The Ghoul had been one of the earliest British horror films of the sound era...Unfortunately, the original film negative eventually succumbed to the ravages of time and The Ghoul itself became a "lost" film, gradually drifting out of public awareness.

For years, no prints were known to remain. The film existed solely in the memories of the lingering few who had once seen it. In time, a subtitled nitrate release print was eventually located in the Czech National Archives. However, in a cruel twist of fate, that print was not only incomplete but was in such poor condition, with horribly grainy and degraded images, that the film itself was virtually unwatchable. Nevertheless, with no other available source, all subsequent copies of The Ghoul were struck from this sub-standard print.

The Ghoul would likely have remained in this nether-realm of obscurity were it not for the miraculous discovery of an uncut print at the British Film Institute. Not only was this print intact, but its picture quality was a significant improvement over the Czech print. Images which had previously been washed out or destroyed by nitrate deterioration in the Czech print were now crystal-clear. Film composition that had been cropped in prior prints could now be viewed for the first time in decades, further revealing the beauty of Krampf's cinematography.