Night of the Ghouls (1959)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

I'll tell you why so serious

Fresh and Exciting

The acting in this movie is really good.

Ed Wood got another one through. This one involves and old house where something happened, ending up in the burning of the principle characters. Anyway, an old couple taking a short cut see strange goings on and weird creatures wandering around a spooky old house. An experienced ghost hunting police detective goes to investigate and comes upon a phony medium (in a turban) named Dr. Acula and his dog and pony show used to bilk people out of their money by bringing the spirits of the dead to life. Anyway, there's a disjointed bunch of activity that takes place. We get to see old Tor Johnson, who is partly blind and half burned but still a giant of a man. The problem for the con man is that there are some residual ghost/zombies around, running amok, killing people in the woods. Don't ask. The plot is stupid and the characters beyond belief. Still, it is Ed Wood. Need I say more?

Okay maybe I'm being too harsh. This film isn't as enjoyable as Plan 9 From Outer Space or Bride of the Monster the other Ed Wood movies I've seen. It's not as entertaining. When I'm talking about Wood Plan 9 From Outer Space is obviously what comes up. But this film barley ever is. It's a simple plot. Dr. Acula (Get it) is a phony psychic that is a con artist that pretends to tell people that he can bring the dead back to life. And in a Wood movie, if it's supposed to be fake, then it really is. I have Halloween decorations more realistic than this. Anyway they're infiltrated by two police officers. Lieutenant Daniel Bradford (Duke Moore) and everyone's favorite Wood idiot Patrolman Paul Kelton (Paul Marco) who was in Plan 9 and Bride of the Monsters. Daniel and Paul eventually escape or something, and then the real ghosts come and attack Acula. That's about it. It's just as campy as Plan 9 but it's nowhere near as entertaining. It's not awful or anything it's just kind of boring.

Ed Wood's followup to "Plan 9 from Outer Space". Lt. Bradford (Duke Moore) and patrolman Paul Kelton (Paul Marco) go investigate a deserted house where strange things are happening. There they find Dr. Acula (sigh) (Keene Duncan) who's a phony spiritualist trying to bilk wealthy people by "contacting" their dead spouses.This is the legendary Wood film that sat unreleased for 25 YEARS because Wood couldn't pay the lab bill! It has the typical Wood ingredients--a bad script, lousy acting (although Moore wasn't bad), a stubborn refusal to make sense and dreadful direction and editing. However it's not as bad (or as funny) as "Plan 9" or "Bride of the Monster" were. This is just pretty boring stuff. It has some fun moments--Tor Johnson's truly laughable makeup job and a bewildering séance (where someone is shot at multiple times and someone is knocked out cold--and no one bats an eyelash) but it's mostly just dull. Even Criswell (narrating from a coffin this time) seems to just be going through the motions. And good luck explaining what the Black Ghost is doing in this! Pretty bad...even for Wood. I give it a 1.

I know what you're thinking. This is an Ed Wood movie so it can't be that good. Yeah, well, it ain't that bad either. An elderly couple show up at the police station frightened out of their wits having claimed to see a ghost near an old house in the woods once owned by a deranged scientist. The police feel they need to check it out so they send in one of their officers who specializes in ghosts (don't all police squads have a ghost unit?). Another officer is sent who is very possibly the worst cop in the history of cinema. He fires his gun at anything that frightens him in the least. He's played by Ed Wood regular, Paul Marco, played with not one ounce of common sense or normalcy. Anyway, the two cops investigate the house and see it's just a front for the new owner, named Dr. Ackula (I'm not kidding), to run a profitable scam that involves talking to peoples dead relatives. One of Dr. Acula's goons to do his dirty work is played by Tor Johnson who is always a welcome sight in a movie like this. Criswell narrates the film but really is unnecessary to the story, although it kind of adds to the campiness. It is rumored that this movie sat in the can for almost two decades because Ed Wood couldn't afford to have the film developed. If you liked "Plan 9 from outer space" you'll probably at least find this film moderately amusing.