Ed D. Wood Jr. Is widely regarded as one of the worst directors ever, with his cult sci-fi/horror classic Plan 9 From Outer Space often being cited as his most inept movie. While that film is undeniably amateurish in oh-so-many ways, it is at least reasonably enjoyable; I cannot say the same for Night of the Ghouls, which was so dull that it had me struggling to stay awake.
Introduced by American psychic Criswell, who describes the film as 'an astounding tale' (one of his less accurate predictions), Night of the Ghouls stars Kenne Duncan as Dr. Acula, a fake psychic who has set himself up in a haunted house where he stages seances for gullible clients, assisted in his scams by a woman dressed as a white ghost (Valda Hansen) and a scarred monster called Lobo (Tor Johnson). After the murder of a pair of young lovers (by a real spook known as The Black Ghost, played by Jeannie Stevens) and a report of a supernatural sighting by an elderly couple (the worst actors in a film packed with dreadful performances), Lieutenant Daniel Bradford (Duke Moore) investigates...
The cast is lousy, but Wood wrote, produced, edited and directed this wreck of a film, so he must take the lion's share of the blame - the script is diabolical, the direction is basic (repeated use of long, wide shots with no cutaways), the editing is confusing, and the sets are threadbare, the low, low budget obvious in every frame. In fact, Wood was so cash strapped that he was unable to pay the film-processing lab fees, meaning that the film remained unreleased until 23 years later, when writer-producer-director-exhibitor Wade Williams acquired the rights and payed off the outstanding debts. Not sure if we should be grateful or angry about that decision.
1.5/10, rounded up to 2 for the hilariously bad seance scene, which features a floating trumpet and a 'person hiding under a sheet'-style ghost.
Introduced by American psychic Criswell, who describes the film as 'an astounding tale' (one of his less accurate predictions), Night of the Ghouls stars Kenne Duncan as Dr. Acula, a fake psychic who has set himself up in a haunted house where he stages seances for gullible clients, assisted in his scams by a woman dressed as a white ghost (Valda Hansen) and a scarred monster called Lobo (Tor Johnson). After the murder of a pair of young lovers (by a real spook known as The Black Ghost, played by Jeannie Stevens) and a report of a supernatural sighting by an elderly couple (the worst actors in a film packed with dreadful performances), Lieutenant Daniel Bradford (Duke Moore) investigates...
The cast is lousy, but Wood wrote, produced, edited and directed this wreck of a film, so he must take the lion's share of the blame - the script is diabolical, the direction is basic (repeated use of long, wide shots with no cutaways), the editing is confusing, and the sets are threadbare, the low, low budget obvious in every frame. In fact, Wood was so cash strapped that he was unable to pay the film-processing lab fees, meaning that the film remained unreleased until 23 years later, when writer-producer-director-exhibitor Wade Williams acquired the rights and payed off the outstanding debts. Not sure if we should be grateful or angry about that decision.
1.5/10, rounded up to 2 for the hilariously bad seance scene, which features a floating trumpet and a 'person hiding under a sheet'-style ghost.