The Boogie Man Will Get You

The Boogie Man Will Get You marks the first joint appearance of Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre in the same film. Both certainly could qualify as Boogie Men for the title, both frightened movie goers for generations. This was their first joint screen appearance and the first film where they spoofed their own images.

Karloff is a scientist of the mad kind who boards in an old colonial type inn that is run by an equally screwy couple George McKay and Maude Eburne. Lorre is the county sheriff and kind of a Grand Pooh Bah of the region, he's everything else official. When he discovers Karloff is experimenting on making zombie like supermen for the war effort, rather than arrest him Peter's intrigued even though five fatalities might be traced to Karloff's experiments.

There's also quarreling couple Jeff Donnell who wants to buy the old inn and Larry Parks her estranged husband who says no. Add to that Maxie Rosenbloom who plays Lorre's amiable lunkhead retainer and you've got a first rate spoof of horror pictures.

Certainly Karloff and Lorre showed they had a flair for comedy which would pop up every so often in their credits midst all the fiendish parts they did play.

Very funny film, should not be missed by fans of either Karloff or Lorre.

While the film fails to offer any actual "Boogieman", it does offer up a variety of decent chuckles, courtesy of its then all-star cast. With a goofy set up, likable characters, and some great slapstick, The Boogie Man Will Get You is a decent, fun little romp from yesteryear.

The plot follows a young woman who decides to purchase an old Colonial mansion in the middle of nowhere with the hopes of turning it into a hotel, even though it is barely standing. Her ex-husband finds her only seconds after she has made the purchase (a plot device never fully explained) and tried to convince her she's been swindled. She doesn't care, having become fond of the eclectic cast of characters that inhabit the house... but little does she know, the old man who works in the basement is actually trying to create a race of electric supermen! Bodies begin piling up (or do they?), Peter Lorre shows up playing the town mayor/sheriff/notary with a kitten in his coat pocket, and general Hollywood hijinks ensue. The ending is a mess, but it ends up being so convoluted, it somehow finds charms in all of its lunacy. While far from intelligent entertainment, you could do a lot worse for 66 minutes of your life.

If you're a Karloff or Lorre fan, its well worth seeing. Others, its hit-or-miss.

This film was quite enjoyable for what it was. A cockeyed optimist(Miss Jeff Daniels) buys a rundown colonial era inn with high hopes and decides to allow the current inhabitants, among them a scientist working on a device that will help the Allies win the war(Boris Karloff)and an old woman who obsesses about chickens, to stay on. Her bumbling ex-husband has followed her. The scientist is soon joined by the sheriff/coroner/justice of the peace (and purveyor of baldness cures),played by Peter Lorre. The big question is: Is there are or aren't there a room full of corpses in a secret room off the wine cellar? They have been experimenting on travelling salesmen who happen by the house,using the standard bulb- and- helmet type of contraption that should be familiar to moviegoers. Lorre's character packs a huge pistol and keeps a Siamese kitten in his pocket, claiming that "she has a incredible sense for crime and corruption." Good thing.

From the very beginning, during the opening credits, you already know what you are dealing with, despite Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. It's not my cup of tea, but that's a movie from Lew Landers,, a grade B movies provider whose I have already tried not to miss any movie available; many are not anymore. Fortunately for me, this feature is not too long, so it was not too hard for me to really focus on the plot. It is definitely fun, enjoyable. Impossible to say the least harm about this film. Made during the war, 1942, it is obviously destined to help audiences to forget, at least for more than one hour, the nightmare of the conflict.

The Boogie Man Will Get You: 6 out of 10: If Ma and Pa Kettle ever did Arsenic and Old Lace it would be this movie. Very very silly and occasionally quite funny the Boogie Man has a couple of big faults. The supporting cast is mixed at best and the ending is a mess.

It also has two great assets, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. Karloff is spot on as the bumbling well meaning murdering scientist. Whose experiments on traveling salesman to create super-soldiers for the war effort are both well meaning and quite homicidal.

Peter Lorre is hilarious as the Mayor, Police Chief, Undertaker, Notary, excreta. He dresses in a three piece suit with a Siamese kitten in his pocket to which he coos in German.

Watching these two together is pure entertainment and certainly worth a viewing. The rest of the movie is light, frothy, derivative, and occasionally irritating. Just watch the stars at work and forget the rest.