The Headless Ghost (1959)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a very low budget and mercifully short B from England. Three exchange students visit a stately home and stay after closing to meet the historical ghosts. The two guys are innocent Americans (one of them is Richard Lyon, son of Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels, and ,at that time, a TV favourite) and the girl is a pneumatic Dane, who should have gone on to better things. The ghosts are not portrayed as scary, and prominent among them is Clive Revill who would have a decent run in the business in later years. Like a lot of British pictures of the time,it feels like it was made with an eye an giving cast and technicians work, rather than with any desire on producing a quality movie. Overall, easy to watch, easy to forget

Three foreign exchange students -- excitable Americans Bill (likable Richard Lymon) and Ronnie (the equally engaging David Rose) and smart Danish gal Ingrid (a charming performance by lovely buxom blonde Liliane Sottane) -- go on a day trip to the allegedly haunted Ambrose Castle in England. They spend the night and discover that the place is haunted for real by various ghosts that include one particular hapless headless fellow who the trio have to help regain his severed noggin. Director Peter Graham Scott, working from a lightweight script by Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel, relates the frothy story at a steady pace and maintains a perfectly amiable tongue-in-cheek tone throughout. The silly and inoffensive humor doesn't get many big laughs, but it does provide a sizable number of smiles. The ghosts are a colorful and entertaining bunch, with stand-out work by Clive Revill as the friendly, helpful Fourth Earl of Ambrose and Alexander Archdale as the jolly, mischievous Sir Randolph. Josephine Blake has a memorably sexy bit as a gorgeous slave girl who performs a sultry dance. John Wiles' crisp black and white cinematography boasts plenty of nifty fades and dissolves. Gerard Schurmann's dynamic score does the trick. A pleasant 62 minute diversion.

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.