La mansión del mal

Maybe it was because my expectations were low, but saw this on "Svenghoulie's" show and enjoyed it as an old black and white creepy movie from the late 1940s just as a Saturday night sort of thing. Not great but had some especially bright spots and a pretty decent cast and storyline, and kept you wondering what the outcome would be right up to the end. I kept expecting the story to fall apart at some point as it usually does in the ones shown on this show, but it kept continuing to be fairly engaging and had some cultural references to the art world that kept it fun to watch. I liked the portrayal of art critics and the art theme, and fun to see the actor who played "Big Jim Champion" on "Circus Boy" in a lead role, along with the monster dude who was an interesting character and had an interesting life story outside of the movie. All in all, fun to watch if you like old movies from the '40s and just want to see something not too deep or demanding that might remind you of a past era you find yourself able to get lost in.

More than "the creeper" himself ,the real monster is Marcel (a sculptor with a French name meaning "from the angel"!)Martin Kosleck is actually the stand out with his piercing eyes,his banal look and his aspiration for glory ;at the beginning he seems a nice guy feeding his pet cat and coming to a man's rescue.But further acquaintance shows this :he gradually goes nuts and the statue becomes a transparent metaphor for the monster he is creating (a Frankensteinesque relationship,which the ending confirms).

This is also a fierce attack on art critics "who judge works but do not know they are judged by them "(Jean Cocteau),a subject which "theatre of blood" will resume in the seventies.

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!

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.

This movie is so much better than what I thought it'd be. Both Rondo Hatton as the psycho killer and Martin Kosleck as an artist driven to madness by unkind critics are villains, yet both are sympathetic in a way. What is especially touching is Kosleck's interaction with his pet cat and the closing scene where the cat curls up by his dead body. (Or did he die? The dialogue isn't clear on it.) It was effective and sorrowful.

My sole complaint is the woefully brief appearance of Virginia Christine as Creeper's first victim. I hardly had a chance to recognize her before she was offed. I always enjoy her early film appearances because she was an out and out fox. I would so much have enjoyed seeing her as the tennis model instead. Hubba-hubba!