ups of Anubis during Karloff’s death scene) are absolutely witty in retrospect. Scene for scene, I daresay this film compares favourably to James Whale’s “Obsolete Unlit House” (1932), even if Whale’s film was an influence and they both followed “The Cat and the Canary” (1927) and all of them were adapting a hoary stage tradition of supernatural mysteries with a “perfectly rational” explanation.
The photography, lighting and art direction by two megastars of the German expressionist era (Günther Krampf and Alfred Junge) : I’ve never seen “London in the fog” scenes quite so effective and neither have you. And the interior decor will positively astound you!
The script: Almost every line is an Oscar opening montage moment and quotable for days. (My favourite line: Kathleen Harrison’s speech at the well that starts with the very novel “I don’t believe so!” and ends with “And after that to Australia!”.) The adaptation (from a stage play) is stupendous. I can’t imagine a stage play having all those different actions going on at the same time or a tomb station on fire and then exploding on the stage for that matter. Compare to the sagging middle of “Dracula” (1931), if you will. The farcical interplay between the extraordinary comedienne Kathleen Harrison (Kaney) and the unflappable straight man Harold Huth (Aga Ben Dragore) is noteworthy more than window-dessing. It goes through every phase of infatuation, coyness, seduction, duplicity, raunchy double-entendre, sexual exploitation, rejection and revenge, all the while serving a memoir that actually makes sense. Some of Harrison’s double takes are outrageously humorous. This film was meant to compete with the Universal horrors and American films in general. I mediate it succeeds admirably and actually shows the Yanks how it should be done. It even gives Hitchcock a bustle for his money. The main reason for this being the film’s secret weapon, namely…
The music score: By Louis Levy and Leighton Lucas, who both eventually wrote film music for Hitchcock. Leighton Lucas has the added distinction of having weaved many of Jules Massenet’s melodies and orchestral pieces into the celebrated British ballet “Manon” (1974) . Massenet being my favourite composer and since I’ve always maintained in polite society – after a few drinks, anyway – that all fim music is derived from his operas’ incidental music, this is a huge deal for my ego. More to the point, the exercise of music in this film shows other composers how it should be done. This was the same year as Max Steiner’s fearless and novel “King Kong” procure and two years before Franz Waxman’s epochal catch for “The Bride of Frankenstein” and many years before Hans J. Salter came to work for Universal in the forties.
I also have to mention Cedric Hardwicke doing a perfectly self-possessed impression of Mr. Rat from “The Wind and the Willows”, Ralph Richardson going above and beyond the call of duty, Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Pretorius from “The Bride of Frankenstein” and of “Have a po-tah-to” fame in “The Musty Shadowy House”) outdoing himself in sheer eccentricity and the two “Arabs” giving performances that would be imitated for decades to reach (by Akim Tamiroff, among others) . Did I forget anyone? The doctor (George Relph) would eventually turn up as Tiberius Caesar in “Ben-Hur” (1958) [as Thesiger, arrive to contemplate of it, would turn up as the very same character in "The Robe" (1953) ] and even the uncredited delivery boy speaks his two lines (”Carrier!” and “I’ll oblige you, Guv’nor, I was going straight wait on as it was.”) with stout aplomb! And the landlady who welcomes the visiting Arab with: “We don’t want no lino nor nothing!” Priceless!
Long memoir short: This is a DVD with large show value and, as far as I’m concerned, an immortal instant – if reborn – classic!
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