Peter Lorre (Dr. Arthur Lorencz) and Boris Karloff (Prof. Nathaniel Billingsare) quite the comical duo in this cute little comedy-horror. The movie is wroth for these two stars alone.Prof. Billingsare (Karloff) wants to create a superman but finds himself murdering his subjects - well, errr, they are "martyrs". Dr. Lorencz (Lorre) is a jack-of-all-trades: a doctor, sheriff, notary, undertaker with a Siamese cat detective. They end up working together to create a "superman" but end up leaving the viewer laughing out loud with tears in the eyes. Quite funny.I liked the rest of the cast - they played an important role in the film and were quite funny as well. I enjoyed their performances. I LOVED the ending... it's quite crazy and well worth watching the movie to see this hilarious ending.This is a great afternoon film - one that will brighten your day.8/10

I don't know how I missed this one all these years. The only reason I saw it was that I bought the Boris Karloff DVD collection with The Black Room on it. I found it charming and very funny.Peter Lorre is a hoot. There are a couple of scenes in which he does some very unexpected things. Maude Ebourne is the best though. A great character actress, she probably had her best role in Ruggles of Red Gap. The scene in which she sleepwalks is hysterical. The Nazi terrorist who turns out to be a mental patient is also interesting.One commentator compared it to a precursor to Green Acres and I agree. The humor is nearly as offbeat and absurd as that great show.

I couldn't wait to see this film. After all, it starred Boris Karloff and he's one of my favorites. Imagine my surprise, then, when instead of the typical horror film it turned out this was supposed to be a screwball comedy. I say "supposed to" because the film just wasn't funny.The film takes place in a rotting old Colonial home that's being turned into an inn. The lady who just bought the place knows nothing about running a hotel and she agreed to let the old owner (Karloff) continue to live there and conduct his experiments in the basement. However, she does not know that the experiments have already killed four traveling salesmen and Karloff doesn't seem particularly alarmed about this. Later, the town's big-shot (Peter Lorre) finds out about it but instead of arresting him (since he's, among other things, the sheriff), he quickly goes into business with Karloff. Then, unexpectedly, other people start to die and disappear and all sorts of kookiness ensues.In so many, many ways this film is a bad knockoff of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE--which had been a very successful play for several years and was wonderfully filmed in late 1941 (though shelved until the play ended in 1944). In fact, both Karloff and Lorre were associated with the production (Lorre was in the film and Karloff was in the Broadway play). In many other ways THE BOOGIE MAN is a blatant ripoff of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE--such as the dead bodies in the basement, the disappearing body, Lorre being a doctor (in addition to being a sheriff and several other jobs), etc.. The big difference, however, is that THE BOOGIE MAN is totally unfunny from start to finish due to having absolutely no pacing or decent writing. Instead of subtle or clever (like ARSENIC), the film just comes off as very abrasive and loud and more like a Three Stooges film than anything else. Considering it was made by Columbia Pictures (home of the Stooges), this isn't all that surprising. What is surprising is that Karloff would allow himself to be in such a dreadful film. In fact, I might go so far as to say that this is possible Karloff's worst film of the 1940s--though a few of his later films are significantly worse (if that's possible), such as GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI and CAULDRON OF BLOOD.Watch only if you have a very strong stomach and a very, very low sense of humor. If you like the Stooges' shorts, this film might still not be sophisticated enough for you as the average Stooge short is like Shakespeare compared to THE BOOGIE MAN. Wow that's one hour of my life I'll never be able to get back--thanks Columbia!

Karloff and Lorre attempt to make superhuman zombies for the war effort. Its far from the best horror comedy ever made but if you click into its loopy silliness you're in for a breezy hour plus.What can I say I found it charming and sweet even as seemingly ghoulish things were going on. Some people I know find it dumb, and to be honest, it is dumb, but the chance to see Lorre and Karloff being silly together years before Roger Corman brought them together again is a joy.Should you run across this film, by all means see it, you may not laugh but you will smile from start to finish is a goofy sort of way.