The Ghoul

Written by Cleaver Patterson Thursday, 14 July 2011

The Fright of Your Life - by Cleaver Patterson

Whilst searching for his companions who have mysteriously disappeared, near a remote Cornish mansion whilst on a race to Land's End, Geoffrey, a 1920s 'bright young thing', is lured into the surrounding bogland by Rawlings, the house's unhinged gardener.  Only just escaping from being sucked into the bog, and against his better judgement, Geoffrey helps Rawlings avoid the same fate before heading to the house.  Letting himself in, he enters the library where he confronts the reclusive owner, Dr Lawrence.

Geoffrey:  Your man Rawlings. Is he insane?

Lawrence:  I beg your pardon?

Geoffrey:  He told me that there's a .......

Lawrence:  What?

Geoffrey:  That there's something in this house which feeds on human flesh.

Lawrence:  Hahaha ...... please forgive me.  I'm afraid that Rawlings is a victim of his own vivid imagination.  He's not the most intelligent of men and you're not the first person to be taken in by his fantasies.  Mind you in all fairness he believes them himself. Every word.

Geoffrey:  Is it shell shock?

Lawrence:  So he mentioned his army life did he?  He never went near the front. He was a deserter ......

Suddenly their conversation is interrupted by sounds coming from behind a large wooden door at the far side of the room.

Lawrence:  That is only my servant at her prayers ......

Geoffrey raises his hand to silence him but, sensing that he is suspicious, Lawrence crosses to the door, opening it to reveal a private chapel complete with altar, behind which hang heavy crimson drapes.  He pulls the drapes apart to reveal a statue of a pagan deity, in front of which kneels his Indian housekeeper who is chanting and burning incense as part of a ritual.  In mock fury Lawrence kicks the religious paraphernalia aside.

Lawrence:  How dare you perform your evil rites in here.  I will not tolerate this depravity any longer.  You are in the house of the Lord.  I will not have it desecrated. Do you hear?

Having seen enough Geoffrey runs from the room intent on discovering what other evils inhabit this strange mansion.  Realising what Geoffrey might uncover Lawrence dashes after him, shouting at him from the bottom of the stairs.

Lawrence:  Stop!  Come back.  You mustn't see.  I beg you.

Lawrence races up and grabs hold of Geoffrey as he mounts a further twisting staircase that leads to some form of attic room at the top of the house.

Lawrence:  My son. My son is up there.  I should have destroyed him years ago, but his dear mother made me swear not to do it. I made a vow with her.  Leave him, leave him to me, please.

Breaking free from Lawrence's grasp, Geoffrey turns in disgust and races through the door at the top of the stairs.

Lawrence:  No, don't.  He'll kill you.  Stop!  Oh dear God no ......

An agonising scream comes from within the room as Geoffrey staggers backwards out of the doorway clutching his head.

Lawrence:  No .......

Geoffrey spins round to reveal an ornate ceremonial dagger embedded in the middle of his forehead, blood and gore pouring from the wound to matte his hair and drench his white shirt and expensive dinner suit.  He briefly teeters at the top before falling down the stairs to crumple at the bottom as Lawrence hides his face in horror.

THE GHOUL

Tyburn GB

1975   83 mins

Director: Freddie Francis; Writer: Anthony Hinds; Cinematography: John Wilcox; Music: Harry Robinson

Cast: Dr Lawrence (Peter Cushing), Tom Rawlings (John Hurt), Angela (Alexandra Bastedo), Ayah (Gwen Watford), Daphne Wells Hunter (Veronica Carlson), The Ghoul (Don Henderson), Geoffrey (Ian McCulloch), Billy (Stewart Bevan), Young Man (John D. Collins), Police Sergeant (Dan Meaden)

'This moody, atmospheric horror has a strong plotline and solid production values.  Hammer vets Cushing and Carlson (1968's 'Dracula Has Risen from the Grave') shine in this non-Hammer mid '70s fright ride' - The Terror Trap

Consider this.  Your car runs out of petrol on the lonely West Country moors.  Your companion goes to find help telling you to stay in the car, but instead you go off on your own and discover the gates leading to a mist shrouded driveway, where you are accosted by a tramp like man played by John Hurt.  In fear you run up the drive towards a sinister mansion, straight into the arms of Peter Cushing!  What do you do?  Scream and faint dead on the spot.  Retrace your steps along the drive, deciding you've a better chance of survival with John Hurt (which would be a major mistake by the way).  Realise you're in a Tyburn horror film and enter into the spirit of things - hell, you're probably going to die anyway!

During the late 1960s and 1970s Hammer films had British horror pretty much sewn up.  What little competition there was came from Amicus, the studio famous for their portmanteau shockers, usually with four or five tales built around a central connecting story such as 1972's sublime Asylum. A lesser threat came in the form of the production company Tyburn who specialised in period horror like 1975's Legend of the Werewolf.  Though the majority of their films are pretty forgettable, they can all be forgiven as they also gave us the oft, though unfairly, derided gem The Ghoul (not to be confused with the 1933 Gaumont-British Picture Corporation release of the same name starring Boris Karloff), a compact little shocker, squeezed as it is into a mere 83 minutes.

Its short running time is one of the films main assets.  It doesn't waste a lot of time with preliminaries, opening with a suitably grisly 'suicide' within the first couple of minutes.  When the death scenes and various unsavoury practices involving Lawrence, his son and their Indian housekeeper (or rather ghoul keeper) arrive later, the action fairly rattles along.  The trouble, and where the film flounders, is that these unsettling interludes (and make no mistake they are nasty), are infrequent, and interspersed with some rather tediously, drawn-out drama, particularly where it concerns Hurt's character.  Both female victims have to endure his unpleasant advances in his animal infested cottage before escaping to the big house (and into Cushing's clutches as described earlier).  By the time Angela's turn comes around you're almost wishing Rawlings would get rid of her, before he bores us all to death.

However it's probably because of these slower interludes that you find yourself unprepared for the film's piece-de-resistance, the in-your-face (or should that be head) shock that awaits poor Geoffrey when he enters the room at the top of the stairs. Never was there a more suitable time for audience participation - I defy anyone not to join with Cushing's Lawrence in shouting, "No, don't.  He'll kill you.  Stop!  Oh dear God no ......".  This is one of the few moments in horror cinema that still makes you squirm, no matter how many times you've seen it. Perhaps this is due to the fact that up to this point you never actually see the bloodied results of the ghoul's handiwork.  But with the unfortunate Geoffrey you get the full gory glory.

This aside, the most disturbing feature of The Ghoul is not the dispassionate way in which Ayah 'makes a meal' of the unfortunate victims, or Lawrence's apparent inability or unwillingness to help them, despite his obvious misgivings, concerning what takes place in the attic.  Rather it's the fact that the hapless innocents are just that - innocent.  In every sense of the word.  Here we have no promiscuous teenagers or cheating spouses.  None of them should really have to endure what they do.  They may be 1920's ideas of annoying, rich hooray kids, but they certainly don't deserve what happens to them in this evil, mist shrouded mansion.  You feel for them all and find yourself hoping they'll still get away, despite knowing the contrary.

Produced shortly after the death of Cushing's beloved wife Helen, The Ghoul was made during a period in his career when he admitted himself that he was taking on virtually any role offered in order to stay busy, and save him from dwelling on his loss.  Pictures of Helen were used for those of Lawrence's wife which he is seen holding during the film, and lying beside him when he commits suicide at the end.  It is said that when Lawrence sheds tears when talking about about his wife, Cushing was crying for real.  Now that's method acting!