The Headless Ghost (1959)

What makes it different from others?

Disturbing yet enthralling

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Coming down with a nasty cold,I started looking round for an easy- going film to view.With having originally watched the movie for IMDbs Classic Film boards beast of 1959 poll,I decide that it was the perfect time to go ahead and meet the headless ghost again.The plot:Planning to write a paper based on a haunted castle,Ronnie and his friends Ingrid and Bill decide to take a tour of the castle.Reaching the end of the tour,the trio are told that the ghosts come out at night.Hiding in the castle until all the tourists have gone,Bill,Roonie and Ingrid soon uncover a curse that has been touring the castle for centuries. View on the film:Before getting to the movie,I have to mention that Network have given the title an excellent transfer,with the soundtrack allowing the viewer to hear every ghostly scream,and the clear picture allowing the viewer to see a headless ghost dart across the screen.Running at a trim 60 minutes,the screenplay by Herman Cohen & Aben Kandel offers a delightful mix of light comedy and horror,as the ghostly events of the castle are joined by the "Aww shucks" of the trio.Locking the ghosts in the castle,the writers give each of them unique,funny features which go from the unlucky 4th Earl to the playful Sir Randolph.Uncovering the secrets hidden in director Peter Graham Scott's shadow-filled castle,the alluring Liliane Sottane gives a terrific performance as Ingrid,with Sottane giving Ingrid a real sense of excitement over solving the curse,the gang start to get a head of the headless ghost.

"The Headless Ghost" is a harmless, very minor but fairly likable little comedy filmed on the cheap in Britian. Three foreign exchange students - Americans Bill (Richard Lyon) and Ronnie (David Rose) and Danish gal Ingrid (Liliane Sottane) - take in the locations of the Ambrose Estate. Ronnie wants to investigate the stories of the place being haunted for his college newspaper and the three certainly do find plenty to write about. The ghosts are real, starting with amiable, helpful Fourth Earl of Ambrose (the great character actor Clive Revill, in his first credited screen role). One of the ghosts, Malcolm, needs his body and his severed head to be reunited so he can properly rest in peace. Bill, Ingrid, and Ronnie are reluctant at first but are eventually persuaded to see this "mission" through to its end. As written by Aben Kandel and producer Herman Cohen, and directed by Peter Graham Scott, there are no real comedy fireworks here. At best, the movie does elicit some modest chuckles, but at least it's all easy enough to take. The trio of protagonists have the potential to annoy some viewers, especially Bill, but the enthusiasm of the actors' performances is effective, and that accent of Sottanes' is hard to resist. Revill scores as the easygoing ghost, and Alexander Archdale is a hoot as the fun loving spirit of Sir Randolph. One debit is that even at a mere one hour and three minutes, this definitely feels padded: better pacing and this could have run even shorter. Still, one can't completely dislike the padding, as it features some incredible dance moves by a sexy performer named Josephine Blake. The special effects aren't bad, the music by Gerard Schurmann is good, and the movie isn't totally without decent black & white atmosphere. Originally released as the second movie in a double feature with Roger Cormans' "A Bucket of Blood", this is indeed lightweight stuff, and pretty damn silly, but it's also impossible to hate. After all, it's not as if we don't know what we're in for judging by the opening credits. Six out of 10.

Headless Ghost, The (1959) * 1/2 (out of 4) Three teenagers, looking for ghosts, spend the night in a haunted house and meet a headless ghost who needs to locate his head before passing to the "other side". This horror/comedy from AIP has somewhat of a small, cult following behind it but I'm really not sure what they see in it. Yes, every film has at least a small group of fans but I must admit that this movie just didn't do it for me. The movie has a lot more comedy than anything else or perhaps I should say this film tries to go for comedy more than anything else. I honestly can't remember laughing a single time, which is pretty bad considering the movie tries to get a laugh every few seconds. I also wasn't overly thrilled with any of the horror elements, which are pretty much held to the castle and the main ghost needing the help. The cast, including Richard Lyon, are all pretty standard but they're no better or worse than countless films like this from the decade. The film runs 62-minutes and goes by rather fast so if one finds the comedy working then I'm sure they'll enjoy it.

I've just watched The Headless Ghost for the first time and quite liked it, even though I'm not a huge fan of comedy. This had a little drama with it two.A coach load of tourists arrive at the haunted Ambrose Castle and three of these, two Americans and a young Dainish woman decide to stay behind for the night to see if it really is haunted. It isn't long before strange things start to happen and one of the ghosts appears from a painting and later, they confront the Headless Ghost of the title and end up helping him to get reattach his head to his body and achieve this at the end.Despite it being a comedy, The Headless Ghost is rather creepy and atmospheric at times.Watch it if you get the chance. Great fun. Rating: 3 stars out of 5.