Spooks Run Wild (1941)

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

Trivia:

The copyright expired and was not renewed, so the film fell into "public domain", meaning that virtually anyone could copy it and sell it without having to pay royalties. That's why there are so so many shoddy, badly cut, grainy copies of it on the market, put out mainly by companies that specialize in public-domain films.

Quotes:

Danny: How can you read in the dark?
Glimpy: What'd you say?
Danny: I said how can you read in the dark?
Glimpy: I went to night school.

Movie Connections:

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

My Favorite East Side Kids Movie

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