LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

a_chinn Don Knotts plays a fraidy cat typesetter at a local newspaper who wants to be a reporter, but who has a history of being hysterical and getting his stories wrong. Knotts gets his big shot at writing a story when his editor has him spend the night in a local haunted house where a murder-suicide occurred. Don again gets the story wrong and causes all sorts of trouble, the least of which is ruining his chances with his crush, Joan Staley. Overall, there's nothing brilliant here, but if you find Don Knotts funny, which I do, you'll enjoy this one.

Scarecrow-88 No one plays scaredy-cat and false bravery quite like Don Knotts. I love how he has this one scene in the movie where he stands at a podium with a microphone before him in such anxiety his voice quivers, the paper with his speech (that flies away before he can read it!) shakes in his hands, and the words that come out of his mouth cover nothing about why he was asked by the town's (of Rachel, Kansas) Chamber of Commerce to be the guest speaker. He claims that he knows karate and that his whole body is a weapon (he even imitates chops in the hopes of impressing folks; those that needle him damn near beg him to prove his skills). He eyes the babe of the town (played by the yummy Joan Staley, wearing her hair black), but feels inadequate (arch rival, Ollie (played by chisel-chinned hunk, Skip Homeier), had been wooing Staley as well), gingerly approaching her (shyly but doing so despite his nervousness). Knotts has been dying to get that big break at the local paper, but his efforts have been disregarded, with him stuck at the lower rung as a typesetter.We see as the movie starts, Luther Heggs (Knotts) is driving past a reputed "murder house", reputedly haunted, when the local drunk is clunked on the head with a block of wood. A neighbor yells "murder!" and Luther hears her, frantically turning his car around (knocking over trash cans in the process) to see what's up. He goes to the police claiming the drunk was murdered until he strolls into the police station alive with only a major headache. Of course Ollie can't help but poke fun at Luther any chance he gets which is probably why Staley's Alma brushes him aside…the guy never ceases to be a prick. A wager is placed against Luther to spend the night at the infamous mansion where the aunt and uncle of a New York businessman were killed twenty years back (Philip Ober, playing the character like an intense bulldozer willing to topple anyone who stands in his way) and get a big scoop for the paper. He does so and experiences knocks on walls, creepy organ music with bloody finger prints of a murder victim still on the keys, and a pair of garden shears stabbed in the throat of the murdered aunt's portrait. His story stirs up the town and he is celebrated as a hero.The film is the quintessential Knotts vehicle. His lovable loser persona is alive and well, as is his climb from the pit of nowhere in life to a recognized hero of his hometown. It is also the kind of film that allows his scrawny, unimposing nerd to get the girl (always a curvy stunner which just makes me grin with joy). He gets to earn sympathy when the town seems to think his story was false, facing scrutiny and unemployment. He gets to be the hero at the end, assisting the paper's janitor (Liam Redmond) in outing a killer and rescuing Alma from danger. And his trip to the haunted house is a thing of comic genius as he is literally afraid of his own reflection (and a phonograph that runs by itself; hell, I think a flashlight even rattles him!). The use of organ music, eerie as all get out, is splendid. The cast is a dream of 60s comedy; there are just too many to name, the cast is so loaded! The psychic society (led by a brilliant Reta Shaw) is a real hoot! If you know your 60s television (and the Andy Griffith Show), then this film will be especially a treat. Dick Sargent of Bewitched is Knott's boss at the paper...there's just a wealth of talent in this film! The house is also a key character...its cobwebs, secret passage behind the bookcase, creepy attic and basement, and referenced portrait on the wall give the house its character. The ending doesn't hold to close scrutiny, but it does allow Knotts to get back his credibility.

Scott LeBrun After attaining stardom playing Barney Fife on TV, comedy actor Don Knotts made the jump to feature film vehicles with movies such as this one. He plays Luther Heggs, a typesetter for his small town newspaper. What he really wants to be, naturally, is a reporter, and gets his big chance for a scoop when his bosses suggest that he spend the night in a supposedly haunted house.However, the unaware should know that he actually doesn't spend much of the movie in the house. The balance of the story has him trying to defend himself when the owner of the place, Nicholas Simmons (Philip Ober), sues him for libel. So he is obliged to prove that the supernatural phenomena that he saw in the house were not merely the product of his overworked imagination.Knotts is priceless in this harmless bit of goofy entertainment. It has a pleasant feel of small town Americana as well as an amusingly decorated Old Dark House. (Whoever was in charge of the cobweb machine clearly went nuts.) The material runs a little hot and cold, though. Whenever Knotts is called upon to do his thing, things get very funny. Whether he's over reacting to the slightest thing, or performing his version of "karate", or awkwardly wooing the lovely young Alma (appealing Joan Staley), he's a riot. All of that jittery energy that was his trademark is in full force. The action is further enhanced by an entertainingly silly music score by Vic Mizzy.Knotts is supported by an incredible array of top notch character players, most of whom play the straight man - or straight woman - to his antics. It's particularly delightful to see Charles Lane and Robert Cornthwaite as opposing attorneys. The only elements that got annoying quickly to this viewer were the kooky Psychic Occult Society ladies and that "attaboy" heckler (voiced by co-writer Everett Greenbaum)."The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" is not always terribly funny, but it's certainly got a great charm about it.Seven out of 10.

mark.waltz Barney Fife and Ralph Furley, two of the most memorable cowardly braggarts of T.V. sitcoms, are instantly recognizable in the personality of Don Knott's Luther Heggs, the typesetter on the newspaper of a small city who longs to be a reporter but can't seem to get the scoop. He fails in his first try to report a murder when the corpse walks in, and when he has the chance to redeem himself by spending the night in the house where a grizzly murder took place, he takes it, even though it is the night of the 20th anniversary. The entire town stands behind him with the exception of the haunted house's owner who intends to tear down the rat trap and doesn't want any publicity.Knotts had left "The Andy Griffith Show" the year before after the lead in the extremely successful "The Incredible Mr. Limpet", and while he didn't explode into a huge comedy movie star, the films he did under his brief contract with Universal were amusing, if sometimes instantly forgettable. "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" is by far and large the most popular of these light-hearted farces which played mainly on the "neighborhood" circuit rather than the huge movie palaces still rampant in the 1960's. It is perhaps a bit too long, but most of it moves very fast, even though the revelation of the mystery of the so-called haunted house is not at all surprising.In many ways, this feels like a big-screen version of some T.V. sitcom, probably because the cast is filled with veterans of 1960's sitcoms, particularly "Bewitched". Not only is there Dick Sargent (The replacement Darren) and Sandra Gould (the second Gladys), but Reta Shaw (Aunt Bertha/Hagatha) and Charles Lane (several parts), and of course, Don Knotts who had achieved T.V. fame on "The Andy Griffith Show". Hope Summers, who plays the screaming woman in the opening scene, appeared on tons of sitcoms, and Lurene Tuttle (Knott's kindly landlady) was everywhere as well. Shaw is hysterical as the head of a ladies organization not just interested in the supernatural, but obsessed with it.Special note should be made of the snappy music by Vic Mizzy whose scores dominated many similar movies of the 1960's, as well as a few T.V. series including "The Addams Family". When you hear this music, you can't help but realize that it screams '60's, and in the most delightful nostalgic way. Another reason why this film screams "sitcom" is the fact that its director, Alan Rafkin, was behind the cameras on many T.V. shows from the 1950's through the 90's, only directing a few features, and mostly ones like this.