The Ghoul (1933)

(On Cable TV, June 2021) I really did try to get interested in The Ghoul. It is a Boris Karloff film, after all, and the early 1930s were an unusually fruitful period for horror. Film historians will further pile on and point out that this was a pivotal film for Karloff (who filmed it in his native England while on a contract dispute with his Hollywood studio), that it’s considered the second-earliest British horror film and that the entire film disappeared from the 1940s to the 1970s, when a terrible version was found and was considered the best available until a reference-quality version was finally discovered in the late 1980s. I like those rescued-from oblivion comeback stories, but even learning that wasn’t enough to make me forget the ponderousness and repetitiveness of the result. It certainly does not help that the film is quite similar to The Mummy, which also starred Karloff but was released a year earlier. Both films share the same actor, obviously, but also strong neo-Egyptian themes (in keeping with the 1930s craze), themes of immortality, the resurrection of an ancient monster and a macabre atmosphere. It pales in comparison to the earlier American effort, although it does have some really good makeup for the time. Best recommended to Karloff and horror completists — more casual audiences should be happier with The Mummy instead.