HeadlessGhost

The Headless Ghost (1959)

While on a tour of Ambrose Castle three college students get interested in the ghost stories about the castle. They argue about whether ghosts are real or fake and eventually decide to hide in the castle after closing time. They figure that this will allow them to poke around and see if there really is such a thing as a ghost firsthand. As soon as the place closes they get their answer as a ghost literally jumps out of a painting. But he isn’t alone as it seems many spirits are stuck because on headless ghost can’t be at rest until some ritual is performed. Before you know it the students are sneaking around the castle looking for a way to free the ghosts.

What can I say guys I dig these goofy ‘50s flicks. The Headless Ghost is a very tame movie with a silly plot. The characters are never in any real danger as the ghosts are all played for laughs. Seriously the Don Knotts flick The Ghost and Mr. Chicken has more scary bits in it then this one. There also really isn’t much to the plot either as they are lead to the magic bag needed for the ritual without any detective work. This is a good thing because the main characters aren’t written or portrayed as being all that bright. The dialogue is fully of “hip” talk and overall is just goofy. This might bother some viewers, but I get that the movie is more comedy and less horror. Heck there is a feast with the ghosts complete with a spectral belly dancer! Like I’ve already said this is a goofy flick.

The one thing that The Headless Ghost has going for it is that it was made in England. This did a couple things for it. 1st of all the production values are fairly decent. The sets look great and the lighting and camerawork are handled nicely. Many U.S. productions of movies like this were really made on the cheap and suffer from it. I also thought that most of the special effects were not bad for 1959. You get some dissolving into and out of paintings and of course the titular headless ghost. Yes it is a guy wearing a getup to hide is head who is chasing around a rubber head, but at least you don’t see the strings! The 2nd reason that making this movie in England really helps is the supporting cast. This meant by default that it would be a British cast and they even take material like this seriously. Plus unlike many U.S. productions that cast actors for their looks or put amateurs in the roles, the supporting cast here has some talent. This just makes for a better movie. I’d like to specifically point out actor Clive Revill who was also in one of my favorite haunted house movies ever!

The Headless Ghost has just been released on a double feature DVD from VCI Entertainment. The other movie on the disc is Horrors of the Black Museum. If you are a fan of cheesy ‘50s movies then I recommend picking up the DVD. But on the other hand if these kinds of movies aren’t your thing you will probably want to avoid this one.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer