- Night of the Ghouls
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Night of the Ghouls
Image DVD coverDirected by Ed Wood Produced by Ed Wood Written by Ed Wood Starring Kenne Duncan
Duke Moore
Tor JohnsonCinematography William C. Thompson Editing by Ed Wood Running time 69 minutes Country United States Language English Night of the Ghouls is a 1959 horror film written and directed by Ed Wood. It is a sequel of sorts to the 1955 film Bride of the Monster. The film was not publicly exhibited until 1987, as Wood could not afford to pay the lab fees to process the negatives, so they were held at a post-production house for 23 years.
In 1983, millionaire Wade Williams was informed about the film by Wood's widow, Kathy, and paid the outstanding lab fees, in addition to giving it a new title, as Wood had called it Revenge of the Dead. The film received limited theatrical play, and was simultaneously released on home video.
Contents
Plot
The plot revolves around a confidence trickster, Dr. Acula (played by Kenne Duncan) who pretends to be able to contact the dead, and charges people large amounts of money to speak to their relatives. The ending involves Acula inadvertently summoning a group of real ghosts, and being imprisoned for all eternity.
The movie also features a prologue and a brief acting role by Criswell, who also narrated Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Cast
- Kenne Duncan as Dr.Karl Acula
- Duke Moore as Lt. Dan Bradford (as 'Duke' Moore)
- Tor Johnson as Lobo
- Valda Hansen as Sheila, the White Ghost
- Johnny Carpenter as Capt. Robbins (as John Carpenter)
- Paul Marco as Patrolman Kelton
- Don Nagel as Sgt. Crandall
- Bud Osborne as Mr. Darmoor
- Jeannie Stevens as The Black Ghost/Mannequin
- Harvey B. Dunn as Henry
- Margaret Mason as Martha
Production
This film is the second part of what Wood aficionados refer to as "The Kelton Trilogy", a trio of films featuring Paul Marco as "Officer Kelton", a whining, reluctant policeman. The other two films are Bride of the Monster and Plan 9 from Outer Space. Although claimed to be a follow up to Bride of the Monster, Night of the Ghouls featured only two characters from that film (Kelton and Lobo), and, in a retcon, it is claimed that Lt. Bradford had worked on the earlier case when he in fact appeared nowhere in Bride. His exploration of Dr. Acula's house was borrowed from Wood's short film Final Curtain and given a voice-over to integrate it into the current story. As a result, there was no room for Harvey B. Dunn, who played Captain Tom Robbins in Bride, to reprise his earlier role. Instead, he was given a small supporting role as a frightened motorist who encounters one of the "ghouls".
Unlike a number of his pictures, Wood does not star in Night of the Ghouls, but towards the beginning of the film, in the police station, a picture of Wood is visible on the wall.
Wood turned to his stock cast for the picture. Tom Mason appeared in this film, credited as "Thomas R. Mason". Mason was the man Wood used to replace Bela Lugosi in Plan 9 From Outer Space; this was his only other feature film appearance. Kenne Duncan had previously worked for Wood in a TV on trick shooting and in Wood's 1953 TV pilot Crossroad Avenger.
The character of Dr. Acula also appeared in an unrealized Ed Wood film project of the same name. The role was originally intended for Bela Lugosi. "Dr. Acula" has been a frequently used pseudonym of Forrest J Ackerman since the 1940s.
Bibliography
- The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1996), documentary film directed by Brett Thompson
- Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstacy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992) ISBN 978-0922915248
- Will Sloan, "Can Your Heart Stand the Shocking Facts About Kelton the Cop A/K/A Paul Marco?" Filmfax (April 2005), p. 88-89
External links
- Night of the Ghouls at the Internet Movie Database
- Night of the Ghouls at AllRovi
Edward D. Wood, Jr. Feature films
directedGlen or Glenda (1953) • Jail Bait (1954) • Bride of the Monster (1955) • Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) • Night of the Ghouls (1959) • The Sinister Urge (1961) • Take It Out in Trade (1970) • Excited (1970) • The Only House in Town (1971) • Necromania (1971) • The Young Marrieds (1972)Short films
directedTrick Shooting with Kenne Duncan (1953) • Final Curtain (1957) • The Night the Banshee Cried (1957)Television films
directedThe Sun Was Setting (1951) • Crossroad Avenger: The Adventures of the Tucson Kid (1953) • Boots (1953)Films written,
not directedThe Violent Years (1956) • The Unearthly (1957) • The Bride and the Beast (1958) • Anatomy of a Psycho (1961) • Shotgun Wedding (1963) • Orgy of the Dead (1965) • One Million AC/DC (1969) • The Love Feast (1969) • Venus Flytrap (1970) • The Undergraduate (1972) • Drop-Out Wife (1972) • Class Reunion (1972) • The Snow Bunnies (1972) • The Cocktail Hostesses (1973) • Five Loose Women (1974) • The Beach Bunnies (1976) • Hot Ice (1978)Posthumous
filmsCrossroads of Laredo (filmed 1948/released 1995) • Hellborn (filmed mid-1950s; released 1993) • Take it Out in Trade: The Outtakes (filmed 1970; released 1995) • I Woke Up Early The Day I Died (written 1970s; released 1999)Related
articlesBela Lugosi • The Golden Turkey Awards • Dolores Fuller • Conrad Brooks • Paul Marco • Tor Johnson • Vampira • Bunny Breckinridge • The Amazing Criswell • Stephen C. Apostolof • Ed Wood (biopic)Categories:- American films
- English-language films
- 1959 films
- 1950s horror films
- American horror films
- Black-and-white films
- Films directed by Ed Wood
- Haunted house films
- Independent films
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