Spook Chasers

Spook Chasers (1957)

** (out of 4)

The Bowery Boys must battle crooks when a real estate agent sells their friend Mike (Percy Helton) a rundown piece of land. The group end up finding money there, which draws the attention of a couple gangsters who plan on making the boys think the house is haunted so that they'll leave. Number forty-five in the series is a step-down compared to the previous film and you can't help but feel the screenwriters have gone to the well one time too many. The horror-comedy bit was something that the Bowery Boys hit upon countless times and dealing with gangsters was another plot point that they did countless times. There are a few nice jokes here, a great supporting cast but in the end there's just not enough laughs to make the film work. There are a couple good sequences and the ending is one of them as the pacing finally picks up as the boys are running from room to room trying to get away from the "ghosts" that are chasing them. There's a funny sequence early on where Sach has to wait on a table and the incident with the coffee was quite funny. Another good joke is when the group first finds the money. Sadly the screenplay doesn't offer much else as the characters just go through the motions and in the end it really doesn't add up to much. There are countless scenes where Sach proves what an idiot he is but this time it comes off rather annoying because he's just too stupid for his own good. Check out the sequence where he tries to fix a faulty drip and ends up ripping up the entire kitchen. Another example of seeing the same thing too much happens when the girl seduces him into giving out yet more information. This is something you could possible use over and over but I wish they would have at least changed it up a bit. As with the previous film, Huntz Hall and Stanley Clements actually do a nice job together as their chemistry is certainly starting to click. David Gorcey, Jimmy Murphy and Eddie LeRoy actually get more to do here and I thought Darlene Fields did a fine job as the sexy seducer. Helton clearly steals the show as the weak-hearted shop owner whose restaurant appears to be the same set that Louie's Sweetshop was at originally. Robert Shayne has a very funny cameo at the end.

The bowery boys, minus the owner of the franchise, leo gorcey, and his dad bernard. Bernard had died in an odd car accident in 1955, and leo made his last bowery film in 1956, crashing las vegas. In spook chasers, when mike and the guys buy a ramshackle house, they think it's a big money pit. But when the previous owners decide they want the house back, things begin to go wrong. And why do they really want it back? The usual wacky bowery boys shenanigans, but without the word play and slip's leadership, it's definitely a weaker story. They only made a couple more after this. Directed by george blair. He had directed a bunch of superman works. The bowery boys had also made "spook busters in 1946.

I wanted to love this movie, like all the other Bowry Boys featuring Leo Gorcy, but the spark is simply not there. The storyline was good as well as the script itself, the direction was good, and the rest of the cast were good but without Gorcy it just did not have the timing or spark that Gorcy would inject. Not to say that Huntley didn't do a good job, but its almost like he tried too hard to not be a Gorcy standin all the while essentially being a better-looking and younger Gorcy wannabe. The entire time I kept thinking what a treat this could have been if only....oh well, see what you think....

The Bowery Boys get mixed up with gangsters in an old dark house in this tired entry, the forty-fifth in the series. Humpbacked Percy Shelton plays the cafe owner Mike, yet another attempt to replace the irreplaceable Bernard Gorcey. I like him in many other roles but he's not quite the right fit for the exasperated old gentleman that has to put up with the boys' hijinks. Huntz Hall does OK but he continues to be 'off' without Leo Gorcey. He just doesn't have the same chemistry with boring Stanley Clements and he seems to be trying too hard with the constant mugging for the camera. David Gorcey and Jimmy Murphy are their usual forgettable selves. Eddie LeRoy also joins the gang as Blinky. He makes no impression. Darlene Fields plays the obligatory eye candy. It's a comedy but it's not very much fun. The haunted house gags are worn-out and, at this point, Sach making stupid faces just isn't cutting it anymore.

Diner owner Mike Clancy is told by his doctor to get some rest as the Bowery Boys cause general mayhem. Sach (Huntz Hall) tries to help but you know how that goes. A real estate agent and his assistant overhear their conversation and offer a country home for sale. The boys take Mike up to the place but it's a wreck. They try to fix up the place and end up finding hidden loot. The place was formerly owned by a gangster's widow and other gangsters come looking for their money. That's before the ghosts.

It's more of the same from Sach and the Bowery Boys. It's rather late in the franchise and I would think the audience of its time must be getting tired of it all. Aside from some new personnel, this is very much the same old stuff. It's not necessarily good but it's not actually a bad thing. You get what you expect.