Tonight's Weird Wednesday presentation just keeps the Universal madball rolling with "The Mad Ghoul" from 1943.
He's not really mad or a ghoul, but "The Mad Ghoul" sounds better than "The Poor Sap Who Was Lied To And Manipulated By His Evil Professor."
The always phenomenal George Zucco is Chemistry Professor, Dr. Alfred Morris. He's got some different ideas about how the laws of nature work.
David (The Smiling Ghost) Bruce is the Professor's best student Ted Allison. The professor likes him so much, he decides to just ruin his life!
Ted's girlfriend Isabel is a singing sensation on her way up, and his friend Eric is her accompanist. Isabel was played by the enchanting Evelyn Ankers, and Eric is played by the always great Turhan Bey!
Dr. Morris is not only insane, he's also a back-stabbing manipulative bastard. He's telling Isabel how he's watching over and out for Ted, while draining the life out of him. It's no secret that Dr. Morris would also really like to get into Isabel's panties!
Seventy-seven years ago, but with that mask on, this looks like it could have been filmed yesterday! The Prof is handling some serious substance that when ignited has this zombie effect. First he tried it on monkeys, and now it's Ted's turn. Unfortunately, Ted is not in on the deal. The tube on the mask stops him from inhaling the crap!
Dr. Morris ignites the shit, and then calls Ted into the room and locks him in, and this is the result! I just can't get over how it affects his hair!
Hey Doc, I don't really feel that great!
One of the original 'Queens of Horror,' if the world was a fair place, Evelyn Ankers would be as well known as Marilyn Monroe, but who said the world was a fair place?
I found this cool shot on Pinterest, that shows just some of the classic horror films Evelyn was in! A couple years later, and they could have added "Weird Woman," "The Frozen Ghost," and "The Invisible Man's Revenge" to that uncanny list!
For obvious reasons like "The Mummy's Hand," "The Monster And The Girl," "The Mad Monster," and "The Flying Serpent," just to name a few, George Zucco was, is, and always be a core member of The Dungeon Hall Of Fame!
So, let's see, when he's not busy being a ghoul, Ted wants to marry Isabel, and the Doctor is also hot for her, but she's actually in love with Eric, so it is a bit of a cluster!
Turhan Bey as Eric is always awesome no matter if the role is classy like this, or creepy like in "The Mummy's Tomb," another film that also had George Zucco in it.
Dr. Morris just keeps on stoking the fire of deceit! The lies that flow from his lips make you wonder why he was not a politician, instead of a Professor!
The Professor has given the order to Ted, "Kill Eric, then kill yourself!"
Just being a ghoul wasn't enough. A ghoul with a gun takes it to a different level!
Everything ain't so merry in Merryville tonight!
Isabel is on a small tour thrilling audiences from one town to the next with her warbling!
The Doctor has Ted cutting hearts out of bodies left and right, and all over the place! In order to keep him going, he needs a full tank of juice. Eventually somebody puts two and two together and notices that the killings and heart extractions are happening in the same exact places and times that Isabel is performing.
This reporter figures it all out, and sets up a ruse with himself as bait acting like a corpse. As smart as he was to figure it all out, he wasn't smart enough to see Ted standing there with a scalpel in his hand!
The hour and a minute this film runs is almost over, so there's no more time for any more made up stories.
When he was in a normal state, Ted figured out what the Doctor was doing to him, so he turns the tables on him, and Dr. Morris inhales a big bunch of the stuff, and ends up suffering the same fate as Ted, but since he no longer has anybody to cut out hearts for him, his fate is sealed!
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