Ghost Chasers

GHOST CHASERS is a whole lot of fun as the gang exposes a fake spiritualist racket, headed by Margo the Medium! You may notice the bad guys mansion (complete with sliding doors and hidden rooms) is the same old dark house used in SMUGGLERS COVE a few years earlier.

Also a super gag running through the film where Sach (and only Sach) can see and hear Edgar the ghost, who is just hanging around the mansion. Edgar is played by none other than popular character actor and director Lloyd Corrigan.

This episode also features some solid supporting players, like Philip Van Zandt as a phony doctor, Robert Coogan (Jackie's brother) as goofy detective Jack Eagan, Argentina Brunetti as Mama Parelli (Slip's neighbor who is being duped by the ghost racket) and Lela Bliss as Margo. Best line department: the gang is locked in a room that is flooded, to which Slip yells, "I think the walls are sweating!"

This was one of the first Bowery Boys to be released on vhs in 1992. Remastered via Warner Brothers dvd box set in 2012. The sets generally contain eight episodes each. Check out the classic color covers and movie posters.

The Bowery Boys get involved with spiritualism. Uncle Louie is desperate to contact Jake on the other side. Slip smells a con with his mother is being tricked by a spiritualist. It turns out to be a vast network of con people headed by famous spiritualist Margo the Medium. Sach meets an actual ghost and only he can see it.

It's another Scooby-Doo adventure with The Bowery Boys. It would be more compelling if Slip's mom is being tricked directly by Margo the Medium. It would make their revenge more delicious. It's set to be a fine adventure and then it adds a fun little twist, Edgar. I like Edgar and the premise that only Sach can see him. It has lots of potential fun. It's a bit of a mess but it's The Bowery Boys.

I've seen a few of these "Bowery Boys" romps by now, and they all seem to follow a similar pattern: no matter what the plot or the (supposed) setting, they ultimately end up in a single set (after all, they were made by the infamously cost-conscious Monogram studios), where the boys chase, and are chased around, by crooks. "Ghost Chasers" is no different, except that there is a rare - if brief - dramatic component, with a mother trying to get in contact with her dead son. The film is padded and overlong (even at 69 minutes), though there is the occasional funny line, and "Edgar", the one real, friendly ghost, is amusingly played by Lloyd Corrigan. ** out of 4.

Ghost Chasers (1951)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Funny entry in the never-ending series has Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the other boys trying to bring down a medium who is charging people large sums of money for her fake spiritual advice. These victims include Slip's neighbor who recently lost her son in the war and is now trying to get in contact with him. At just 68-minutes this movie has a few too many slow spots but overall this is one of the better entries in the series and it's certainly one of their best when it comes to mixing comedy and the darker horror elements. I think some of the funniest moments happen early on when a few of the boys are in the back of Louie's shop doing a fake séance and Louie himself walks in and gets scared out of his wits. Bernard Gorcey is again back as Louie and he has some really funny moments as the screenplay makes the right decision to include him in on some of the action and the viewer gets rewarded with some nice laughs. Lloyd Corrigan gets a rather large part of a ghost who helps Sach get out of the various bad situations he gets himself into. I thought some of the stuff between the Hall and Corrigan was funny but after a while it started to get somewhat boring. With that said, Hall certainly steals the show with his idiot character constantly doing one dumb thing after another. He gets some pretty big laughs especially during the scenes where he gets scared for the various things going on. The scene where he first sees the ghost is priceless and he certainly helps keep things moving. Leo is in fine form as well, although he's part isn't nearly as big as usual. Lela Bliss isn't too bad as the medium but it's Bernard Gorcey that really nails everything home. Fans of the series will certainly want to check this one out but I think this one is good enough to the point where even non-fans will probably find themselves laughing.

GHOST CHASERS turns out to be a well-paced comedy, and a little better than usual. It involves Slip, Sach and the gang trying to expose a phony clairvoyant (or"clairvoyage," to quote the ever-prolific Leo Gorcey). Good fun all around, with some humorous assistance added courtesy of Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad) as Louie Dumbrowski.

This is my favorite period for The Bowery Boys films (1946-1956), which was the point where they became all-out comedies. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there are no DVDs planned. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will put them out very soon.

**1/2 / ****