Ralph Richardson's film debut.
For years this was regarded as a "lost film" with no prints or elements known to exist. A nitrate release print was discovered in the Czech National Archives in Prague. This print was a subtitled edited version that was in poor condition and contained numerous splices. Years later, a print of the uncut British version was finally discovered.
In The Old Dark House, Boris Karloff had played Ernest Thesiger's butler. In "The Ghoul" Thesiger plays Karloff's butler.
In the 1960's, producer Alex Gordon approached Boris Karloff about remaking "The Ghoul," figuring that by then Karloff was in his 70's and could play the part without the heavy age makeup he'd used in 1933. But the projected remake fell through.
Some U.S. theatre prints were shown in spherical widescreen. The movie wasn't shot in widescreen. The bottom of the screen had been matted to cover up the Czech subtitles (present on the only known existing version at the time) thereby creating the rectangular widescreen shape.
This was the first British film to be labeled "horrific".
This was the first British horror film of the sound era.
When Boris Karloff traveled to England to shoot The Ghoul, it was the first time in nearly 25 years that he returned to his home country and reunited with the surviving members of his family. Filmed March 13-late April 1933, it was Karloff's first British feature (his last would be "Curse of the Crimson Altar" in 1968).