The Brute Man

This is the final film for Rondo Hatton, who suffered from acromegaly, and was employed in Hollywood increasingly as his disease progressed, just as Hedy Lamarr was used as her beauty increased. The plot is simple: a bright handsome young man is turned into a monster by an accident causing malfunction of his pituitary gland. His disease exacerbates his natural inclination to impulse and temper. As in the Frankenstein myth, his ugliness causes rejection by almost every one he meets. At any clear sign of revulsion, he kills. As in the Frankenstein movie, he receives unconditional acceptance only from a blind musician. At this hint of what life could have been, he softens. But the Hollywood ending cannot be. Rondo, who started in movies in 1930, was routinely used as a homely/ugly bit. The revival of horror films brought him a natural chance for stardom. Movies released in '44, '45, and '46 (the year of his death), had him appearing as The Creeper, in lead or featured parts. In the The Brute Man, he plays that part as it parallels his own life, and he is remarkably good, fully showing the good and the bad of the character. It is the faint spark of human needs that touches us, and it makes it possible to see the real ugliness of the beautiful actors cast to support him. But it is not a welcome message. The production is of course on the cheap, but with a lot of attention to detail, especially the waterfront hovel, his hideout, and the downscale apartment of the blind girl, his only other haven. Brando, in The Men, at the beginning of his career, and Rondo, in The Brute, at the end of his career, show us that being different is not for sissies, only with Brando you get the Hollywood ending.

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 Hatton 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!

For such a low budget movie and from PRC as well, The Brute Man is quite good.

As a result of an experiment going wrong at university, Hal Moffat becomes disfigured and some years later, starts killing people. His victims include a grocer's delivery boy and a jeweller. He makes friends with a blind woman but nearly kills her after shopping him to the police and is arrested in her home after she set him up.

The Brute Man is shot well in black and white and is certainly one of the better efforts from PRC.

I've never heard of any of the cast in this, with Rondo Hatton in the title role.

This is worth checking out. A good way to spend an hour one afternoon or evening.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

The Brute Man (1946)

** (out of 4)

Hal Moffat (Rondo Hatton) was once an up and coming doctor but he was brutally attacked and left as a deformed monster. Now with vengeance in his heart he sets out as The Creeper to seek revenge on those who left him in his condition.

Poor Rondo Hatton. You can read up on his medical condition, which led him to look the way he did but basically Universal exploited his looks and threw him into a number of their horror films over the last two years of Hatton's life. Hatton would end up dying before this film would be released and this would stand as his final picture.

I must admit that I have a hard time watching his films simply because of knowing his true story and it's pretty sad seeing him exploited. With that said, there's no question that he was an amazing presence on the screen and it's easy to see why the studio would want him in the movies. He certainly does a fine job here playing the victim as the studio obviously went for sympathy towards his character and threw in a subplot dealing with a blind woman, which seemed to be a wink back to the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

As far as the film goes, it's pretty much a routine horror film but at just under a hour it's certainly entertaining enough for what it is.

After reading many of the other reviews for this film , I just thought I would try to say a couple of positive things about it. For one if you,re a Universal Horror film completist like myself , it's a "must have" I realize the production values are somewhat low for Universal standards , thats why they released it as a "PRC" film , but hey! they were glad to get it. Secondly , It's actually a "prequal" to the film House Of Horrors , which is really a lot better film overall , and moves at the brisker pace you'd expect a Universal Horror flick to travel at. Third , It's got Rondo. Truly an unusual character to build a film around. He is now now a minor cult icon , and the inspiration of the Rondo Awards , that honor many different aspects of Horror & Sci-fi , by allowing us to vote online..All & All , I gave this one a 5 out of 10 mainly based on my great love of the classic Universal Horror films. Take a second look some evening , watch it with House Of Horrors. It's not all that bad.