Crypt of Curiosities: A Look Back at Universal’s Horror Films Featuring Rondo Hatton’s “The Creeper”
In the mid ’40s, the Universal Monsters were in a tough spot. Up until then, the ’40s had been a nonstop flow of sequels and one-offs, with an avalanche of Invisible Men, Draculas (Draculi?), and the odd Frozen Ghost here and there releasing at a steady clip. But this high release rate had made them stale, and by the time 1946 came around, the studio was in desperate need of a new, recognizable monster.
Enter Rondo Hatton. A journalist-turned-b-movie-bit-player, Hatton had been afflicted with acromegaly for most of his adult life, which enlarged his jaw and pronounced his forehead over the years. This distinctive appearance led to him being cast as nameless goons up until the ’40s, when he got his big, career-defining role as The Creeper.
Curiously, The Creeper’s first appearance wasn’t in a horror film at all. It was in The Pearl of Death (1944), one of the...
Enter Rondo Hatton. A journalist-turned-b-movie-bit-player, Hatton had been afflicted with acromegaly for most of his adult life, which enlarged his jaw and pronounced his forehead over the years. This distinctive appearance led to him being cast as nameless goons up until the ’40s, when he got his big, career-defining role as The Creeper.
Curiously, The Creeper’s first appearance wasn’t in a horror film at all. It was in The Pearl of Death (1944), one of the...
- 9/15/2017
- by Perry Ruhland
- DailyDead
This May brings a remake of early 80s all-timer, Poltergeist, the latest in a long (long) line of cinematic reboots, retreads and more. By now, the ubiquity of reimaginings has rendered their existence less of a transgression than ever, with Poltergeist barely getting anyone up in arms. At the same time, the concept of remakes is…
The post The Remake: 1946’s Strangler of the Swamp appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post The Remake: 1946’s Strangler of the Swamp appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 5/27/2015
- by Samuel Zimmerman
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Strangler of the Swamp
Written by Frank Wisbar and Harold Erickson
Directed by Frank Wisbar
USA, 1946
“Old legends – strange tales – never die in the lonely swampland. Villages and hamlets lie remote and almost forgotten. Small ferryboats glide between the shores, and the ferryman is a very important person. Day and night he is at the command of his passengers. On his little barge ride the good and the evil; the friendly and the hostile; the superstitious and the enlightened; the living and – sometimes – the dead.”
In Frank Wisbar’s Strangler of the Swamp, townspeople mourn the loss of members of the community who have died via strangulation. The deaths have caused a rift in the community. Some believe the rational explanation that people have died as a result of their own foolhardiness in the swamp. Others know better. They suspect that “The Strangler,” a ghost of an innocent man the town hanged,...
Written by Frank Wisbar and Harold Erickson
Directed by Frank Wisbar
USA, 1946
“Old legends – strange tales – never die in the lonely swampland. Villages and hamlets lie remote and almost forgotten. Small ferryboats glide between the shores, and the ferryman is a very important person. Day and night he is at the command of his passengers. On his little barge ride the good and the evil; the friendly and the hostile; the superstitious and the enlightened; the living and – sometimes – the dead.”
In Frank Wisbar’s Strangler of the Swamp, townspeople mourn the loss of members of the community who have died via strangulation. The deaths have caused a rift in the community. Some believe the rational explanation that people have died as a result of their own foolhardiness in the swamp. Others know better. They suspect that “The Strangler,” a ghost of an innocent man the town hanged,...
- 10/9/2013
- by Karen Bacellar
- SoundOnSight
Writer/director Drew Daywalt is no stranger to the independent horror world. In fact, a few of his projects have already shown up on other filmmakers’ lists, and during some Indie Horror Month interviews that will be running later this month, his name pops up frequently.
So when it came time to reach out to filmmakers for this week’s series of lists, we knew he needed to be a part of our celebration of the independent horror filmmaking spirit.
Daywalt is currently busy working on a new series for MTV called “Death Valley” but was kind enough to give us a quick list of some of his favorite indie genre gems when he had some downtime recently.
According to Daywalt, “These are my five indie horror films you need to see before you die. They're oldies, but that's my specialty, so I'll hang my hat on that. My five...
So when it came time to reach out to filmmakers for this week’s series of lists, we knew he needed to be a part of our celebration of the independent horror filmmaking spirit.
Daywalt is currently busy working on a new series for MTV called “Death Valley” but was kind enough to give us a quick list of some of his favorite indie genre gems when he had some downtime recently.
According to Daywalt, “These are my five indie horror films you need to see before you die. They're oldies, but that's my specialty, so I'll hang my hat on that. My five...
- 3/18/2011
- by thehorrorchick
- DreadCentral.com
The man who brought the world Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau, writer/producer/director Blake Edwards, has died at the age of 88.Born in Oklahoma in 1922, Edwards was largely raised by his mother and his stepfather, a film production manager, in what he later described as a seriously dysfunctional family. He eventually met his biological father, a former stage director, at the age of 40, but regretted the decision.His family moved to Los Angeles when he was three, and he attended Beverly Hills High before making a stab at acting in movies such as Ten Gentlemen from West Point, A Guy named Joe, Ladies Courageous, Strangler of the Swamp and Leather Gloves. But in 1946, he co-wrote the Western film Panhandle and produced it, nabbing a small role in front of the camera.Other early work included creating and writing radio series including Richard Diamond, Private Detective and The Line-Up. His film...
- 12/16/2010
- EmpireOnline
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