The Ghouls

Creator: Ray Harryhausen

 Film: Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger 1977

Sinbad arrives at the city with hopes to see Prince Kassim, but at the very gates he is stopped by a humble merchant. He tells them that the city is being ravaged by a plague so he invites Sinbad and his men to this tent where he promises food and wine.

 As they drink one of Sinbad's men is poisoned and the true intentions of the merchant are seen. Sinbad attacks him and his men but soon enough a dark dressed woman walks into the tent and gives life to these creatures you see here.

The woman commands them to kill Sinbad and soon enough the fight begins, Sinbad and these "Ghouls" fight inside the tent for a while. Sinbad then manages to run outside and they continue their scrap outside on the city streets. As the fight progresses Sinbad uses his sword to tear a rope that was holding a bunch of logs, the logs fall on top of the Ghouls killing them instantly.

Ghouls Facts

• Ray Harryhausen had originally planned to have four ghouls in the film but for costs that idea was dropped.

• The inspiration of the Ghouls came to him from an anatomy book where there was a gruesome picture of a human body with no skin, just its muscles.

• In early sketches Mr. Harryhausen portrayed the Ghouls with tiny antenna on their heads, but he dropped that idea because they looked a bit comical.

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Ray Harryhausen

on the Ghouls

"To imbue the sequence with a more menacing atmosphere, I designed it to take place at night."

"With the invaluable assistance of Poggi, we carefully choreographed the live action, with Pat Wayne fighting thin air."

"Although the Ghouls sequence flows relatively well, I have never been truly happy with it. As the opening Dynamation sequence it should have set the pace, and it simply doesn't, because it lacks both excitement and drama."