The Ghoul (1975)

What evil lurks in the foggy marshes of Land’s End, England?

In the 1920s, a couple traveling to Land’s End, England, runs out of petrol in the fog wherein the female (Veronica Carlson) encounters a peculiar gardener (John Hurt) and the estate of a former-minister (Peter Cushing), who lives there with his East Indian servant and… something else. Another couple shows up looking for their friends (Ian McCulloch & Alexandra Bastedo). Havoc ensues.

“The Ghoul” (1975) meshes “Psycho” (1960) with “The Shuttered Room” (1967) and Hammer’s "Demons of the Mind" (1972). It was made by a short-lived company that was inspired by Hammer films and utilized many of the same people & locations of that company. It thus has a Hammer vibe and is on par with much of their horror output from the 60s-70s.

Some have called it the British version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), but it’s more toned-down and concentrates on troubled souls and eerie mood corresponding to the foggy marshes of Cornwall, England, and the unspeakable mysteries of India.

The movie runs about 1 hour, 28 minutes (with a shorter version that has several minutes cut), and was shot at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, just west of London.

GRADE: B