Night of the Ghouls (1959)

Director:

Edward D. Wood Jr.

Writer:

Edward D. Wood Jr. (written by)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Phony spiritualist raises the dead.

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Sequel | Based On Novel

Cast

Kenne Duncan	...	Dr. Acula
Duke Moore	...	Police Lieutenant Daniel Bradford (as 'Duke' Moore)
Tor Johnson	...	Lobo
Valda Hansen	...	The White Ghost
Johnny Carpenter	...	Police Captain Robbins (as John Carpenter)
Paul Marco	...	Patrolman Kelton
Don Nagel	...	Crandel
Bud Osborne	...	Darmoor
Jeannie Stevens	...	The Black Ghost
Harvey B. Dunn	...	Henry
Margaret Mason	...	Martha
Clay Stone	...	Young Man
Marcelle Hemphill	...	Mrs. Wingate Yates Foster
Tom Mason	...	Foster Ghost
James La Maida	...	Hall
Anthony Cardoza	...	Tony (as Tony Cardoza)
John Gautieri	...	Boy
Karen Hairston	...	Girl
Karl Johnson	...	Dead Man
Leonard Barnes	...	Dead Man
Frank Barbarick	...	Dead Man
Francis Misitano	...	Dead Man
David De Mering	...	Dead Man (as David De Maring)
Criswell	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Bederski	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Conrad Brooks	...	Man in Fight (uncredited)
Mona McKinnon	...	Juvenile Delinquent Girl (uncredited)
Edward D. Wood Jr.	...	Man in Fight (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward D. Wood Jr.

Writing credits
Edward D. Wood Jr.		(written by)

Produced by
J.M. A.	....	production executive (as J.M.A.)
Walter Brannon	....	associate producer (as Walt Brannon)
Anthony Cardoza	....	associate producer (as Tony Cardoza)
Gordon Chesson	....	associate producer
J.C. Foxworthy	....	executive producer (as Major J.C. Foxworthy U.S.M.C.R. Ret.)
Paul Marco	....	associate producer
Tom Mason	....	associate producer
Marg. Usher	....	associate producer
Edward D. Wood Jr.	....	producer

Cinematography by
William C. Thompson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edward D. Wood Jr.

Art Direction by
Kathy Wood		(as Kathleen O'Hara Everett)

Costume Design by
Mickey Meyers

Makeup Department
Harry Thomas	....	makeup creator

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ronald V. Ashcroft	....	assistant director (as Ronnie Ashcroft)
Scott Lynch	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Harry Smith	....	sound
Sam Kopetzky	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John C. Murray	....	lighting (as John Murray)
Glen R. Smith	....	camera operator
Larry Smith	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Donald A. Davis	....	editorial supervisor

Music Department
Gordon Zahler	....	music supervisor
Paul Csonka	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Kurt Rehfeld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Leith Stevens	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Ernest Tomlinson	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Lee Zahler	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
John Jarvis	....	accountant

Distributors

• Creative Exposure (1982) (Canada) (DVD) (as "Revenge of the Dead")
• Wade Williams Productions (1983) (USA) (theatrical)
• Rhino Video (1990) (USA) (VHS) (Elvira edition)
• Image Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Side Street (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Passport Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Englewood Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Lumivision (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Lumière (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Punto Zero (2009) (Italy) (DVD) (as Enjoy Movies)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Consolidated Editorial Service  film editing
• Filmservice Laboratories  laboratory services

Also Known As:

Dr. Acula (USA) (original script title)
Revenge of the Dead

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:T | USA:Approved (Certificate # 19275) | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | Italy:T | Finland:K-18 (2004)

Trivia:

When Wade Williams acquired the rights to Edward D. Wood Jr.'s Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) in 1982, Wood's widow, Kathy, told him of this never-released film that was being held by a post-production house because the lab fees hadn't been paid. Williams paid the fees and acquired this film as well.

Quotes:

Narrator: Lieutenant Bradford found the staircase, a staircase he remembered so well from the days long ago when he had been investigating the mad scientist and his monsters. The skylight where he had once entered, long ago, now was barred, foiling entry or exit...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: Night of the Ghouls" (1996)

Not as much fun as "Plan 9"

Ed Wood's followup to "Plan 9 from Outer Space". Lt. Bradford (Duke Moore) and patrolman Paul Kelton (Paul Marco) go investigate a deserted house where strange things are happening. There they find Dr. Acula (sigh) (Keene Dunacn) who's a phony spiritualist trying to bilk wealthy people by "contacting" their dead spouses.

This is the legendary Wood film that sat unreleased for 25 YEARS because Wood couldn't pay the lab bill! It has the typical Wood ingredients--a bad script, lousy acting (although Moore wasn't bad), a stubborn refusal to make sense and dreadful direction and editing. However it's not as bad (or as funny) as "Plan 9" or "Bride of the Monster" were. This is just pretty boring stuff. It has some fun moments--Tor Johnson's truly laughable makeup job and a bewildering séance (where someone is shot at multiple times and someone is knocked out cold--and no one bats an eyelash) but it's mostly just dull. Even Criswell (narrating from a coffin this time) seems to just be going through the motions. And good luck explaining what the Black Ghost is doing in this! Pretty bad...even for Wood. I give it a 1.