Spooks Run Wild (1941)

In a plot patterned after 1940's "Boys of the City"; Leo Gorcey (as Muggs), Bobby Jordan (as Danny), Huntz Hall (as Glimpy), Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (as Scruno), Donald Haines (as Skinny), and David Gorcey (as Peewee) slip away to a spooky old country estate, after getting in trouble with the law. This time "The East Side Kids" meet a Dracula-like host - menacing Bela Lugosi (as Nardo). Naturally, the "Kids" think Mr. Lugosi is the "The Monster Killer" threatening the area. And, if you saw him dematerialize, you'd think so, too… *** Spooks Run Wild (10/24/41) Phil Rosen ~ Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Bela Lugosi, Huntz Hall

For a while I thought "Spooks Run Wild" and "Ghosts on the Loose" were the same film, both featuring The East Side Kids teaming up with Bela Lugosi. This, the earlier of the two movies is heavier on the haunted house atmospherics which the East Siders use to fire off their gags and one liners. Lugosi comes complete with his Count Dracula outfit and midget sidekick Angelo Rossitto; the long view of his mountaintop retreat is reminiscent of the sinister house in "Psycho".What's kind of neat about the story as it progresses is that the boys all take turns teaming up with each other as they search for their injured buddy Peewee (David Gorcey) in the huge Billings Estate. Peewee seems to be in a trance after being treated by Nardo (Lugosi), so his pals connect Nardo to the 'monster killer' they heard about on the radio on the way to camp. In between the sound and sight gags, Scruno (Sunshine Sammy Morrison) has some fun with the stereotyped scaredy cat role he's given as the black member of the East Siders - "I'm so scared I'm turnin' white now"; and later - "A white spider, that must have been the ghost of the black widow!" It all comes across as pretty harmless, but done today, the political correctness police would be all over it.There's a line Lugosi speaks in the film that reminded me of his performance in 1931's "Dracula". In that earlier film, a wolf howls in the distance and Dracula says to Renfield - "Listen to them... children of the night, what music they make." Under similar circumstances in "Spooks", while walking through the Hillside Cemetery, he remarks - "City of the dead. Do they too hear the howling of the fighting dogs?" I wonder if that line was intended as a tribute to the horror classic.From the outset, I had the idea that the old switcheroo would take Lugosi off the hook as the monster killer; indeed it turned out to be the spooky Dr. Von Grosch (Dennis Moore) who almost claimed Linda Mason (Dorothy Short) from the camp as his latest victim. Lugosi's convincing along the way though, even getting to use a version of that famous stare down from "Dracula" and "White Zombie".The diminutive Rossitto appeared with Lugosi a couple more times in pictures, in 1942's "The Corpse Vanishes", and 1947's "Scared to Death". He doesn't have a lot to do in any of the stories, in fact he doesn't even speak in this one, but his presence adds just a slight dash of bizarreness to the proceedings.At just over an hour in length, "Spooks Run Wild" is a fun diversion, but don't expect a tight script or much in the way of story development. It's all in the gags, one liners and Leo Gorcey's malapropisms. If you're putting together your list of films for Halloween fright night, this would be a good one to start off with.

Being a fan of old "B" moves from the 1930s and 1940s, this is a real gem from one of the so-called Poverty Row studios, in this case, Monogram Studios. Some of these so-called Poverty Row films have a charm all their own. I am a fan of both Bela Lugosi on one hand and The East Side Kids on the other. The East Side Kids started off as a group called the Dead End Kids from Warner Studios and I prefer their films that they made for Monogram. Other good movies of the series are "Ghosts on the Loose" (also with Bela Lugosi as well as a young actress named Ava Gardner), "Bowery Blitzkrieg", and "Mr. Wise Guy".Anyway, "Spooks Run Wild" is the best of the lot with fine old fashioned atmosphere (great cemetery scenes and a creepy old house), great wisecracks, and hold-on-to-your-seat suspense with a misanthropic villain called the "Monster Killer".Great film for Holloween.Dan Basinger

I've often joked in the past about some people's boundless (my words) affection for the later incarnations of The Dead End Kids but, actually, this and GHOST ON THE LOOSE (1943) are my first encounters with them. So, what's the verdict, then? Simple: their shtick is more tolerable when taken in smaller doses as was the case in DEAD END (1937) and ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938).This is instantly forgettable stuff and I can't see it having much rewatchability value in the future...especially since Bela Lugosi turns out to be a good guy after all! Didn't he learn his lesson with MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935)?