House of Horrors

House of Horrors
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jean Yarbrough
Produced by Ben Pivar
Screenplay by George Bricker
Story by Dwight V. Babcock
Starring
Music by
  • William Lava
  • Paul Sawtell
  • Frank Skinner
  • Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography Maury Gertsman
Edited by Philip Cahn
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • March 29, 1946 (1946-03-29) (United States)
Running time
 65 minutes
Country United States
Language English

House of Horrors is a 1946 American film noir horror film released by Universal Pictures, starring Rondo Hatton as a madman named "The Creeper". It was filmed in September 1945.

A series of Creeper movies was planned, and the second one, The Brute Man, was filmed in 1946. However, Hatton died of complications from acromegaly before either film was released.[1]

Plot

Struggling sculptor Marcel De Lange (Martin Kosleck) is depressed about events in his life, and decides to commit suicide. Just as he's about to kill himself, he sees a madman, known as "The Creeper" (Rondo Hatton), in the process of drowning, and saves him. Taking the disfigured man into his care, he makes him the subject of his next sculpture and calls it his best creation. When critics denigrate Marcel's work, he has the Creeper start killing them. Marcel becomes obsessed with Joan, a beautiful female reporter who believes the deaths are related. When Marcel invites her over and she sees Marcel's sculpture of The Creeper, she suspects that Marcel knows the killer. Later, Marcel decides that Joan knows too much and commands The Creeper to kill her. The Creeper is reluctant to do, however, when he discovers that Marcel plans to turn him over to the police. The Creeper kills Marcel, and is about to kill Joan when he is shot by the police.

Cast

Reception

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two out of four stars, criticizing the script as "laughable" and moderate acting, calling it "[a] Slightly below average horror meller."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Vieira, Mark A. (2003). Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. p. 102. ISBN 0-8109-4535-5.
  2. ↑ Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Rob Edelman (January 2010). Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide. Plume. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-452-29577-3.
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