CREEPING HORROR
Animal cruelty
RELEASED OUT NOW! 1933-1946 | 12 | Blu-ray Directors Edward Sutherland, Ford Beebe, George Waggner, Jean Yarbrough Cast Lionel Atwill, Dick Foran, Robert Lowery, Charlie Ruggles
BLU-RAY DEBUT Eureka Video’s latest pailful scooped from the seemingly bottomless well of the Universal back catalogue is by turns gruesomely macabre, tiresome and discomfiting.
The oldest of the box set’s four entries, 1933’s Murders In The Zoo, is the stand-out. Actually a Paramount production later acquired by Universal, it stars Lionel Atwill as Eric Gorman, a man so insanely jealous that he stitches up the mouth of a man with designs on his wife, poisons her lover using an imitation snake’s head, and finally tips her into an alligator pool. Anyone unaware of quite how grisly horror cinema could be before the Hays Code was strictly enforced will be left with their jaw hanging open.
Horror Island (1941) is an Old Dark House affair with the emphasis firmly on comedy. Concerning an excursion to a faked-up haunted house, it’s crammed with gimmicks like secret passages, trapdoors and suits of armour that fire arrows. Sadly such hi-jinks miserably fail to induce even the slightest twitch in your zygomaticus major, and the only mystery of any note – the identity of a cape-wearing “Phantom” – abruptly fizzles out.
Night Monster (1942) assembles an extensive ensemble at the home of the paralysed Curt Ingston (Ralph Morgan), providing a plethora of suspects as the doctors who failed him are strangled one by one. Leif Erickson impresses as a sex-pest chauffeur, while Janet Shaw steals the show as a wisecracking maid who quips there’s nothing wrong with him “a good case of rigor mortis wouldn’t cure”. Featuring matter materialisation and lines like “Well, dog my cats!”, this nutty riff on 1932’s Doctor X has its moments, but fails to deliver on the title’s promise.
Finally, House Of Horrors (1946) makes use of the acromegalic features of Rondo Hatton, as a sculptor manipulates his hulking “Creeper” into snapping the spines of art world enemies. The exploitation of Hatton’s medical condition doesn’t sit easily with contemporary viewers, though it’s interesting to note that in sculpted form at least his features are described in terms of their “strength” and “beauty”. He’s no actor though, and his lurking-behind-corners schtick soon wears thin.
The plotting is repetitive – director Jean Yarbrough sprinkles hotties throughout, as if fearful our interest may wane. But good work by Martin Kosleck as the vengeful artist and Virginia Grey as a sassy art critic ensure that the film intermittently sparks into life.
Extras All four come with new commentaries by expert pairings: Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby on Murders In The Zoo and Horror Island; Stephen Jones and Kim Newman on Night Monsters and House Of Horrors.
These chaps clearly know Universal’s output inside-out, and have done their homework too; Rigby’s nitpicking about the date on an invitation seen in Murders is impressively pedantic! Plus: two trailers; galleries; booklet. Ian Berriman
Irene Harvey, who played a shrink in Night Monster, was the mother of Jack Jones, who sang The Love Boat’s theme tune.