Jack Dietz

The East Side Kids return in a sequel of sorts to Spooks Run Wild. When one of their own gets married, the gang tries to fix up a bargain suburban house for the newlyweds but accidentally breaks into the "haunted" house next door, where a mysterious man named Emil, played by Bela Lugosi, slips in and out of secret panels. The boys uncover a Nazi spy ring operating a printing press in the basement. Ava Gardner, on loan from MGM and not yet a major star, appears as the bride. William Beaudine directs with his usual no-nonsense pace. The film is more comedy than horror, with the gang's slapstick carrying most of the running time, and Lugosi used mostly for atmosphere. It entered the public domain because its copyright was not renewed.

Comedy · Horror

Bela Lugosi plays Dr. Charles Kessler, a grief-stricken widower whose wife is believed dead — but is actually alive, hidden away in the cellar by the gardener, driven mad by a car accident. When she wanders the grounds at night, the sight of her through the window sends Kessler into a trance that turns him into an unwitting killer, and his daughter Virginia's fiance takes the fall for the murders. The first of Lugosi's nine Monogram pictures, directed with unusual atmosphere by Joseph H. Lewis, who stages the trances with slow, eerie poise. Clarence Muse gives a dignified turn as the Kesslers' butler Evans. The film entered the public domain because its copyright was not renewed.

Horror · Crime · Thriller

The East Side Kids rescue Sylvia, a young girl fleeing her abusive stepfather Morley, and hide her in their clubhouse dressed as a boy. When Morley turns up dead — killed by racketeer McGaffey for a stolen stash of money — Danny is arrested for the murder after returning to the girl's apartment for her clothes. Muggs is then blackmailed into joining a warehouse robbery, leaving the kids to clear their friend's name and catch the real killer, with help from Rusty, a former East Side Kid home on leave from the Navy. The eleventh East Side Kids picture, directed by Wallace Fox for Monogram, and one of the series' more dramatic entries. The film entered the public domain because its copyright was not renewed.

Comedy · Crime · Drama

Bela Lugosi plays Dr. Lorenz, a mad scientist who sends poisoned orchids to brides so they collapse at the altar, then steals their bodies to extract the fluids that keep his aging wife young. A journalist investigating the string of deaths tracks Lorenz to his country home, where she finds a household of coffins, secret passages, and a hunchbacked servant. The Corpse Vanishes is a brisk Monogram B-picture from the stretch of Lugosi's career when he was working the Poverty Row circuit. It is campy and cheap, but Lugosi plays it with complete conviction. The film is in the public domain.

Horror · Mystery

Dr. Marlowe, a mad scientist played by Bela Lugosi, uses voodoo and hypnosis to kidnap young women and transfer their life essence into the body of his dead wife, who has been in a trance for twenty-eight years. His assistants are a zombie-like coachman played by John Carradine and a gas station owner played by George Zucco who lures victims by pretending their cars have broken down. Shot in seven days by William Beaudine for Sam Katzman's Monogram unit, the film was not intended as a comedy, but its absurd plot and loose continuity have made it a favorite of bad-movie audiences. Carradine reportedly considered it the worst film he ever made. It was the last of Lugosi's nine Monogram features. The film entered the public domain due to non-renewal of its copyright.

Horror · Comedy