Spooks Run Wild

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.

Although this East Side Kids feature has its pluses and some good sequences, it probably could have been better. Having Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, and the rest of the gang being paired with Bela Lugosi is an intriguing thought, and it certainly seems as if it could have been the basis for a really entertaining movie. Perhaps the biggest letdown is simply that Lugosi never gets a lot to do, so that he does not really get the chance to become a part of things.

The setup is kind of convoluted, and it takes a fair amount of time to get to the main action, which has the gang roaming around in an old abandoned mansion where Lugosi's character has just taken up residence. Long stretches of the movie are carried simply by the interplay among Muggs and the rest of the group as they explore, stumble around, and get lost in various situations, all the while wisecracking, ad-libbing, and playing with the props.

As always, most of these antics are quite entertaining, but here the actual story is too negligible to sustain its end of things. A more carefully written story, and most importantly a better, less thankless role for Lugosi, could have made much better use of this unusual combination of talent.

Just a few quick points. - This was one of the nine little gems that Lugosi made for Monogram (one of the better ones), and it's one of two he made with the East Side Kids. It's important to note that they WERE still kids (teenagers) when this film was made.-- They became "The Bowery Boys" when they grew up (It's mentioned in another comment that this film stars The Bowery Boys-- that's a BIG mistake!). The East Side Kids acted differently than, and looked different from, The Bowery Boys. -- The Bowery Boys films had more of a "Three Stooges" look and feel to them, and had none of the adolescent angst than can sometimes be seen in The East Side Kids films. And let's not forget that both groups grew out of the original Warner Brothers group: "The Dead End Kids."

Bowery Boys meet Bela Lugosi for the first (of two) collaborative efforts. In this standard entry in the comedy horror genre (in which the stereotypically evil character proves to be a good guy), the Boys – this time including Leo Gorcey and brother David, Huntz Hall and good old `Sunshine' Sammy (Ernest) Morrison – are shipped off to summer camp for the needy. On the way, they hear radio reports of a serial murder in the area, by which the boys pretend not to be affected. The camp escorts, played in an excessively understated manner by Dave O'Brien and Dorothy Short, are. When the Boys (who seem to be the only attendees of the camp) try to sneak into town for a collective hot date, they attempt a shortcut through the cemetery only to find a riled up graveyard attendant who grants the younger Gorcey a leg full of buckshot. They seek help at the ominous house on the hill, currently housing Lugosi and his dwarf assistant Angelo Rossitto. The Boys are scared shirtless (although they try to play it cool) as they wander through the haunted house, get lost and find secret passages etc etc etc. Somehow O'Brien emerges as the hero after he saves our mostly absent heroine and everything's okay, presumably for the rest of the disadvantaged summer. Veteran director Phil Rosen could claim scores of credits to his name, although this low-budget entry in a long-running series leaves little room for any cinematic flair he may have picked up over the years. Gorcey and Hall put in standard yet enjoyable performances, but Morrison, cast in a typically racist role but doing a good job of it, steals the show.

This was another movie that I had never heard of until working my way through horror movies that were released in 1941. I did find this one interesting due to not only its title, but also that it was another movie I had never seen starring Bela Lugosi. Other than that, I came in blind. The synopsis is the boys are stranded in a small rural town. They hear about a 'monster killer' roaming the countryside. At night, they sneak out. Peewee (David Gorcey) is shot by a gravedigger and they are forced to seek aid at an old mansion.

For this movie, we start in the city. A group of boys led by Muggs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey) get on a bus where they're going to a camp. What I didn't realize and the synopsis makes a bit more sense, the East Side Kids seemed to be a teen comedic group that did quite a few movies. From what I'm gathering, this isn't their first and had a following coming in. Also in this gang is Danny (Bobby Jordan), Glimpy (Huntz Hall), Scruno (Ernest Morrison), Peewee and Skinny (Donald Haines). Taking them out to this camp as a chaperone is Jeff Dixon (Dave O'Brien). Also joining him is his girlfriend of Linda Mason (Dorothy Short). Jeff is studying to a lawyer and she is a nurse. He isn't thrilled about this trip, as he would rather spend time with Linda. She lets out that it is probably more to do with school for not wanting to go.

The bus arrives in a small town and the driver needs to check out the tires. Jeff goes in to get supplies while some of the boys do a bit of exploring on their own. Muggs meets Margie (Rosemary Portia) who works at the local sweet shop. She doesn't like him getting fresh with her though. From there they head out to the camp on the outskirts of town, being almost left behind.

They aren't the only new faces in town. That night Nardo (Bela Lugosi) arrives with his assistant Luigi (Angelo Rossitto). They inquire about the nearby mansion and they're informed that no one lives there. These two make the gas station attendant uneasy. It doesn't help that there are talks over the radio about a 'monster killer'. Another stranger arrives in Dr. Von Grosch (Dennis Moore). The attendant thinks he understands and I'll give the movie credit. Nardo is dressed similar to Dracula and they're playing on this, making Dr. Von Grosch as Dr. Van Helsing.

That night Muggs can't sleep so he decides to walk to town. He doesn't go alone as he's joined by two of his buddies. The rest hear them as they go to leave and it ends up being the whole gang. Also moving about are Nardo and Luigi as they stop at the local cemetery where the caretaker pulls his gun on the. The boys end up there as well and much like the synopsis states, Peewee is shot. They seek refuge in the nearby mansion where the boys meet Nardo along with his companion. It becomes of a night of fear as the boys lose Peewee and try to figure out if Nardo is this killer they've heard about.

This will be where I leave the recap as this is pretty much the first half of the movie. We end up getting a take on the old dark house film here. It is also leaning heavy into the comedy as well. To bring up something again, I didn't realize the East Side Kids were a comedic film group like Abbott and Costello or like The Three Stooges. They are just teens or early adults that use a lot of the wordplay jokes and slapstick comedy. Personally, this didn't really work for me unfortunately.

To circle back to something I've said again is the horror here comes from the old dark house aspects. They don't use a lot of that, but we get enough. No one has been to this mansion before this night so that makes sense. What I will give credit here is that it is leaning into the fact that Lugosi was Dracula. This is movie was made by Monogram films, but it is poking fun at Universal. Nardo is dressed like Dracula. They focus on the eyes like they did in that classic and of course having Dr. Von Grosch. I like this movie playing with these ideas while also doing something different with them. There are also talks of a murderer adding to this as well.

Since there isn't much to the story, I'll go to the acting. I did think that Lugosi was having fun here and he's fine as Nardo. As I was saying, I like them leaning back into his iconic role and the truth of his character makes a lot of sense as well. Leo Gorcey was good as this tough leader of the group. It does appear that David Gorcey was his brother and a member of the crew. I thought the rest of this group worked. There is a bit of racism toward Scruno who is played by the black actor of Morrison. Outside of that, I do think they play well off each other and that works for the comedy. I would also say that O'Brien and Short were fine for what was needed along with Rossitto, who is a little person. The townspeople worked as did Moore. There isn't a lot of screen time for the latter, so it doesn't work as well with the reveal.

The last thing that I want to go over would be the effects and cinematography. For the former, we don't get a lot of them, but it is also not that type of movie. We get some gags playing with a skeleton, a moving suit of armor and some floating objects. The design and the explanation for all of this did make sense. The cinematography didn't add much. It could also be that the version I watched on Amazon Prime wasn't in the greatest shape. I'm not going to hold either against the movie to be honest.

That is about the extent of what I wanted to go over so in conclusion here, this movie is an interesting comedic horror film. This is really a vehicle to get customers in the seats with the likes of Lugosi and the East Side Kids who I'm assuming had their own followers. I think the acting here is fine. The story was lacking a bit as they wanted the comedy to carry it. Playing with Lugosi's former role and the troupes with it were good though. The movie had issues keeping my attention though and I just wanted a bit more. The last thing to say would be the soundtrack didn't really stick out or hurt the movie. I would rate this as just average to me. I can't really recommend it if I'm going to be honest, unless you're out to see all of the Lugosi films or a fan of the East Side Kids' comedies.