The Creeper

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.

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.

Don't expect to see cat people or people turning to a cat then killing others because it's not really like that. This one tries to be more of a sci-fi film noir rather than a sci-fi horror.

The idea behind the film is good, there are some alright scenes but not what one would expect from a "horror" film like this. It does get suspenseful at times however. And the ending was a huge let down, not at all what audiences that would watch this type of film would care to see.

Onslow Stevens made this film better than what it really is with his presence. He is fun to watch in horror films usually.

Overall it's a let down film that has a few good moments within it.

3.5/10

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Jean Yarborough; Executive Producer; Ben Pivar; Produced by Bernard Small for 20th Century-Fox release. Screenplay by Maurice Trombagel; Photography by George Robinson; Edited by Saul Goodkind; Music by Milton Rosen. Starring: Eduardo Cianelli, June Vincent, Onslow Stevens, Janis Wilson, Ralph Morgan, John Baragrey, Philip Ahn, Lottie Stein, Richard Lane, David Hoffman and Stuart Holmes.

Fairly uninteresting 1940s horror film with a typically mysterious creep creeping about in the shadows, and attempting to make everyone feel creepy.