This viewer wouldn't consider "The Boogie Man Will Get You" to be a horror comedy, really, but more of a screwball farce. It does send up the horror genre to a degree, what with some macabre things going on. What director Lew Landers succeeds at doing is creating a breakneck pace. The actors are very lively in the classic farcical tradition and step all over each others' dialogue, and gags come at you pretty fast. Some of the dialogue is rich and amusing, and the assortment of odd duck characters helps to make this a pleasant if not great entertainment.
Boris Karloff plays Nathaniel Billings, a scientist attempting to create "supermen" out of door-to-door salesman, all in the name of the war effort. To rid himself of his mortgage problem, he sells his run town tavern to enterprising young woman Winnie Slade (Jeff Donnell), who thinks it has potential. Other people on the scene include wacky jack-of-all-trades Lorencz (Peter Lorre), whose occupations include, among other things, being the local sheriff, notary public, and quack doctor, dotty housekeeper Amelia Jones (Maude Eburne), eccentric "choreographer" J. Gilbert Brampton (Don Beddoe), Winnie's perpetually agitated ex-husband Bill (Larry Parks), and affable salesman Maxie (Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom).
There are some thoroughly engaging situations in this likable little movie. The best belong to Karloff and Lorre, who prove to be a wonderful team, especially as Lorencz decides to help Billings with his experiments. Before the story has ended, furniture will have toppled over, characters will have taken pratfalls, and dead bodies will need to be moved around. Things build to the expected frantic finish where one wonders how everything is going to be resolved.
Fans of the actors are sure to have a good time with this one.
Seven out of 10.
Boris Karloff plays Nathaniel Billings, a scientist attempting to create "supermen" out of door-to-door salesman, all in the name of the war effort. To rid himself of his mortgage problem, he sells his run town tavern to enterprising young woman Winnie Slade (Jeff Donnell), who thinks it has potential. Other people on the scene include wacky jack-of-all-trades Lorencz (Peter Lorre), whose occupations include, among other things, being the local sheriff, notary public, and quack doctor, dotty housekeeper Amelia Jones (Maude Eburne), eccentric "choreographer" J. Gilbert Brampton (Don Beddoe), Winnie's perpetually agitated ex-husband Bill (Larry Parks), and affable salesman Maxie (Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom).
There are some thoroughly engaging situations in this likable little movie. The best belong to Karloff and Lorre, who prove to be a wonderful team, especially as Lorencz decides to help Billings with his experiments. Before the story has ended, furniture will have toppled over, characters will have taken pratfalls, and dead bodies will need to be moved around. Things build to the expected frantic finish where one wonders how everything is going to be resolved.
Fans of the actors are sure to have a good time with this one.
Seven out of 10.