In a change of pace approach to the mad doctor formula which had been a routine plot device in Universal horror films, the studio came up with a different gimmick in House of Horrors (1946). The protagonist was an avant-garde sculptor named Marcel who goes bonkers after years of neglect and ridicule by art critics. Contemplating suicide in the river, he changes his plan when he rescues another would-be suicide from the water and offers him refuge. Marcel's new house guest is none other than "The Creeper," a serial killer who preys on streetwalkers and is the object of a police manhunt. Marcel not only finds inspiration in The Creeper's hideous features – "the perfect Neanderthal Man!" – but also begins using him to avenge himself on art critics, reporters and anyone else perceived as an enemy.

House of Horrors arrived at the end of Universal's golden age of the horror film with The Creeper planned as a new "monster" for future sequels. It was not to be. Rondo Hatton, who played The Creeper, was suffering from an advanced case of acromegaly, pituitary gland disorder and died of heart failure on February 2, 1946, several weeks before the theatrical release of House of Horrors. Even if he had lived, however, Universal would not have continued The Creeper series. After House of Horrors, they sold off Hatton's final film for them, The Brute Man (1946), to the poverty row outfit, PRC Pictures. Two years later, Universal would begin parodying their greatest horror successes in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). The horror genre would not enjoy a genuine revival until The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Horror of Dracula (1958) appeared on the scene, both Hammer Studio productions which were distributed in the U.S by Warner Bros.

House of Horrors was heavily promoted in the pre-release stages as a showcase for Hatton's unusual screen presence. The promotional taglines announced, "Out of the murk of the river...Out of the clammy mist...Rises a new fiend of horror...The Creeper!" Actually, House of Horrors was NOT the film debut of The Creeper. He had already been introduced in Universal's Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Pearl of Death, in 1944, and Hatton would make a memorable impression in two more Universal movies – The Jungle Captive (1945) and The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) – before he appeared in House of Horrors.

Filmed on Universal's backlot, which included a New York street and a waterfront, House of Horrors is a fast-paced, unpretentious thriller with a scene-stealing performance by Martin Kosleck as Marcel, the mad sculptor: "Soon, the whole world will recognize my genius." Kosleck later recalled in an interview that "I get more fan mail on that...I loved that part." He also confided that he won the part thanks to producer Ben Pivar who approached him on the Universal lot during work hours. "He gave me a script to study during the lunch hour for an audition. I gave a completely memorized audition and got the part immediately."

Some reports indicate that Kent Taylor was originally intended for the part of the police lieutenant Larry Brooks and that the role of Detective Tomlinson was assigned to Milburn Stone. Those roles were eventually cast with Bill Goodwin and Billy Newell, respectively. In a brief role as a prostitute who gets her back snapped in two by The Creeper, is Virginia Christine, a prolific character actress who is more famous for her Mrs. Olson character in the Folgers Coffee commercials of the sixties than her movies, which included memorable bits in High Noon (1952), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). In an interview, Christine had only vague memories of making House of Horrors but said, "I needed the money – all actors need money! It was a very short scene. They had a cat following me down the street. And in order to get the cat to follow me they put some anchovies or sardines on the back of my heel! And that's all I remember about that film – absolutely all!"

The Breen Office, the self-censoring arm of Hollywood that enforced the production code, had several objections to the script of House of Horrors when it was first submitted under the title of Murder Mansion. It prohibited the use of objectionable artwork in ads or excessive gruesomeness in the film pertaining to the act of murder (no "gurgling" sounds from the strangled victims). The producers were also cautioned that The Creeper could not be depicted as leering at the female victims with sexual desire. Most absurd of all was the Breen Office's warning that a "flashily dressed blonde" in one scene set on the dank waterfront could in no way suggest a prostitute.

House of Horrors was a hit with fans of the genre and even The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther acknowledged its lowbrow appeal in some quarters: "Five corpses with broken spines litter the screen before things are cleared up. The moral appears to be that art critics had better be careful whom they criticize (film critics, happily, were not mentioned). 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 as "the Creeper," while Virginia Grey and Robert Lowery handle the romance adequately. Bill Goodwin as the detective and Martin Kosleck as the mad sculptor round out the cast."

Producer: Ben Pivar
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Screenplay: George Bricker; Dwight V. Babcock (story)
Cinematography: Maury Gertsman
Art Direction: John B. Goodman, Abraham Grossman
Film Editing: Philip Cahn
Principal 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 Fulton (Stella McNally), Virginia Christine (Lady of the streets), Rondo Hatton (The Creeper).
BW-65m.

by Jeff Stafford

SOURCES:
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 by Michael Brunas, John Brunas and Tom Weaver (McFarland & Associates)
Horror Film Stars by Michael R. Pitts (McFarland & Associates)