What makes it different from others?

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

***SPOILERS*** After being humiliated by #1 art critic the snotty and full of himself Holmes Harman,Alan Napler, struggling sepulcher & artist Marcel De Lange, Martin Kosleck, decides to end it all by jumping into the East River and drowning himself. When Marsel saw someone in worst condition then even he was in floating below he decided to help the poor guy and nurse him, together with his pet cat Peblo, back to health. As it turned out the person that Marcel saved from drowning is the notorious "Creeper", Rondo Hatton, who's been on a rampage murdering a string of young women, mostly hookers, all throughout the city of New York.Puzzled but grateful for what the very out of touch with the latest news Marcel did for him, way would anyone rescue a serial murderer like himself, a now fully recovered "Creeper" decides to do what Marcel didn't have the guts to do himself. Take care of all those art critics like Holmes Harman who've been making his life a living hell by putting down his great, in his mind, works.At first Marcel doesn't realize what the "Creeper" was doing but as he read the newspaper reports of his exploits, murdering art critics who disgrace him and his art, he encouraged him to keep up the "Good Work". As it soon turned out the "Good Work" resulted in Marcel making his masterpiece a bust of the "Creeper" himself!As it also soon turned out it was a woman newspaper columnist Jean Medford, Virginia Gray, who in fact was one of the few persons in the city who admired Marcel's work who lead to both his and the "Creeper's" downfall. That's by giving Marcel the publicity, in her column, that he really didn't need. It was that , Jean's column about his latest work, which in the end broke up a beautiful friendship, Marcel and the "Creeper", and thus finally putting and end to their reign of terror .P.S Rondo Hatton who's signature role as "The Creeper" was to make him famous in the world of horror movies died almost two months before the film "House of Horroes" was released at the age of 51.

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").

Rondo Hatton is my hero. Who cares if he wasn't a classically trained actor?! As The Creeper he tugs the heart-strings like a pro! He's got heart! He's got soul! He's got courage! He's also damned likable! Rondo is also one hell of a hero. Rondo took the crummy hand that fate dealt him and played it magnificently. He became one of the most endearing and cool anti-heroes of all B-moviedom! To experience Rondo as The Creeper is to experience pure magic! I watched horror movies as kid and always loved "the monster". A good "monster" gets my vote every damn time. The Creeper fits that bill perfectly and better than most. The Creeper is one of my all time favorite fright flick anti-heroes. GOD BLESS YOU RONDO HATTON!