Wonderfully offbeat film!

Really Surprised!

Good concept, poorly executed.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Lew Landers directs Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre as two daffy doctors. Boris plays Professor Billings, whose scientific experiments have left the cellar filled with the bodies of traveling salesmen, Peter Lorre plays both a quack doctor and the sheriff, determined to find out what's going on. A young woman has recently purchased the estate, and agrees to let the current residents stay, even though she wants to make it into a proper hotel! Needless to say, complications ensue... Crazy film is an obvious copy of the far superior "Arsenic and Old Lace", but isn't anywhere near as funny or clever. Some funny bits to be sure, but far too strained to succeed.

The Boogie Man Will Get You was the last of Karloff's "Mad Doctor" series for Columbia Pictures. Played strictly for laughs (although to be honest there are very few of them) Karloff teams up with Peter Lorre to create an electrical Superman capable of winning World War II. Lots of references to Arsenic And Old Lace give the film an amiable air, and it's obvious the stars are enjoying themselves. The part of the "ballet master" feels like it was written with Lugosi in mind, which would at least have added something to the film had he appeared. No such luck.At 66 minutes the film doesn't outstay its welcome and it's brightly played by a cast including Larry Parks and Maude Eburn. The film passes the time, but most of the jokes fall flat on their faces (Larry Parks' bed made me smile, though, as does Lorre continually producing a Siamese kitten from his coat pockets.) It also has a few topical references to WWII. It's only real problem is the lack of humour. Even the Abbott and Costello vehicles of the time had more laughs going for them.

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.

Obviously inspired by (but certainly no match for) the theatrical success of the legendary black farce, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (co-starring Boris Karloff) - whose film version, featuring Peter Lorre(!), had been shot but not yet released - the film can also be seen as a spoof on Karloff's "Mad Doctor" cycle of films (which, unfortunately, I've yet to sample myself!) he had just finished for the same studio, Columbia; the film also touches upon the wartime situation by having Karloff's mysterious experiments emerge as a crackpot attempt to aid the war effort! At first I wasn't particularly enthused with it, but gradually the film settled into being a pleasant diversion, with the two stars making a truly wonderful team (a surprisingly bemused Karloff still manages to retain his dignity while Lorre, typically shady and nervy at the same time, gives it his all as the jack-of-all-trades of a remote small town); Lorre has a tiny but intuitive Siamese cat for an assistant, which he carries along in the inside pocket of his coat!Still, the film is more silly than funny: there is, of course, a bland romantic couple (the male half of which is Larry Parks, later to achieve short-lived fame portraying Al Jolson in the two Columbia biopics of the great entertainer!) and the rest of the cast play either goofy or eccentric characters but, alas, none is all that engaging!! Besides, given the low-budget which must have been afforded the production, the laboratory design and the special effects are pretty shoddy!