Una noche de horror

Although the film's director and actor Onslow Stevens have done similar work for Universal, this film is more reminiscient of Val Lewton's horror thrillers for RKO. The film title itself refers to a black cat and many of the key scenes take place in dark, shadowy environments. Also, like Lewton, you don't see the monster until the very end. Interestingly, CREEPER features dream sequences that reminds me of RKO's noir films. CREEPER is from 20th Century-Fox. However, the story is typical of mid-40s Universal horror flicks while the mood is characteristic of Lewton's CAT PEOPLE films.

I am not a great fan of Jean Yarbrough, I will put him as the same scale as Reginald Le Borg. Both had very close like careers, both made cheap horror films, both directed Joe Palooka's flicks. Not the best they let in audiences memories. But this one, thanks to Eduardo Ciannelli, is very exciting, though not as the same scale as a Jacques Tourneur's horror film such as CAT PEOPLE or LEOPARD MEN, or, more simple, the Val Lewton's productions. Yarbrough was not that good, but only a little horror films director whose most of this early work is uninteresting, unlike his second part of career stuff. This one is really worth for horror fans or gem diggers.

Neurotic Nora (Janis Wilson) is deathly afraid of felines and suffers from recurring nightmares of a menacing cat's paw coming through her bedroom window or emerging from beneath her bed. After her scientist father (played by Ralph 'The Wizard of Oz' Morgan) is killed, clawed to death in the first of several murders, Nora finds herself targeted by the killer, who has been using an experimental serum to transform his hand into a large cat's claw.

The Creeper (which has nothing at all to do with Rondo 'The Creeper' Hatton) is a weak B-movie horror that does very little of interest for the majority of the sixty-four minute run time, with the killer's claw mostly shown as a shadow on a wall. Only in the closing moment does the villain reveal his deadly claw to terrified Nora (his hand transforming via a series of shoddy dissolves), and it looks every bit as daft as it sounds. John Baragrey plays scientist Dr. John Reade, who saves Nora in the nick of time.

Even at just over an hour long, this one is hard to remain engaged with, the dull dialogue and stilted performances making it a laborious watch. The premise is wonderfully loopy, but the execution is mundane. 2.5/10, rounded up to 3 for IMDb.

Oddball horror flick about a woman (Janis Wilson) who is petrified of cats, thinks she is being pursued by a giant catlike thing, and spends most of the film in a catatonic state. Her father, played by Ralph Morgan, is engaged in research with Onslow Stevens. They have the brilliant idea that they can illuminate internal organs. Because, don't we want everyone to see what's inside our intestines? Somehow this research involves experiments on cats, which, like everything else in the film, remains unexplained. Down the hall, Eduardo Ciannelli is also working on an experiment. He is trying to prove he can do a German accent. His associate, played by John Baragrey, has fallen for Wilson, much to the chagrin of Onslow's assistant, played by the icily cold June Vincent.

Now that we have all the players, it's on to the plot. Several characters go belly up, apparently clawed to death. Is there some kind of cat creature on the prowl? Richard Lane shows up as a detective, doesn't bother to show anybody his credentials, and yet everybody answers his questions. Perhaps he should be on a Senate committee. In the finale, we learn the killer's identity, if you hadn't already figured it out 5 minutes into the film.

The photography is pretty good, with effective use of shadows. And the film is atmospheric, in the same sense that a solid waste disposal plant is.

The Creeper is a 1948 "B" film produced by Bernard Small's Reliance Pictures. Its an entertaining little chiller clocking in at a brisk 64 minutes, with a cast of generally familiar faces such as Onslow Stevens, Ralph Morgan, Eduardo Ciannelli, and June Vincent.Romantic lead John Baragrey would go on to have a successful career as a character actor in television. The female lead was eighteen year old Janis Wilson, who as a juvenile actress had featured roles in Now Voyager, Watch on the Rhine, and the Strange Love of Martha Ivers, among other films and seemed to be building a solid acting resume for herself. The Creeper would be her last film role,however, and she would retire from the screen to take up marriage and teaching music. Director Jean Yarbrough had a reputation for dependability and getting a film out on time and under budget. Ben Pivar was the executive producer. He was in charge of Universal Studios Horror Unit during the war on could do this kind of film in his sleep. The horror cycle had slowed down considerably since the end of the war but there was still a market for Saturday matinée scary pictures at the local neighborhood Bijou and the Creeper was made to fill that market. It helped sell a bunch of popcorn

The story concerns a monster who preys on a group of scientists and researchers whom themselves are trying to develop a mysterious serum that is derived from the body fluids of cats. One of the researchers tries to put a halt to the project for ethical concerns and is brutally murdered. After that other researchers are being killed by what evidence suggests is a huge cat like creature. The daughter of one of the murdered scientists acted as secretary to the project and holds the notes that are needed to continue the project but will not give them up. A young scientist from a next door lab has fallen for her and he is aware of the events taking place. He tries to aide and protect her at the risk of his own life. At the climax of the film the identity of the murderous monster is revealed and it is destroyed. Of course the young couple appear to move on to become the Cleaver family. The Creeper was filmed by Edward Coleman. Coleman and Yarbrough used The "Cat People approach to shooting the Creeper with shadows and dim lighting to cover the cheap sets and minimal special effects This technique works and gives the film a dark and brooding atmosphere. That veteran actors know the rote and do what they can with a weak script and sometimes confusing plot line. What does not work is Janis Wilson's performance. She is , quite frankly, terrible. Without Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck around to coach her she chews the scenery and emotes like a high school Juliet. If the Creeper had been a longer picture she would have shot the whole thing down. It's no wonder she decided to get out of the business.

As I said, The Creeper is entertaining and won't cause emotional damage to the more sensitive members of your viewing audience, however, if your are in The Ginger Snaps or Dog Solders school of were-animal appreciation, The Creeper isn't gonna do it for you. Saying that . however, for the average old horror flick fan there are a lot worse ways to spend an hour.