Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Headless Ghost (1959)

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The Headless Ghost (1959) by #PeterGrahamScott
w/#RichardLyon #LilianeSottane

Three students visit a haunted castle and decide to hide and deliberately miss the bus so they can spend the night.

“HEAD-HUNTING TEENAGERS LOST IN THE HAUNTED CASTLE!”

#Horror #Comedy
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Apparently, The Headless Ghost (1959) was shot in three weeks on the same sets as Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) and was intended to run as part of a double bill with that movie. Producer Herman Cohen said:

“We knocked out that picture very, very fast; that’s why the running time is so short, like sixty-five minutes… In fact, we started Headless Ghost as I was still finishing Black Museum, editing and cutting it. But I honestly don’t recall too much else about this picture, it was so bad.”

Cohen went on to describe the film as unfunny and stated that he ‘”never liked” it.

Well, I can’t really argue with him. I liked Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) quite a bit, as I may have said a few weeks ago in this very blog. I wanted to like The Headless Ghost (1959) just as much – or more. I had vague memories os seeing is years ago, and really liking the idea of three students getting stuck overnight at a haunted castle. And I suppose that first part of the movie works just fine. But once the ghosts start to show themselves, things get pretty silly, pretty fast.

It feels a bit like an old Abbott and Costello movie – but without the comedic talents of Abbott and Costello. It definitely plays most of the moments for laughs, and only occasionally gets them. Truth be told, the movie would probably be funnier if it took itself seriously.

Still, it’s barely over an hour long, so it doesn’t really wear out it’s welcome. And it’s basically fun, in a #NotQuiteClassicCinema sort of way. I would choose to watch Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) over this one any day – as well as any Abbott and Costello movie. But if The Headless Ghost (1959) turns up as the third or fourth feature in an all night movie marathon – and you haven’t fallen asleep yet – you might just want to give it a chance on some insomnia fuelled #FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn. 

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