When their car runs out of gas, Geoffrey goes off to find a garage to fill a can with gas whilst his irritating flapper girlfriend Daphne has a nap. When she awakens, she gets out and has a walk around the remote surroundings. She soon realises that she is being followed by someone and after a struggle in which she loses consciousness, she wakes up in the man’s remote cabin. She escapes and is rescued by Doctor Lawrence who makes her a guest in his mansion.

The Ghoul is deceptive. On the surface, it appears to be a quaint, slightly old-fashioned horror film that seems quite creaky and lumpen for a horror movie to be made as late as 1975. But then the kills are extremely gory and really rather brutal for a film of this kind. They really took me by surprise.

I also loved the cast. Peter Cushing is always brilliant and is fantastic as Dr Lawrence. I also love the creepiness of John Hurt’s Tom Rawlings who seems to be akin to a kind of Heathcliff-type figure here but if Heathcliff was a creepy stalker and abductor of women.

Freddie Francis, as always, directs beautifully. As per his films, it’s also photographed impressively.

The Ghoul himself is kind of funny when revealed with his bright green head. He’s also played by Don Henderson who was in loads of TV programmes when I was growing up. Whilst his appearance might provoke a few laughs, his kills don’t. They’re very brutal and truly indicative of how much horror had started to evolve in the 70’s.

The Ghoul was also released in the same year that John Hurt would make history as he would star as Quentin Crisp in the pioneering The Naked Civil Servant.

The Ghoul played cinemas as part of a double bill with the Joan Collins masterpiece I Don’t Want To Be Born. Any film that goes up against the La Collins Rosemary’s Baby knock-off is going to come off second best (it’s my favourite movie of 1975. Yes, I think it’s better than Jaws and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest) but The Ghoul is still an entertaining horror film that holds the attention and keeps the viewer gripped.

Now, we just need a decent Blu-Ray release. The print I watched looked like it had been kept in someone’s attic and out of its film can since 1975. The film deserves better.

3 out of 5 stars