The Ghost Breakers (1940) - George Marshall

This movie really showcases the comedic talent that Bob Hope has. It's more than just another Old Dark House type movie. It isn't that flat. However, it suffers from being a product of its time. It has a charm. A certain quality that seems unmatched. It is one of the more well-preserved films from the time. My copy was excellent.

Paulette Goddard inherits a small island near Cuba, with an old plantation. Bob Hope is a loudmouth radio crime reporter that literally gets mixed up with the mafia and has to run for his life. He ends up stowing away in Goddard's luggage as she has decided to travel to the island to gather her inheritance. However, she is confronted with Zombies and Ghosts. She suspects someone is just trying to scare her away from the treasure, err... inheritance.

Horror movies during this period didn't really have a lot of depth. They all followed a similar plot and had very similar characters. The most obviously used is the Old Dark House storyline. The Ghost Breakers appeared be another, factory run horror movie. Reusing the same old tropes. Only, this proved better. Bob Hope is in top form. Paulette Goddard is a looker. You get Ghosts, Zombies, Voodoo, and yes... an Old Dark House. But it's done so well! It's based on a play Paul Dickey.

It's a fun movie that I recommend to the hardcore horror fans. It's a chore to get casual horror fans enjoy a movie as dated as this one. However, if you can appreciate the fast talking and quick wit of Bob Hope then I think you will like this one. Watch this with your grandparents. They might like it.

Director: George Marshall

Country: USA

Style: Comedic Horror

Did ya know...

The play, "The Ghost Breaker," by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard, was filmed twice as a silent film, in 1914 (directed by Cecil B. DeMille), and in 1922. Both silent versions are considered lost. The play was filmed a final time as Scared Stiff (1953), starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Comments

The Human Monster (1939) - Walter Summers

Bela Lugosi turns in a fantastic performance. It is right on par with the exact same films that had made him famous like Dracula . My personal favorite being The Black Cat . Like the latter, this film suffered from poor circulation and lack of advertisement. Either that or the public wasn't interested in seeing Lugosi in anything else other than his famous bloodsucker. This film has a broad and well acted plot that was rich with detail. Lugosi has two sides in this picture. His well loved and compassionate side. The other is a strict, brutal lone shark that acts as a sinister villain to blind and handicapped people. He really brutalizes his victims. It's a macabre message to pay your bills. The film is slow moving and plagued by the usual setbacks from its time. Most of the nation wasn't really that concerned with horror at the time. But studios knew that they would always have an audience. This film is a prime example of that. It's sad because it's

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Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t

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Inseminoid (1981) - Norman J. Warren

What can be said for mindless schlock pictures like this one. They were pumped out in droves during the eighties. Inseminoid !? give me a break! It sounds like some pre-pubescent teenage boys came up with the title. On the plus side the movie isn't horrible to look at and it has a decent amount of gore. If you can separate yourself from the political incorrectness, then you might have a perfectly decent Sci-Fi Monster Feature. A research team exploring caves on Jupiter accidentally awakens an ancient alien that rapes and impregnates one of the team members. She suffers from terrible shock and trauma, leading to a complete mental breakdown as her pregnancy accelerates faster and faster. Feeling threatened she decides to kill anyone she deems a threat. Can the rest of the research team survive or will they all become victims of INSEMINOID! Apparently this movie had a million dollar budget. That's really shocking considering the outcome of the picture. The acting

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