House of Horrors (1946)

Director:

Jean Yarbrough

Writers:

Dwight V. Babcock (story)
George Bricker (writer)

Release Date:

29 March 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Meet...The CREEPER!

Plot:

An unsuccessful sculptor saves a madman named "The Creeper" from drowning. Seeing an opportunity for revenge, he tricks the psycho into murdering his critics. |

Plot Keywords:

Rescue From Drowning | Deformity | Murder | Sculptor | B Movie

Cast

Robert Lowery	...	Steven Morrow
Virginia Grey	...	Joan Medford
Bill Goodwin	...	Lt. Larry Brooks
Martin Kosleck	...	Marcel De Lange
Alan Napier	...	F. Holmes Harmon
Howard Freeman	...	Hal Ormiston
Joan Shawlee	...	Stella McNally (as Joan Fulton)
Virginia Christine	...	Lady of the streets
Rondo Hatton	...	The Creeper

Also Known As:

Joan Medford Is Missing (UK)
Murder Mansion (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #11251, General Audience)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: House of Horrors" (1998)

Routine Horror/Thriller with, how shall I put this, "interesting" casting.

This is a typical late Universal Horror flick: its technically comptent, if by the numbers, with a cookie cutter plot and some serious overacting. The most interesting part of this film is its stunt casting of Rondo Hatton, a man with a bone disease as the film's "monster". Its sad to see this man exploited, but he probably made good use of the money they paid him. Hatton is less horrifying than the studio hoped, as I more often felt pity over fear or even loathing. Martin Koslack is on board as the film's mad artist, and he is very amusing in this part. I for one enjoy seeing Koslack in just about anything; for some reason the man amuses me. The only other part of the film that entertained me is the film's absurd take on the art world. Here we are shown evil art critics who revel in their ability to break artists; this is side by side with the film's male "hero" who is an "artist" who paints...get this...pin up girls. Somehow our hero's work is reviewed side by side with the villan's absurdist sculpture. Also amusing is the film's chief nasty critic, who at one point claims that he despises the hero's pin up art because "women like that don't exist" to which our heroine replies with an assurance that the critic just doesn't get out enough. Finally, there's a bit of a subplot about the heroine's (who is an art critic herself) domestication by the leading man....completely anti-feminist and ridiculous to witness. Overall this film is a rather mediocre picture with a few amusing elements.