The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)

The Boogie Man Will Get You: Directed by Lew Landers. With Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Maxie Rosenbloom, Larry Parks. A young divorcee tries to convert a historic house into a hotel despite its oddball inhabitants and dead bodies in the cellar.

“The title, u0026quot;The Boogie Man Will Get Youu0026quot; should give you an idea of the sort of film youu0026#39;re going to see. Its basically a minor horror/comedy played out more or less like a Three Stooges comedy with a budget. For stars Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, it was probably a welcome change of pace from the roles both had been playing. The story is similar in many ways to u0026quot;Arsenic and Old Laceu0026quot; a hit Broadway play of the day in which Karloff had been starring.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTwo eccentrics, Professor Nathaniel Billings (Karloff) and Amelia Jones (Maude Eburne) live in a run down old Colonial Inn which they have put up for sale. A young lady Winnie Layden (Jeff Donnell) comes to look over the place and decides to buy it. As a condition of the sale Billings asks that he, Amelia and handyman Ebenezer (George McKay) be allowed to stay so that Billings can complete his experiments in the buildingu0026#39;s basement.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe mortgage holder Dr. Lorentz (Lorre), who is also the sheriff, the coroner and the Justice of the Peace, among other titles, arrives. Billings gleefully pays off his mortgage and Winnie takes title to the property just as her former husband Bill (Larry Parks) arrives to try for some unknown reason to prevent her from buying the Inn.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeanwhile Billings continues his experiments to try to perfect a super human, but his test subject apparently dies. Bill discovers the body in the basement and he and Winnie report the crime to Lorenz in his role of the town sheriff. On investigating, Lorenz learns of Billings plans and wants in on the action. He also discovers that there are also four other u0026quot;test subjectsu0026quot; laid out in the next room.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA u0026quot;ballet masteru0026quot;, J. Gilbert Brampton arrives at the Inn and begins to snoop around. A traveling powder puff salesman (Maxie Rosenbloom) arrives and Billings and Lorentz plan to make him their next u0026quot;test subjectu0026quot;. An escaped fascist prisoner (Frank Paglia) also drops in and threatens to blow everybody up. Two cops (Frank Sully, James Morton) arrive to investigate a reported murder.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEverything manages to get sorted out in the end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film leaves a few unanswered questions such as u0026quot;Where did Winnie get all of the cash?, Why were Bill and Winnie divorced?, Who was really making the Indian whooping noise? and What was the u0026quot;arrangementu0026quot;, if any between Billings and Amelia? And beware of the typical Hollywood Production Code ending. This was Karloffu0026#39;s final film on his Columbia contract and he would be off the screen until 1944u0026#39;s u0026quot;The Climaxu0026quot; while he continued to appear in u0026quot;Arsenic and Old Laceu0026quot;, which by the way prevented him from getting a part in the 1944 film version.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe two leads seem to enjoy all of this nonsense and both would appear in comedic parts over the years for the rest of their careers.”