Spooks Run Wild (1941)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Phil Rosen

Writers:

Carl Foreman (original story and screenplay) &
Charles R. Marion (original story and screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 October 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Comedy

Plot:

The boys are sent to a mountain camp. Stranded in a small rural town, they hear about a "monster killer" roaming the countryside...

Plot Keywords:

Mansion | Nurse | Monster | Zombie | Skeleton

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Nardo
Leo Gorcey	...	Muggs
Bobby Jordan	...	Danny
Huntz Hall	...	Glimpy
Ernest Morrison	...	Scruno (as Sunshine Sammy Morrison)
Dave O'Brien	...	Jeff Dixon (as David O'Brien)
Dorothy Short	...	Linda Mason
David Gorcey	...	Peewee
Donald Haines	...	Skinny
Dennis Moore	...	Dr. Von Grosch
P.J. Kelly	...	Lem Harvey (as P.J. Kelley)
Angelo Rossitto	...	Luigi
Guy Wilkerson	...	Constable Jim

Also Known As:

Ghosts in the Night (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #7644)

Company:

Monogram Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Production notes indicate George Pembroke was cast as Dr. Von Grosch, but he was replaced by Dennis Moore.

Quotes:

Muggs: I don't like that guy's altitude, if he thinks I'm staying out here associating with the pigs and cows, he's crazy.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Planet X: (#2.6)" (2006)

First meeting of the East Side Kids and Bela Lugosi is a creaky antique thats fun in the right frame of mind

Bela Lugosi and the East Side Kids (aka the Dead End Kids aka The Bowery Boys) made two films together. This is the first and best. Its a low budget creaky mystery that some how works despite its short comings.

The plot has the Kids forcibly removed from the streets for two weeks in the country at a summer camp. Not wanting to be watched over they sneak out the first night only to be shot at by a local care taker. They end up taking refuge in an old mansion inhabited where Bela Lugosi is staying. At the same time a "monster killer" is prowling the surrounding area. Confusion, murder and "comedy" ensues.

By no means a great film, and probably only an okay one, this is a movie that needs to be watched at about two in the morning when you're half asleep. Its the stereotypical haunted house film turned side ways,yet again, by Leo Gorcey and his pals. Sure the comedy is beyond low and the plot is predictable, but somehow Bela, in a decent role, lifts this up to be more than just a bunch of 30 year old teenagers running amok. Actually the fact there there is a real plot helps a great deal (The later Bela/ East Side Kids pairing Ghosts on the Loose suffers greatly from essentially being two barely connected halves). Its not great by anyone's definition, but it is fun in a silly way.

If you're in the mood for a haunted house comedy the likes of which they don't make any more (thank God) you can give it a try. While far from great it does have Bela hamming it up which is usually good for an hour entertainment.