Le Fantôme vivant

On this site there is a criticism which says to stay away from this film because it is incomprehensible. That's correct for the incomplete copies heretofore available. Now MGM Video has released a complete version on VHS and DVD, a very high quality print. The story is very clear now, and this is one of the high end Karloff flicks. If you like vintage horror films, if you're a Karloff fan, if you liked Karloff's "The Mummy," you will like this film.

Most of the other commenters seem to have seen a truncated, blurry version of this movie. The new DVD certainly kept me entertained! It's true that the movie is very dark, but the shadowy photography is beautiful and Germanic -- prime '30s look, fog, candlelight, and all. I just checked, and I see that cinematographer Gunther Krampf also shot NOSFERATU, THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE, and PANDORA'S BOX. Pretty good resume!

Hoaky old dark house cliches and humor, for sure, but funny if you know the genre. The woman who wants to be the "sheikh's" love slave is a real hoot. Karloff, Thesiger, Hardwick, and Richardson are all very good, as are the romantic couple who spar and then decide they like each other (surprise!). Karloff's self-mutilation scene is brilliantly disturbing. And wait a second, is that a patch of bamboo he stumbles into just in front of the Yorkshire moors? This is all great fun, perhaps best if you check any high expectations at the door.

If you can locate a copy of this exceptional talkie you are indeed fortunate. It took me years to find, yet it was well worth the wait.

The history of this Karloff gem is fascinating. 'The Ghoul' had completely disappeared, not even the trailer survived. Yet in the 1980's (if I remember correctly), a lone nitrate print turned up in Prague, (with Hungarian subtitles) in *appalling* condition. Apparently, the nitrate film had shrunk to a mere third of it's original width, was exceptionally brittle and in a number of pieces yet was effectively restored... albeit not to the quality of it's release. Therefore, I was prepared to overlook the graininess, variable contrast and sound-track distortions.

'The Ghoul' belongs to Karloff. Had the film not vanished it would have become a hardy perennial of late night television horror alongside the Lemalle classics. As for the cast, sets and script (in that order), the film is superior to other horror classics of the period.

The story-line is vaguely reminiscent... an eccentric, terminally ill man (of Egyptian ancestry) decrees that a rare artefact must be entombed with him otherwise trouble will befall. As to be anticipated, the scarab jewel is removed from the hand of his corpse by a tomb robber not long after internment providing the impetus to wreak revenge in the signature fashion.

The quality of the film may distract some viewers, but the atmosphere retains most of it's inaugural impact. Definitely an eight and a half!

Boris Karloff was already a horror mainstay at this point in his career, having played Frankenstein's monster, The Mummy, and Fu Manchu, and now playing the titular Ghoul. This film has a deceased Karloff coming back to life after an Egyptian jewel he was buried with is stolen. The film really does, pun intended, come to life after Karloff's resurrection, but the build up to that point for the film's short 79-minute runtime is a bit of a slog. Overall, this British horror film isn't exactly a Universal Pictures Horror classic, but it is solid entertainment. FUN FACT! "The Ghoul" is one of many films to have fallen into the public domain, so it is freely available for download on the internet.

The surprising thing about THE GHOUL is that it features an impressive background score for a film made in '33, when most soundtracks were almost completely devoid of music. This is something the other comments here failed to mention.

The other plus factor is the brilliant B&W photography done in Gothic style to suit the story elements here. An Egyptologist returns from the grave to take revenge on a servant who has stolen a sacred jewel. BORIS KARLOFF is the doctor with his own rules about how to offer sacrifices to Anubis in order to have eternal life.

The pace is slow and there's too much silly banter that features KATHLEEN HARRISON in a role designed to give the audience comedy relief. RALPH RICHARDSON is excellent as a cleric who seems to be a helpful visitor and ERNEST THESIGER is fine as the nervous servant.

The Gothic ambiance is strong with handsome interiors of a house in shadows and the flavor of an "old dark house mystery" is well sustained. Plotwise, there are loopholes and the story only really picks up once Karloff has returned from the grave.

For fans of this genre, this is an interesting film and Karloff's performance is first rate.