THE HEADLESS GHOST: Fun 1950s Horror Movies to Watch During Halloween
I’m a big fan of horror comedy. It’s a combination that isn’t easy to get right, but when it is done well it can be hilarious. A couple of my favorite horror comedies in recent years include The Cabin in the Woods, Tucker Dale Vs. Evil, and Hell Baby. Horror comedies have been around forever, though, and I had to include one of them in the 1950s horror movie column that I’ve been writing this month for Halloween.
The next film on my list is the 1959 film The Headless Ghost. The story follows three college students, two Americans and a girl from Denmark, who take a day trip from London to visit an old English castle called Ambrose Castle. The three students hide in the castle after it is closed to see if the legends of the ghosts they heard about were real. There they find the headless ghost.
After sundown, in the great hall, the portraits are more than oil on canvas: one hopes the students can put an end to a 600-year-old curse. In the castle's deepest recesses, obstacles abound: a cat and a rat, a rattler, an ax-swinging suit of armor, and revelers entertained by a slave's dance. Can the three overcome conflicts to help a ghost get ahead?
The film production was put together really quickly and was made to be part of a double feature with the film Horrors of the Black Museum. Producer Herman Cohen threw the production together fast, and they even shot it in the same castle as Horrors of the Black Museum at the same time. Cohen said:
“We knocked out that picture very, very fast; that's why the running time is so short, like sixty-five minutes. The director, Peter Graham Scott, was a film editor in London who always wanted to direct, and I needed somebody to do a fast job under my guidance.”
Just so you know, this is one of those films that is so bad it’s good. It's not as good as the horror comedies that we are seeing these days, but it’s such a damn silly movie. It's not the best or most popular horror film to come out of the '50s, but I did find charming and enjoyable. You can watch the fun trailer below along with the full film if you want.
To check out the other 1950s horror movies that I've recommended this Halloween, click on the following links: The Screaming Skull, The Tingler, and The Ghost of Yotsua.