Scared Stiff (1953) - a great horror comedy that gets overlooked

     For some reason, when making must see Halloween movies lists it seems that everyone overlooks /  ignores one of the best and cute horror comedies - the 1953 flick Scared Stiff with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and the forever beautiful Lizabeth Scott. I still remember this movie and the day my folks brought home the VHS. It was my first horror film, i was like 7 or 8.

This was also the last film of beloved singer Carmen Miranda (in the role of Carmelita Castinha) as she died two years later in August 1955.

The plot follows Dean and Jerry who, after being suspected of killing a mob boss, flee from New York on a cruise ship to Cuba, joining Lizabeth in her quest to get into the possession of the family castle she inherited.

Despite the rumors of the castle being haunted and the numerous death threats the trio is determined to get inside the property. The movie has very two distinct parts. The first one, set in New York, is your usual gangster comedy, while the second part, after they arrive at the castle, turns into a horror-comedy full of slapstick, with some genuine creepy moments. You have ghosts, voodoo, zombies and skeletons.

The movie is a remake by George Marshall of his 1940 film  The Ghost Breakers starring Bob Hope and Paulette Godard.  It is the fourth screen adaptation of the 1909 play The Ghost Breaker by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard.