Director: Jean Yarbrough
Writers: George Bricker, M. Coates Webster
Stars: Rondo Hatton, Tom Neal, Jan Wiley
Run Time: 58 Minutes
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2RipHNM
Synopsis
There’s a radio call, and the police respond. There’s been a murder. We see the Creeper slinking away before the cops arrive. He hides in the bushes and pops out to meet Joan, who doesn’t recognize him when he says he’s Hal Moffat. She screams as he breaks her back.
He runs, and the police pursue him. He climbs up a fire escape to get away from them, and crawls into an apartment where he hears piano music. A woman named Helen lives there; she’s a blind piano teacher. She’s very nice and tells the police there’s no one else there. He escapes with her help.
Moffat orders food delivered, but when the delivery boy gets nosy, the Creeper takes care of things. The police haven’t got a clue, and the commissioner is pointing a finger at everyone else. The police investigate the missing delivery kid, and they find a bundle of news clippings about the young, good-looking Hal Moffat.
The police question Clifford and Virginia Scott, who were also named in the news clippings. Hal Moffat was their friend back in high school. They haven’t seen him since college, when something happened to Hal. In the last year of college, he was a huge football hero. The two guys were both in love with Virginia. Cliff changed Hal’s chemistry paper to cause him to fail, so Hal had to stay after school working in the chemistry lab. Hal had an accident there that disfigured his face. The police warn Cliff that the Creeper might be coming for him.
The Creeper kills a jeweler, as he tries to buy a gift for Helen the blind woman. The two really hit it off; he likes her, and she likes him as well, not being able to see his face. Helen mentions that she might be able to see if she had an expensive operation.
That night, the Creeper breaks into Cliff and Virginia’s house. Virginia doesn’t recognize him either. Hal doesn’t kill them, but instead asks for money or jewels. Cliff shoots the Creeper, but the Creeper crushes the life out of Cliff. He gives the jewels to Helen, who goes to pawn them. The pawnbroker recognizes that they were stolen and calls the police. Helen tells the police everything.
Hal the Creeper returns to Helen’s apartment to kill her for telling on him, but the police grab him instead.
Commentary
I don’t know if this has been restored or not, but the copy we watched was really clear and sharp and had excellent sound. Rondo Hatton has a lot of lines in this one, and he’s a lot more sympathetic than in his other films.
This is a prequel to “House of Horrors” which released the year prior to this one, and was also Rondo Hatton’s final film– he died before this one was released. It’s my opinion that “House of Horrors” was a better film, but if you liked that one, then you probably ought to watch this as well; it’s very similar in lots of ways.