Spooks Run Wild

As another reviewer has noted, SPOOKS RUN WILD is a film which perfectly captures the spirit of Halloween, American-style: that is, a night in which kids can be scared by dressed-up ghouls and ghosts and the macabre is celebrated. This film's one in the long-running series of East End Kids movies, in which a group of overage twentysomethings play a gang of feral youths who are always getting into trouble with both the law and various criminals.

This time around, things take a decidedly macabre turn with the police hunt for a serial killer, played to the hilt by a cameoing Bela Lugosi. All of the kids and Lugosi himself end up in a creepy old mansion, where lots of jokes and ghoulish gags arise. Lugosi doesn't have much screen time but is fun when he does show up, and there's a nice role for Angelo Rossitto (FREAKS) as his henchman.

Other than Lugosi, this film is pretty good for being a programmer from poverty-row studio Monogram Pictures. The cast are lively and give dedicated performances and the jokes come thick and fast. Yes, this is dated, but in a fun way, and I still prefer it to 90% of modern American comedy. Sunshine Sammy Morrison, playing the token black comic relief guy (a character trope that turns out to have existed since forever) steals the show with his likable, scaredy-cat humour.

Would anyone have believed that an Academy Award would be in the future for one of the participants in Spooks Run Wild back in 1941? I think one would have been told to get a cranial examination. Yet Carl Foreman who wrote the screenplay would be getting one eleven years later for High Noon. Unfortunately blacklist was also in his future.

Academy Award winners didn't usually work at Monogram Pictures, but one starts to learn the trade somewhere in the film business. In this case it's with The Bowery Boys. They've been sent in the charge of Dave O'Brien and Dorothy Short to a summer camp. The boys go wandering off and come upon a haunted house occupied by Bela Lugosi.

The usual Bowery Boy monkeyshines are present throughout. When the boys go wandering off however, we're informed that a serial killer is also loose in the area.

It's from Monogram so don't expect all that much. Still it's interesting to see the genesis of High Noon?

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.

In my opinion, one of the better Bowery Boys movies. As with other of their films, the comedy is simple and transparent. The boys play the roles of "spooked" kids very well, and the role played by Bela Lugosi adds much to the storyline. The settings are eerie enough to make the movie a good Halloween movie for both adults and kids. While it isn't spectacular, it is good entertainment if not taken too seriously. If you like old haunted house movies, it's worth a look.

Spooks Run Wild (1941)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The East Side Kids get into trouble once again so a councilor decides to take them on a trip for two weeks to get away from the city. They end up in a small town and decide to walk away from shelter and end up in a creepy haunted castle with a strange man (Bela Lugosi) inside.

SPOOKS RUN WILD isn't a very good movie as it does very little "right" but at the same time I must admit that I watch it quite often because there's just something rather charming about it. Seeing The East Side Kids mix it up with Bela Lugosi should have made for a much better movie but it's obvious this was made on the cheap and very quickly. I'm sure most of the scenes here could have done better but they weren't really going for quality but instead something to get onto movie screens quick.

I think the greatest thing the film offers is Lugosi in a very colorful performance. I'm sure he was probably wondering why he had to appear in something like this but the actor still gave it his all and delivered a rather fun performance. Just check out the highlight of the picture when Lugosi goes to complete terror when a skeleton is coming after him. So much energy and passion can be seen here, which is something only Lugosi could deliver. The rest of the cast are good in their roles but there's no question that the screenplay didn't give them much to work with.

Again, SPOOKS RUN WILD is a pretty poor movie. The dialogue is rather weak and there's no question that there's not too much to the actual story. Still, if you're a fan of Lugosi then it's pretty much worth watching just for his performance alone.