William "One Shot" Beaudine directed this Bowery Boys outing, this time Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and the gang are exterminators assigned a dead magician's mansion, encountering a mad scientist and his henchmen with plans to experiment by removing part of a human brain and apply the matter to a gorilla (yes, *another* gorilla!). Ludicrous premise aside, "Spook Busters" has some fun sight gags (magician's trick room has lots of props the Bowery Boys play around with) and secret passages to the mad scientist's lab and current habitation
including a fake tombstone and grave which leads to the lab, along with a piano in the magician's trick room that, when a certain melody is played, opens the wall to a cavern that leads also to the lab. Once again, the Bowery Boys must contend with near death (thrown hatchet and knives at them, henchmen trying to use force to subdue them) and plenty of Three Stooges-type slapstick ensues (Huntz' Sach often annoys Leo to the point of the handslap and gets himself into trouble through clumsiness and sheer moronic behavior). Gabriel Dell arrives from the Navy with his French bride (Tanis Chandler), looking to find his pals, located to the mansion where they become inadvertently involved in the action when targets on the Bowery boys are aimed at them, also. Douglass Drumbrille is Dr. Coslow, the mad scientist who kidnaps Dr. Bender (Maurice Cass), prepared to force him to help in the surgery, with poor Sach (of course) chosen to be the human to lose part of his brain. Bobby Jordan, David Gorcey, and William Benedict (given the unfortunate name, Whitey!) are the other members of the Bowery boys. There's the loose gorilla, fisticuffs, and running around providing the action of the film. Once again Leo's mishandling of the English language is incorporated in his character for laughs. Hall's ineptitude remains a constant of his comedy shtick. The plots of these movies often feel repetitive with slight variations added to the formula. The police only arrive at the very end. Bernard Gorcey has an opening cameo as the café owner with mouse problems who patiently allows Leo's Slip to run his extermination business in the corner of the room!
Review of Spook Busters
