The Ghoul (1975 film)
| The Ghoul | |
|---|---|
dvd.jpg)
UK VHS cover
|
|
| Directed by | Freddie Francis |
| Produced by | Kevin Francis |
| Written by | Anthony Hinds |
| Starring |
Peter Cushing John Hurt Veronica Carlson |
| Music by | Harry Robertson |
| Cinematography | John Wilcox |
| Edited by | Henry Richardson |
| Distributed by | Tyburn Film Productions |
|
Release date
|
1975 |
|
Running time
|
93 min (Uncut theatrical release). 88 min/80 min (2002 DVD unauthorized release) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Ghoul is a 1975 British Tyburn Film Productions horror film starring Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson, John Hurt and Alexandra Bastedo. In the United States, the film was released as Night Of The Ghoul and The Thing In The Attic.
In 1920s England, a group of upper-class people take part in an automobile race to Land's End. One couple, Billy and Daphne, get lost in heavy fog and run out of petrol. Billy goes to look for fuel, but takes so long that Daphne strikes out on her own. She eventually locates a rural estate owned by Dr. Lawrence, a former priest. He receives her kindly and sends his disturbed gardener, Tom, to find Billy. Tom finds and murders Billy, and pushes the car into a ravine; it is implied that he acted on his employer's orders.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lawrence tells Daphne about a trip his family took to India; his experiences with certain cults there so horrified him that he renounced religion in general. This decision was heavily influenced by the fate of his wife and son, who were converted to a new faith by a local nobleman. The former was afterwards so horrified by the things she had done that she committed suicide. Still waiting for Billy, Daphne falls asleep in a guest room. Seeing this, the doctor's Indian housekeeper, Ayah, goes to the house's attic and lets out a bloated, bloodstained man in a priest's mantle. He kills Daphne with a sacrificial knife, and Ayah ritually cooks the girl's flesh for him to eat and burn's the girl's clothes.
The first couple's friends, Geoffrey and Angela, learn of Billy's death from the police and set out on a private mission to find Daphne. They too wreck their car in the fog and are separated in the search for help. The local police refuse to search the marshland as it is too dangerous. Angela locates the Lawrence estate first, and is abducted by Tom, who obviously hopes to rape her. When Dr. Lawrence discovers her presence, he reluctantly decides to offer her as another sacrifice to the ghoul in his attic. She is saved from molestation when Tom is sent out to get rid of Geoffrey, who also found the house and was convinced by Dr. Lawrence that Angela and Daphne were both conveyed safely back to town.
Tom botches the attempt to kill Geoffrey, and is half sucked into a bog in his attempt to flee. Ordered to explain himself before he is rescued, he admits that Daphne was fed to something living in Lawrence's house. Geoffery returns to the estate and confronts Lawrence, who admits that the ghoul is his own son; the man has been a cannibal ever since his conversion, and Ayah is another cult adherent who came from India to prepare his food. The agonized Lawrence has tended to and protected his son because he promised his wife he would do so.
...
Wikipedia