The Ghoul (1933)

As we get further along in this process and the movies start showing zombies attacking humans for food and when they're able to take over the entire world, I think I'll start getting more scared.  Probably because this makes it possible for them to show up at my front door.  If some guy, somewhere across an ocean has zombies in the basement doing dishes or if its just one zombie that can't spread a disease, then they're not really a threat to me, thus not really scary. 

This ended up being the case in The Ghoul.  It was the least scary zombie movie I've seen so far.  I'm really not sure if it can even be considered a zombie movie but it was listed on the web as a zombie movie so I had to watch it. The scenery is always dark which lends to the eerie mood as Boris Karloff's character, a rich old professor, comes back to life. Hes lucid though he can't talk and is only concerned with the other characters if they have his prized Egyptian jewel which switches from person to person about ten times throughout the movie.  

The first half, mostly filler, included a lot of overacting.  There were alternating scenes with too much dialogue to explain what was happening and scenes made entirely of what seemed like interpretive dances.  I think it could have used more balance in the dialogue.  Although, at times, some very blunt dialogue was pretty funny.  A train station attendant loudly blurts out "the moon is full!"...really?...I can see its full...but thanks for making dually sure I knew it...I wonder how much you got paid to recite that line...

I did enjoy watching Dorothy Hyson play Betty, the sometimes helpless girl, sometimes powerful heroine who is given the opportunity to execute the quintessential horror movie scream.  She reminded me of Audrey Horn, one of my all time favorite characters from Twin Peaks, whatever happened to her?  Betty's friend Kaney, by contrast, was almost constantly in a state of terror.  I was surprised to see her take a slap in the face by a man and I almost shut the movie off but wanted to see what happened to the dead guy. 

What I really didn't like about this film, is the lack of closure.  The clan splits up mid-movie to either chase after the dead guy, run away from the dead guy, chase after a jewel, or run away with the jewel. I know a lot of old movies are notorious for quickly closing up the story in the last 30 seconds but this movie didn't even bother.  We were left to wonder what happened for three sub stories, while the main story ended with an explosion and a silly joke.  It could have used another 5-10 minutes to bring everybody back together and give it a clean closing.

As for the scariness, it definitely doesn't invoke the same reaction as when I watch The Walking Dead, the AMC show about a band of survivors getting by after zombies have taken over the world  (awesome show by the way).  When that show is on, I'm only able to watch the top 2 inches of the screen because I'm hidden behind a pillow.  Also involved, is a lot of frantic running around the room, screaming at the tv "GET THE H AWAY FROM THERE, HERE COME THE ZOMBIES!".  So, I wouldn't recommend watching The Ghoul even though its not very long and you can watch it for free online.  Maybe if you're having a classic, bad movie night in which case I highly recommend it.

Stats for The Ghoul...
Style of zombie: not really a zombie...hes a ghoul/ghost
Threat to humans: not unless you have his jewel
Dead or alive: dead
How they become zombies: Egyptian curse
Other: he was pretty creepy due to a pre-death skin condition
How to kill them: any way a human can be killed