Villain(s)  Zombie

Actor(s):  Turhan Bey, Evelyn Ankers, David Bruce, George Zucco

Brief Description  The Mad Ghoul (1943) is a classic Universal Pictures sci-fi horror B-movie that blends themes of mad science, Mayan mysticism, and a unique early version of the cinematic zombie. Directed by James Hogan and written by Brenda Weisberg and Paul Gangelin, the film runs for 65 minutes and stands out for its morbid plot involving grave-robbing, murder, and anatomical desecration.

Plot:
The story follows Dr. Alfred Morris (played by George Zucco), an eccentric university chemistry professor obsessed with an ancient Mayan nerve gas. The gas puts living subjects into a "death-in-life" state of suspended animation. When it wears off, the victim enters a state of rapid physical decomposition, transforming into a mindless, sub-human "ghoul". Dr. Morris discovers that this horrific degeneration can only be temporarily reversed by a fluid extracted from fresh human hearts.

Dr. Morris secretly harbors romantic feelings for Isabel Lewis (Evelyn Ankers), a beautiful concert singer who is currently dating his talented medical student assistant, Ted Allison (David Bruce). Seizing a malicious opportunity to eliminate his romantic rival, Dr. Morris exposes an unsuspecting Ted to the toxic gas.

Ted transforms into a monstrous, shuffling zombie under Morris's total hypnotic control. To keep Ted "alive" and functioning in his human form between lapses, Morris forces the mindless ghoul to dig up graves and murder people to harvest their fresh hearts. Tragically, when Ted returns to his normal human state, he has no memory of the horrific crimes he committed while under the doctor's influence. The tension peaks as Isabel begins falling for a new man, Eric Iverson (Turhan Bey), driving the jealous Dr. Morris to plot even more murders using his undead servant.