Powerful

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

House of Horrors is a creepy little shocker film that is quite well done. Interestingly it's working title was "The Sinister Shadow" before it was released. House Of Horrors was another Ben Pivar production and Ben could put this kind of horror film out in his sleep.Director Jean Yarbrough cut his teeth directing these kind of B thrillers and he went on to have a very successful career in television. I always considered Rondo Hatton to be sort of a walking prop. He's a bit more animated in this story then usual but here he's not so much the monster as he is the real monsters tool. Virginia Grey wasn't one of Universal's Screen Queens". She was loaned out for "House" from M-G-M. She's very good as the spirited reporter trying to get the story.Robert Lowery was a handsome and talented leading man but you could aways tell when he was really into his role or just picking up a paycheck.The dependable Alan Napier has a turn as an egotistical and sarcastic art critic. He so good in the role that the audience cheers when he gets his. Martin Kosleck was, as my dad used to say,the poor man's Peter Lorre He could play sinister capably enough but he was a bit too subdued to play out and out crazy. In this story he is the real monster, however, creeping around in the shadows and letting Rondo do his dirty work.This is one of Koslecks biggest roles and his weaselly Marcel De Lange is one of his best characterizations Its a shame that Rondo Hatton passed on just as his star was beginning to rise in the horror film Pantheon so to speak. Whether or not he could have lasted as a horror star nobody can say. The second horror cycle was beginning to dry out in 1946 so he could have slid back into obscurity had he lived.The American Horror Film Board presents the Rondo Award every year to deserving horror films and actors since 2002. Film fans vote on the recipients. So Rondo Hatton has achieved some degree of movie immortality.

Rondo Hatten plays the Creeper, who in this film is a notorious serial killer of women, breaking their backs with his huge hands and body. He is found nearly drowned in the river by frustrated artist/sculptor Marcel De Lange(played by Martin Kosleck) who takes him home, and they become friends(of a sort). Marcel tells the creeper about how much he hates the art critics who have trashed his work in their columns, so he takes this as a hint to murder them, as well as the occasional poor woman walking down the street... Exploitive of Rondo Hatton's unfortunate condition, film is also quite shallow, since no background or reasons for the murderous behavior is offered at all. Some good acting here(even Hatton isn't bad) but too one-dimensional.(though at least Marcel is nice to his cat!)

1946's "House of Horrors" was a staple of Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, hosted by Bill 'Chilly Billy' Cardille, no doubt because of its inclusion in the popular SHOCK! package of vintage Universal titles first released to television in the late 50s. It was also Bill Cardille who introduced me to Martin Kosleck's "The Flesh Eaters," his ability to play cold blooded Nazi villainy on full display, although the actor himself fled the Hitler regime for America by the late 30s. He achieved a kind of lasting stardom only at Universal, from 1944 to 1946, with this film in particular standing out as his finest hour in Hollywood. The so-called house of horrors (shooting title "Murder Mansion") is the dimly lit studio of starving sculptor/artist Marcel De Lange, so poor that he must borrow bread and cheese from a neighbor. When a potential sale of $1000 (for a statue called "Circes from Troy") is dashed by smug, self satisfied critic F. Holmes Harmon (Alan Napier), Marcel decides to end his life at the waterfront, only to rescue a drowning man later identified as The Creeper (the immortal Rondo Hatton), a dull witted fiend notorious for snapping the spines of his victims (usually pretty girls). Unconcerned about his newfound model's true identity, Marcel begins what he fittingly describes as his 'deathless masterpiece,' certain that the long overdue acclaim denied him will finally come his way. The morning after the Creeper stalks out into the night and murders a streetwalker (Virginia Christine), Marcel hardly bats an eye, surreptitiously planting the seeds of vengeance in the killer's mind, against the critics who routinely mock him as the laughingstock of New York art circles, with even the insufferable, smarmy girl newshound (Virginia Grey) referring to Marcel as a 'harmless little screwball.' This fairly decent buildup pretty much falls to the wayside a third of the way in, as the film shifts its focus from the 'villains' to the 'heroes,' about as thoroughly nasty a bunch of detestables as any viewer is likely to find. We soon start rooting for the bad guys to kill off as many of them as possible, surely not the intention of the filmmakers! The credits 'introduce' Hatton as The Creeper (September 1945), but the character had made one prior appearance in the 1944 Sherlock Holmes feature "The Pearl of Death," and would make a third in "The Brute Man," Hatton's final film, a prequel to "House of Horrors," completed in November 1945 (the actor died February 2 1946, before either saw release). His physical presence is certainly impressive, but his delivery of dialogue far less so, but it must be said that the cringe worthy lines scripted here must rank with some of the all time worst. Listening to the nominal leads discuss thumb twiddling may perhaps be the absolute nadir, but Kosleck's Marcel is fortunately spared the indignity. Director Jean Yarbrough, best remembered for 1940's "The Devil Bat," and helming all 52 episodes of the Abbott and Costello TV series, does what may be his finest genre work, especially in regards to Marcel's pet cat, ever faithfully following him from kitchen to studio in scene after scene (quite an achievement considering what was probably no more than the usual 12 day shooting schedule). The climactic tussle has the artist trying to stop the killer from destroying his likeness, framed before the staircase, from which the cat comes charging down the steps, nestling in the hand of its now dead master (cat fanciers rejoice!). Martin Kolseck fondly recalled his work on the picture (and his happy times at Universal), never once crossing the line that would lose the audience's sympathy, and the touching opening between man and pet sets the proper tone for the duration of the film. A nice tribute to an actor who made a career out of playing Goebbels on screen, as well as other menacing Nazis. "House of Horrors" aired an impressive seven times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater: Dec 11 1965 (following 1959's "Battle in Outer Space"), June 3 1967 (following 1959's "Horrors of the Black Museum"), Jan 18 1969 (following 1963's "The Last Man on Earth"), Mar 15 1975 (first of a rare triple bill, followed by 1940's "The Invisible Woman" and 1944's "The Frozen Ghost"), Dec 20 1975 (following 1969's "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun"), Feb 26 1977 (following 1971's "Point of Terror"), and June 10 1978 (following 1959's "The Leech Woman").

In 1944, a strange looking actor (apparently as a result of an incident during The Great War in which his face was deformed) called Rondo Hatton made a film called The Pearl of Death (a part of the successful Sherlock Holmes series) where he played a murderer named 'The Creeper'. Apparently, Universal studios thought this character was too good for just a single outing and so obviously decided to make another film with the same actor playing the same character (and with a bigger role) and what we get is House of Horrors. The film features what would have to be described as a rather tame plot line; especially when compared to Universal's best films; such as Frankenstein and Dracula. The plot focuses on a sculptor who is dismayed by the way that critics lambaste his best works. His fortune changes one day when he rescues a man from drowning. He later discovers that this man just happens to be a murderer that the police are calling 'The Creeper', and he soon hatches a plan to have his new found friend murder his critics...The main standout of the film is undoubtedly the presence of Rondo Hatton; although the performance is rather tragic considering the disease he had that made him deformed. The role and the film really exploit this, which is rather sad. The lead actor is Martin Kosleck and he delivers a performance that doesn't quite fall short of ridiculous and its rather hard to take seriously; although it is at least entertaining. The plot is not played out with any real style and the film does feel a bit stagnant. Director Jean Yarbrough doesn't really offer much in the way of suspense and intrigue and as such we're left with just the plot to keep us interested; which the film doesn't always manage. It's always rather predictable where it's going and unfortunately the film doesn't offer much in the way of surprises. Universal horror will always be remembered as the creators of some of the best horror ever made; but I very much doubt that House of Horrors will get a mention next to their classic films of the thirties. The film is not a complete dead loss but it's not a classic either.