The Mad Ghoul - 1943

It was movie night, and we found our Universal Monster movie list. We were up to The Mad Ghoul, and we sat down to witness the majesty of what it held for us.

Ted is a student who likes to kiss the butt of his teacher, Dr. Morris. The doctor has been experimenting with some Mayan gas that kills people, but if Ted performs cardiectomies to get heart juice, the subject comes back - sort of. 

Enter the blond woman who warbles on stage. She's Ted's girlfriend, and the doctor wants her. She doesn't love Ted anymore, because she loves her piano player, Eric. Dr. Morris doesn't know about Eric, so he thinks if he ghoulifies Ted, he'll have a clear way to the warbler. So, he gases Ted.

Now, Ted has crepey skin and messy hair. Immediately. Dr. Morris tells him there was an accident, and they use some heart juice to make him normal for a while. The warbler is going on a tour, and Ted and the doctor are trailing along. Ted is being clingy, but he keeps having episodes. So, in every town, someone is either killed or dug up so Ted can have heart juice.

First, I want to address George Zucco. Why is his name so small on the poster? He's literally the villain of the film, and he's listed fourth?! He's also got more screen time than some of the others listed. I liked George Zucco, and he did crazy here as well. He also seemed really resistant to his the gas he created. He ran all over town after sucking in some of that stuff, while Ted keeled over almost immediately.

The movie itself was okay. As usual, the woman was annoying. She's fallen out of love with Ted, which I can't really say I blame her, but she's all wishy washy. I mean, she was already in love with someone else. In this, she was particularly annoying since she was singing all the time. I want to give props to the policemen who went to the concert with their guns. That was epic. This was okay, but I'm not sure it pushes over into a good movie review.