Cristi_Ciopron This is Lugosi's 1st movie with the East Side Kids, and one of his several with Dave O'Brien, someone as conceited and astringent as ever ('The Devil Bat', 'Bowery at Midnight'), here he's shown as nasty, to the kids as well as to his girlfriend.In fact, this one had the working title 'Ghosts …'.The 2nd movie made by Lugosi and the kids was better written, but the kids gave more bombastic performances, especially H. Hall. Though 'Spooks …' seems better budgeted, and certainly looks good and is nicely acted, Rosen wasn't as good a director as Beaudine, and the movie is somewhat bland, somewhat less lively, a bit lazy, and with a less good script; but Lugosi looks awesome, with another side of his talent: the nonchalant gentleman, chivalrous and handsome (his character is shown as not taking offense at the kids' repeatedly roughing him up, or being nasty), moreover he seemed pleased with his role. It begins with very nice footage of urban life, before the kids are sent to the camp. So, the 1st movie has a better look and acting, a fancy storyline, with the self-explained old house, almost a '30s movie, and it relies more on spoof, the intriguing things, like the attendant's insight, are comparatively loosely handled; the 2nd has better a better director and also script and feel, dynamism as zest in handling the subplots, appeal, the subplots (the newlyweds, the old couple, the policemen) are better handled, and funnier, here the several subplots are either teases, or barely sketched (the host walks about the house, the counselor, the constable, Van Grosch). The main difference is the one between a spoof and a comedy. Beaudine handled better than Rosen a better script. Here, the actors playing townspeople act reasonably well, yet the direction is less preoccupied with them than it should have; another difference is that the 2nd movie could boast a better cast (not only the bride, but some supporting roles as well). Let's mention two teases: the likable locations at the beginning (given that the storyline went somewhere else) and the boys marching through the underground tunnel, resurfacing in the cemetery to keep a council, deciding what seems at 1st an obviousness (to confront the bird, since they lack silver bullets and onion), then coming across with a good trick, scaring their host. So, though perhaps not as good as its follow-up, this 1st show isn't to be dismissed.Peewee was Muggs' real-life brother. Pat Costello has a small role as the driver.Rosemary Portia makes a nice bit part, as a waitress.The directors of the installments were usually the savvy Lewis (three movies, all in '40), W. Fox (9 movies, in '41-'45), Beaudine (6 movies, in '43-'45); from '42 on, W. Fox and Beaudine were the directors.Though H. Hall was included relatively lately as an East Side kid, he had been one of the Dead End Kids, on a par with Gorcey, Dell and Jordan.The kids arrive at the camp; and the old house isn't their host's.Lugosi gets roughed up a bit by the kids two times. In a story about a sexual predator, he's not the one. Muggs perusing a book belongs to his intellectualized outlook.Though mostly a farce (and some of the uncanny occurrences witnessed by the kids, like the skull and the moving boll and the skeleton, must or could be attributed to their anxiety, as their host explained them beforehand, while others, like the secret passages and the tunnel leading under the phony tombstone, can't be, and the weird attendant is straight fantasy), when Van Grosch attacks the girl it doesn't look like an attempt to murder her, Dorothy Short's struggle with Van Grosch looks like a rape, and it seems appropriate that sexuality was a topic for a series mainly aimed at teenagers.

Spuzzlightyear Although the Bowery Boys are (say it isn't true!) starting to grow on me, and I had somewhat high hopes for Spooks Run Wild, because you never know what will happen when Bela Lugosi is on the scene. Unfortunately the 'Running Wild' portion of the title can be aptly used to describe the movie, because this just goes all over the place, and uses weak excuses to justify it's actions. When the boys are on their way to Juvvie camp for getting into trouble, they stop in a town overnight. Also happening to be in this town are a mysterious stranger (Lugosi) and his, uh, midget friend, who everyone is convinced is some sort of monster killer but don't bother to do anything about it. The kids are stuck in Lugosi's creepy house, and basically silly situation after silly situation transpires, without any logic or reasoning building up to a ridiculous conclusion that, if you were casually paying attention, you could have easily picked up from the start.

Snow Leopard 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.

dbborroughs 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.