Movie Review: Spooks Run Wild (1941)

Synopsis: Muggs and the rest of the East Side Kids are arrested and sent to summer camp. They learn there is a notorious killer in the area and suspicions fall on a strange man who recently moved into a remote home. Things appear to turn supernatural when Peewee is shot, and the rest of the gang believes he turned into a zombie.

Who's in it? The movie stars Leo Gorcey, Bela Lugosi, David Gorcey, Dorothy Short and Bobby Jordan.


Review: I decided to give Spooks Run Wild a try this morning because, while I'm still not a big East Side Kids fan, I noticed it once again featured Bela Lugosi. That, and I couldn't find much else to watch. It ended up being an OK decision.

As was the case with Ghosts on the Loose, the movie the film relies a lot on sight comedy that tends to distract from the overall plot. Some of the scenes were humorous while others just seemed like they were there to fill time. Basically, it was a movie that was designed to showcase what the East Side Kids were known for with the main story being just there to tie things together.

That said, I thought Lugosi made this movie watchable. I didn't believe he was the killer and suspected his character, Nardo, was just a red herring. However, Lugosi played him in a way that made him awfully suspicious and in addition to being able to believe people would think he was a murderer, there was a legitimate mystery about who he was and why so many strange things were happening around the house.

Peewee's (David Gorcey) possible zombie turn was also of interest. Once again, I was never convinced things were as they seemed, but it was still something that required an explanation and something I wasn't sure if Nardo had a role in. 

The climax of the film was entertaining, with Linda's (Short) life in danger and the boys needing to come to the rescue. I also thought the very end managed to leave things on a lighter note, which is a necessity when it comes to comedies that feature potential homicides. I don't know if it was enough to make me say I enjoyed watching the entire movie but at least it ended things on a high note.

Final Opinion: As I said before, it's an OK albeit not special film but I think I would consider it one of the better East Side Kids movies. I think I'm going to give it a little bit of a bump grade-wise as well out of respect for actor Donald Haines (who plays Skinny) would be killed in World War II a short time later, making this his last Hollywood film appearance. At minimum, it's not an awful choice if you can't find anything else to watch.

My Grade: B-

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