Plot
In 1920s England, a party of friends challenge each other to an automobile race to Land's End. One couple, Daphne Wells Hunter and Billy, run out of petrol, so Billy goes to look for a garage, but takes so long that Daphne goes to search for him. Billy is unable to find a garage and returns to the car to find Daphne gone. Meanwhile, Daphne locates a mansion, but the caretaker, Tom Rawlings, warns her not to go in, fearing that she may never come out alive, but she ignores him. The owner, Mr. Lawrence, a former clergyman, invites her inside to rest and sends Tom to find Billy. Tom finds Billy in the car, and murders him by pushing the vehicle off a cliff.
Meanwhile, Lawrence tells Daphne in flashback about his missionary work in India, where a satanic cult kidnapped his son, Simon, and corrupted him by converting him to an evil faith. This caused Lawrence to renounce his faith. Lawrence allows Daphne to stay in the guest room for the night. Seeing this, Lawrence's Indian servant, Ayah, lets out a deformed man from the attic, who goes into Daphne's room and stabs her to death. Afterwards, Ayah slices up Daphne's flesh and feeds it to the man.
Angela and Geoffrey are called in by the local police to identify Billy's body. They report Daphne's disappearance. The police refuse to search for her as they are afraid of the marshlands. A policeman takes them to the wreck, then leaves, and Geoffrey goes out to search the marsh. Angela tries to drive off but nearly runs over Tom before crashing. Angela wakes up in Tom’s cabin. Geoffrey returns to where he left the car and finds the wreck, but not Angela. He finds the house and enters. Lawrence and Ayah demand to know why he is inside the house. Lawrence lies that Daphne had been there just a few hours ago but has gone to town by bus. Lawrence says he suspects that Angela took the bus as well. Geoffrey leaves, unsatisfied.
Tom tells Lawrence that Angela knows too much, and takes her to the house. Geoffrey’s car is stuck, and he asks Tom for assistance. He is suspicious of Tom, and chases him through the swamp. Tom is stuck in quicksand, and Geoffrey interrogates him before he sinks. Tom reveals that there is something in the house that eats human flesh.
Geoffrey confronts Dr. Lawrence about the lies he has been told. Lawrence catches Ayah doing some kind of “evil rite” and stops her. Geoffrey runs upstairs, despite Lawrence's objections. Geoffrey is knifed in the head by Simon, who is revealed to be Lawrence's cannibal son.
Simon escapes from the attic. Tom sneaks into the guest room and attacks Angela, but Simon enters and kills him. Simon attempts to kill Angela too, but Lawrence reluctantly shoots him dead. Heartbroken by what he has done, Lawrence commits suicide by shooting himself as Angela escapes.
Reception
Geoff Brown of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "It comes as a slight surprise to find that Freddie Francis hasn't directed a film called The Ghoul before, but this connoisseur of creeping flesh, deadly bees, skulls and psychopaths now repairs the omission for Tyburn, with his son Kevin acting as producer. To whet our appetite, a dictionary definition is thrust upon the screen ("Ghoul. A person of revolting inhuman tastes"), but for half of the movie Francis keeps his exemplar well out of sight; then he starts to appear from the waist downwards, two blood-stained legs walking around in sandals; in the final minutes the whole body lurches into view, but the mild frisson of horror proves hardly worth the wait. ... only John Hurt injects more than a fraction of life into his character and dialogue, and the clichés quickly dominate: Peter Cushing brings out his violin for a soothing spot of the classics, the local copper mutters veiled warnings before trundling off on his bike, and thick fog swirls round the exterior sets at the drop of a cannister." [5]
Variety praised the "assured acting" and "impressive set decoration" but called the film "far too tame for its own good," with a script that "moves from A to Z without generating much excitement and surprise in between." [6]
TV Guide gave the film two stars out of four, writing that "Cushing and other familiar Hammer faces give this the old college try, but Francis' dull direction--endless shots of Henderson's legs creeping down the stairs--makes the cause hopeless." [7]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "A nice feeling for the 1920s period atmosphere and a crazed performance from John Hurt give this fractured slow-mover a few extra kicks." [8]
Leslie Halliwell said: "The build-up is too slow, the revelation too nasty, and the whole thing is a shameless rip-off of the structure of Psycho ." [9]
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