‘Beautiful artists models and a beastly killer!’
House of Horrors is a 1945 US horror movie directed by Jean Yarborough (She-Wolf of London; The Creeper; Hillbillys in a Haunted House) from a screenplay by George Bricker (Pillow of Death; She-Wolf of London) and story by Dwight V. Babcock (Dead Man’s Eyes; The Jungle Captive) for Universal Pictures. It was filmed in September 1945 as Murder Mansion. Joan Medford is Missing was the British release title (the ‘H’ word being taboo) and it was also released in the USA as The Sinister Shadow.
The film stars Rondo Hatton (previously in The Pearl of Death; The Jungle Captive; The Spider Woman Strikes Back), Robert Lowery (The Mummy’s Ghost; The Monster and the Ape), Virginia Grey (Unknown Island; Target Earth), Bill Goodwin, Martin Kosleck (The Mummy’s Curse; The Frozen Ghost; The Flesh Eaters), Alan Napier (The Uninvited; Isle of the Dead; The Mole People), Virginia Christine (The Mummy’s Curse; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Billy the Kid Versus Dracula).
An entire series of Creeper movies had apparently been planned, with this being the first, and The Brute Man being the second. However, the sudden death of Rondo Hatton, prevented any future pictures from being made.
Plot teaser:
Struggling sculptor, Marcel DeLange (Martin Kosleck) is depressed about being destitute and unappreciated by critics, and decides to commit suicide. But just as he’s about to kill himself, he spots and saves a madman, named “The Creeper” (Rondo Hatton) from drowning.
Shortly afterward, he takes the disfigured man into his care. Marcel also makes the Creeper the subject of his next sculpture and calls it his best creation. But as the reviews begin to break Marcel’s last nerve, he has the Creeper start killing the critics…
Reviews:
“Martin Kosleck’s persecuted sculptor holds the show together — he’s the artist with a true calling, unlike Robert Lowery, a hack painter of advertising cheesecake. House of Horrors is a bargain basement production utilizing few sets and a minimum of extras; De Lange’s various artworks look like generic picks from the property shed. Because almost none of the violence is depicted on screen and director Jean Yarbrough shows almost no interest in the action scenes, the only really enduring images are threatening silhouettes of Rondo Hatton and close-ups of his fascinating face.”Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk
“Light and shadows give a spooky atmosphere, making things feel raw like the 1930s rather than slick like the 1940s. Action is implied rather than shown, but the body count is high enough. The ending could have been more intense, the rhythm between the actors could have been tighter, and the script could have used fewer lame jokes. I would have liked a more fitting title. And more about Greenwich Village bohemians. But the movie is good.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“There are glimmerings of a movie here, but the attempt is held back by Hatton’s inexpressive performance and by risible dialogue.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
“If you like this sort of thing, the picture is in the approved shuddery tradition and gets its story told quickly… Rondo Hatton is properly scary…” The New York Times, 1946
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Cast:
- Rondo Hatton as The Creeper
- Robert Lowery
- Virginia Grey
- Bill Goodwin
- Martin Kosleck
- Alan Napier
- Howard Freeman
- Virginia Christine
- Joan Shawlee
