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Night of the Ghouls

Night of the Ghouls

List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $22.49
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Monsters to be Pitied! Monsters to be Despised!
Review: "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. Oh, yes, and for dramatic effect, Dr. Acula channels an idiot who can barely speak English wearing a colander on his head to relay information on the deceased from beyond the grave to their living relatives, one of whom is wearing the most imaginative (and large) feather trimmed fedora I have ever seen. To add a touch of panache, famed Coleman Francis regular Tony Cardoza ("The Skydivers", "Red Zone Cuba") makes a special guest appearance as 'Tony.' Watch for it!

This is a wonderful specimen of Wood. Though not as great as the immortal "Plan 9", "Night of the Ghouls" has its own charms, and is worth the time of any viewer interested in the history of grade Z cinema, or for that matter, anyone who just wants a good laugh. The trumpets and levitating kitchenware alone are worth the asking price of this DVD, which, by the way, is of splendid quality, though sadly lacking added features. Thank you Ed Wood for this little known gem, and thank you, Image Entertainment, for bringing us this DVD!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ed Woods cameo....
Review: At the beginning of the movie when Ed is making use of his juvenile delinqents stock footage, check out the victim of the car that crashes off the cliff, thats Ed Wood himself peeking over the door frame as a dead man with his eyes open.....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ed Wood is King!
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hysterical
Review: Ed Wood's last mainstream movie (and the final of the Kelton trilogy) is a masterpiece of ineptitude (and a direct sequel to "Bride of the Monster.") It also has returning Wood favorites Tor Johnson as Lobo, Paul Marco as Kelton, and Criswell as...Criswell.
The DVD looks incredibly sharp and clear, and is easily the best looking of the Wade Williams Ed Wood DVD releases (of course, this had undamaged source material.) The menus are neat, too.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Lots of fun for fans of Z- grade schlock
Review: Ed Wood, the worst director of all time; strikes again with this sequel to his "classics" PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (a.k.a REVENGE OF THE DEAD) has the inimitable Tor Johnson reprising his role as the hulking henchman Lobo; now hideously disfigured following the lab fire at the climax of BOTM. Criswell also narrates the film from the comfort of his coffin: "... a tale so astounding that some of you may faint!"
Once again Wood wears multiple hats as writer, producer and director of another awful but fun "horror" movie.
The story takes place in the small town of Willow Lake, where in the now familiar creepy old house Lugosi's successor, a mad Swami named Dr Acula (Kenne Moore) is raising the dead from their graves- one of which is a man in a cape with a high neck which is supposed to make him appear headless!- and setting them on juvenile delinquents, kids who do nothing worse than rock 'n roll dancing. Enter bumbling police Captain Robbins (John Carpenter- not the director) to try and make sense of and put an end to the madness, once and for all. But inside the house he has to contend with joke shop skeletons which are seated at the dining room table and possessed floating trumpets that play by themselves; as well as taking part in Acula's seance to raise the dead: the conjured spirit turns out to just be a guy covered by a bedsheet! Wood's attempt at a climactic plot twist is just as awful as the rest of the movie... which is good. Right?
What makes Wood's movies so funny is that he always made them with serious intentions, here he tries to tackle "serious" subjects such as the aforementioned delinquency and road deaths, the results of which are (naturally) inept and wholly innocuous. There are also references by characters to BRIDE OF THE MONSTER as well as several shots from that movie being reused- notably the lightning storm. NIGHT OF THE GHOULS went unreleased for 25 years because Wood couldn't afford to pay the printing lab.
DVD extras includea bio and filmography for Wood, as well as trailers for PLAN 9, GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and JAIL BAIT (which I haven't seen yet). A must-have for film buff and fans of bad movies.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Lots of fun for fans of Z- grade schlock
Review: Ed Wood, the worst director of all time; strikes again with this sequel to his "classics" PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (a.k.a REVENGE OF THE DEAD) has the inimitable Tor Johnson reprising his role as the hulking henchman Lobo; now hideously disfigured following the lab fire at the climax of BOTM. Criswell also narrates the film from the comfort of his coffin: "... a tale so astounding that some of you may faint!"
Once again Wood wears multiple hats as writer, producer and director of another awful but fun "horror" movie.
The story takes place in the small town of Willow Lake, where in the now familiar creepy old house Lugosi's successor, a mad Swami named Dr Acula (Kenne Moore) is raising the dead from their graves- one of which is a man in a cape with a high neck which is supposed to make him appear headless!- and setting them on juvenile delinquents, kids who do nothing worse than rock 'n roll dancing. Enter bumbling police Captain Robbins (John Carpenter- not the director) to try and make sense of and put an end to the madness, once and for all. But inside the house he has to contend with joke shop skeletons which are seated at the dining room table and possessed floating trumpets that play by themselves; as well as taking part in Acula's seance to raise the dead: the conjured spirit turns out to just be a guy covered by a bedsheet! Wood's attempt at a climactic plot twist is just as awful as the rest of the movie... which is good. Right?
What makes Wood's movies so funny is that he always made them with serious intentions, here he tries to tackle "serious" subjects such as the aforementioned delinquency and road deaths, the results of which are (naturally) inept and wholly innocuous. There are also references by characters to BRIDE OF THE MONSTER as well as several shots from that movie being reused- notably the lightning storm. NIGHT OF THE GHOULS went unreleased for 25 years because Wood couldn't afford to pay the printing lab.
DVD extras includea bio and filmography for Wood, as well as trailers for PLAN 9, GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and JAIL BAIT (which I haven't seen yet). A must-have for film buff and fans of bad movies.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Another Ed Wood winner
Review: Elvira hosts Ed Wood's most trashiest (and most bizarre) feature about ghosts (who died earllier in Wood's 1955 skincrawler BRIDE OF THE MONSTER) who have haunted a house. Not as funny as many of Eddy's other films but great fun (if you are that kind of trash-loving person).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Lost Ed Wood Film!
Review: 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Lost Ed Wood Film!
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How much wood could a wood chuchuck chuck?
Review: He's back again... clear the stage, dispose of the unwanted groundlings...this sequel to BRIDE OF THE MONSTER (He heh! Bet you didn't think I knowed that!) will hold your attention like nothing else since the last quasi-threatening set of visuo-audio-clues assaulted your otherwise profitably engaged senses.

You'll love the girl's snakey fingers. You'll love the 'Mundo-Mundo' voice coming from the spirit-head that can only smile open-mouthed and wag its thick protruding tongue back and forth during seances. If you like skeletons, you're all set. If you like trumpets/trombones and slide whistles orchestrated from beyond the grave, there is that here also. If you like disfigured, wheezing, bullet-headed monsters, this flick's for you.

If you like 19th century, chestnut-haired, smiling ghostesses, hiding peculiarly in warehousey sorts of attic areas of a house, this is also your film. A comical cop alternately plays coward and brave man, as he battles the co-stars he resents the most: the ones who get to wear their street clothes.

I think you need but little more encouragement. Intuition should have taken over from information by now, and been leading you on to a fuller life, brimmed to the bursting with Ed Wood, Jr., and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS.

May be purchased online, or perhaps surreptitiously at a town some miles away, where nobody knows you. Hair dye and a small disguise might help. A young go-between or intermediary might be useful in your stead for such trips, but it would be best if you had something on him first, so as to compel his cooperation.


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