Night of the Ghouls (1959)

At first, I thought this was a sequel to "Bride Of The Monster" but that was probably because that was the only other Ed Wood movie I've seen. Yes, I saw the MST3K version. It was weird watching such a short low budget movie that had never been featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" or even Rifftrax. Of course, it wouldn't make sense as they didn't riff on the original. Then again, I probably would have been confused by this either way. It's about as cheesy as you'd expect, but more entertaining than most examples.At least Ed Wood's other movies had Bela Lugosi in them. I really should do more research on Tor Johnson. He did practically nothing in this entire movie. He gets shot numerous times and then kills a guy. Then he gets shot again numerous times and dies. Huh? The narration is quite laughable. I always thought it was Mitch Hedberg who came up with the joke about Dr. Acula. I doubt he saw this movie to steal from it. It is weird to have a silly name in something that's supposed to be serious. I do wonder what it would be like if Ed Wood had actually gone into comedy.The costumes are downright terrible. I guess these poor people couldn't afford any better. There were supposed to be ghosts in this, but they looked the same as everyone else. Yep, it was pretty boring. Come on, even back then, movies had more action in them. I would have given it a slightly lower rating if not for the fact that it's fun to laugh at. *

No need to elaborate on the plot or even to judge this film as that's already been admirably accomplished by my fellow reviewers. Just wanted to point out that the leading man in Night of the Ghouls, Kenne Duncan is reputed to have been a bit of a freak. According to the Wood biography, Nightmare of Ecstasy, Duncan (aka Dr. Akula) held great Hollywood parties which were attended by many of the Ed Wood regulars, who report that whilst the majority of the guests kept their pants on, Duncan would wander round his crib in a sagging birthday suit. What's more, they were truly humbled at the over-sized swizzle stick he proudly flaunted as he went about making sure everyone was well-oiled. I'm not kidding, read the book- a ton of other great insights.Now please enjoy our feature presentation.

I actually liked Plan 9 From Outer Space, it's not a good movie, but it is fun and I just cannot hate it. Night of the Ghouls was a movie I couldn't get into at all really, the opening scene is great and very funny and while Ed Wood Jnr is far from a great director I just can't bring myself to say he is the worst director of all time because of the heart he brings to his pictures. Sadly, the rest doesn't work. The production values are very creaky even by today's standards with the editing slapdash and the effects and sets fake, the story is slow and meandering even for a film that is not very long, and most scenes and the dialogue are embarrassing. The acting is amateurish as well, even from Bela Lugosi. Overall, a bad film with only one good scene that saves it from total disaster. 2/10 Bethany Cox

An old couple, taking a shortcut at night, run into "a nightmare of horror" - an attractive blonde woman with long fingernails! The old woman can't quite stop smiling long enough to look horrified, but the police are sent to investigate anyway. Lt. Bradford, a man with a passion for internal monologue, and Kelton, an incompetent buffoon, discover Dr. Acula, a man in a turban.Acula has been swindling money from the incredibly dense with the old raising-the-dead scam using a floating trumpet and bed sheet. But what Dr. Acula doesn't know is that he accidentally has real powers to raise the dead, and the dead just might knock off his turban! Fortunately for them, he decides to evade them by running directly at them."Night of the Ghouls," the long-awaited sequel to "Bride of the Monster," was left unreleased for over twenty years because writer/director Ed Wood couldn't pay the film lab fees. Though not quite as "good" as "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or "Glen or Glenda?" it's definitely worth watching just to see the look on the old couple's faces when they see the "monster." It doesn't get much better than that. God bless you, Ed Wood.