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Simply A Masterpiece

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Cat's are uncanny creatures, what with their vertical pupils and all that sneaking around. It's no wonder they were thought to be witches' familiars.The eponymous creeper here is the name of a black cat that's kept as a pet in the laboratories of -- well, some organization that uses cats as experimental animals. The labs are supposed to be developing phosphorescence for humans. It must make them glow in the dark, and it's strongly opposed by the flashlight lobby who claim it causes mental retardation.The central figure is Janis Wilson, a kind of executive secretary, who has only recently recovered from a fever that's left her kind of cockeyed. She has dreams of cats. Cats chase her, they try to crawl through her window. And one night her Daddy is clawed to death. Wilson is found unconscious nearby with Dad's blood on her hands and under her fingernails. That is, we are asked to believe that Dad just stood there and allowed himself to be shredded by the unexceptional nails of his diminutive, whey-faced daughter.I was keen enough to doubt it at once. In fact, I also disregarded Eduardo Cianelli as a suspect, another white coated scientist in the lab, because he frowns all the time, he's too taciturn, grumpy, and sinister looking. My suspicions after the first twenty minutes turned to a woman scientist, June Vincent, and for excellent reasons -- she seems interested in the handsome boyfriend of Wilson's, and because she reminded me of my fourth ex wife. No, there was no doubt in my mind.By the half-way point it's a rather ordinary B-level murder mystery. I guess there are certain echoes of Val Lewton's work at RKO. The lighting isn't put to such adventurous use and the effects are pedestrian, but the cat theme that pervades the story is certainly from "The Cat People." The performances are perfunctory and, alas, the woman at the center of it all is one of the weaker actors. She gives good scream though. Onslow Stevens is the young man. He has a voice made for radio.This is one of those movies in which all the PhDs address each other as "doctor." But PhDs always put such formalities behind them. Nobody calls Tom Wolf Dr. Wolf, although he has a PhD in American Studies from Yale. Plain Rachel Maddow has a D.Phil. from Oxford. Plain Bill Cosby has a PhD from Temple. The man from Uncle has a PhD from USC.And this is some laboratory these doctors work in. At night, the lab is dark except for a desk lamp that casts spooky shadows around and turns faces into Halloween masks.As it turns out, I was wrong in pinning the murder on the jealous woman. It's unusual because I've only been wrong once before in my life. That was when I thought I was wrong but I'd been right all along. At any rate, I don't see how this could usefully be compared to Val Lewton's work. His movies were tiny near-masterpieces, while this one lacks any poetry at all.

The face of the cat takes a demonic turn in this spooky supernatural thriller which takes a different turn than Val Lewton's two "Cat People" movies from earlier in the 1940's. Troubled doctor's daughter Janis Wilson is plagued with nightmares involving black cats, and has been found walking in her sleep by her father (Ralph Morgan). The use of dreams and fantasy sequences makes this quite memorable and creates quite a mystery. At times, you don't know if Vincent is actually wide awake or dreaming, and the use of this makes the psychological terror very effective, even when the sequences become a little faded, blurry or dizzying. Eduardo Cianelli makes an enjoyable villain with veteran Morgan adding to the suspense as a concerned father who seems to know more than he should about the truth of what's going on. Moody and poignant, this has been overshadowed by the films produced by Val Lewton which it emulates. Perhaps a re-discovery of some of these lost classics would give classic horror movie buffs a new appreciation of the more obscure of which this is one of many.

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.