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26 reviews in total

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21 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
How To Get Away With Murder, 4 April 2006

Author: mbuchwal from United States

It is rare for any film to present so human a portrait of a villain and still succeed in warning the audience so effectively. See "The Brute Man" and you will beware the murderous psychopath who disarms his victims by preying on feelings of sympathy.

Rondo Hatton, better known for his role as the "Creeper" in the Sherlock Holmes movie, "The Pearl of Death," also plays the Creeper here – this time without Sherlock Holmes – but with such a depth of feeling that audiences more accustomed to hating and fearing monster-murderers may feel pity for the vengeance minded killer instead.

Only in the movie "Freaks" has any actor exploited his unusual appearance to such telling effect. Without makeup, Hatton plays very true to life as the hot tempered college football star Hal Moffett – maimed in a laboratory accident – who decides to take deadly revenge upon the friends he irrationally blames for his disfigurement.

Even though the grotesque drifter's bloody scheme is terrifying, antihero Moffett never seems like a purely evil monster. He is like a misguided adolescent driven mad by his misfortune and his own unyielding character, obsessive in the drive to heal his injured vanity by acts of desperation.

As masterfully lensed under the direction of Jean Yarbrough, Hatton's performance is outstanding, even by comparison to other horror movie legends; Hal Moffett/The Creeper may possibly have been his greatest role. Yet "The Brute Man" was conceived as a modest little shocker, was made on a low budget and is today not very well remembered even by nostalgia-minded critics. Perhaps that is because "The Brute Man" seems contrived to exploit the commercial successes of "The Pearl of Death," "City Lights" and "Phantom of the Opera," from which it derives some of its main story elements (including the sentimental scenes with the blind girl and the theme of disfigurement and revenge). There is, however, no cheating in the use of classic ideas; they are combined so craftily as to create a new legend of Gothic significance and intensity, one which is also true to historical accounts of murder and realistic in a frighteningly everyday way.

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19 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
An Extremely Well-Made Little B Picture, 13 November 2007

Author: ferbs54 from United States

Guys, the next time you look in the mirror and don't like what you see, try telling yourself that at least you're not Rondo Hatton. Hatton suffered with the congenital disease acromegaly, which, as Webster's puts it, is "chronic hyperpituitarism marked by progressive enlargement of hands, feet and face." He lived to the age of 52, being felled by a heart attack shortly after making his last film, "The Brute Man," in 1946. This is an extremely well-made little B picture, featuring fine acting by all, a compact story and some real suspense. In it, Hatton plays a former college BMOC who became disfigured after a lab accident and who, years later, begins a murder spree against all his former pals and teachers that he blames for his current condition. He also befriends a pretty, blind piano teacher, who naturally doesn't recoil automatically from the big lug's unique physiognomy. These scenes, with big Rondo and the blind woman, will likely cause most viewers to recall Frankenstein and the blind hermit in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), just as his later sacrifices on her behalf are reminiscent of Chaplin's for his blind flower girl in "City Lights" (1931). No, "The Brute Man" is not nearly in the same league as those two immortal classics, but still remains a fine entertainment nevertheless. "Frankenstein" makeup man Jack Pierce contributed his great talents to this film, too, making Hatton (I would imagine) even more of a sight than he was ordinarily. It's hard to feel much sympathy for Rondo's "Creeper" character, cold-blooded psycho that he has become, but somehow, we DO still feel some, to the actor's great credit. Oh, by the way, this DVD looks just terrific; an absolutely first-rate transfer from the fine folks at Image Entertainment.

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19 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
The final film of a man who proved that being different is not for sissies., 8 February 2001
Author: jim caviness from USA

This is the final film for Rondo Hatton, who suffered from acromegaly, and was employed in Hollywood increasingly as his disease progressed, just as Hedy Lamarr was used as her beauty increased. The plot is simple: a bright handsome young man is turned into a monster by an accident causing malfunction of his pituitary gland. His disease exacerbates his natural inclination to impulse and temper. As in the Frankenstein myth, his ugliness causes rejection by almost every one he meets. At any clear sign of revulsion, he kills. As in the Frankenstein movie, he receives unconditional acceptance only from a blind musician. At this hint of what life could have been, he softens. But the Hollywood ending cannot be. Rondo, who started in movies in 1930, was routinely used as a homely/ugly bit. The revival of horror films brought him a natural chance for stardom. Movies released in '44, '45, and '46 (the year of his death), had him appearing as The Creeper, in lead or featured parts. In the The Brute Man, he plays that part as it parallels his own life, and he is remarkably good, fully showing the good and the bad of the character. It is the faint spark of human needs that touches us, and it makes it possible to see the real ugliness of the beautiful actors cast to support him. But it is not a welcome message. The production is of course on the cheap, but with a lot of attention to detail, especially the waterfront hovel, his hideout, and the downscale apartment of the blind girl, his only other haven. Brando, in The Men, at the beginning of his career, and Rondo, in The Brute, at the end of his career, show us that being different is not for sissies, only with Brando you get the Hollywood ending.

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21 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Meet The Creeper!, 11 October 2005
Author: VicCasey from United States

Rondo Hatton is my hero. Who cares if he wasn't a classically trained actor?! As The Creeper he tugs the heart-strings like a pro! He's got heart! He's got soul! He's got courage! He's also damned likable! Rondo is also one hell of a hero. Rondo took the crummy hand that fate dealt him and played it magnificently. He became one of the most endearing and cool anti-heroes of all B-moviedom! To experience Rondo Hatton as The Creeper is to experience pure magic! I watched horror movies as kid and always loved "the monster". A good "monster" gets my vote every damn time. The Creeper fits that bill perfectly and better than most. The Creeper is one of my all time favorite fright flick anti-heroes. GOD BLESS YOU RONDO HATTON!

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15 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Rondo Hatton's Finest Hour, 6 September 2009

Author: scott-palmer2 from United States

Rondo Hatton was a former reporter who began acting in films in 1930 when he was covering a film being made in Florida. During the 30s and 40s he was mainly seen in small roles, often as hulks, due to his large body size and the fact the he had contracted acromegaly after being gassed during the first world war. In 1944 he was cast as The Hoxton Creeper in a Sherlock Holmes film, The Pearl of Death, and achieved brief stardom-or at least cult stardom-until his early death from a heart attack at age 52 in 1946 (he had suffered a milder heart attack the previous year as a direct result of his condition).

In this, one of his last films, not only does Hatton get the starring role, he has a great deal of dialogue and proves that he could be a good actor when given the chance. It is unusual for audiences to feel as much sympathy for a killer-especially one who has killed several times-but we do for Hatton. His scenes with Jane Adams, playing Helen, the blind piano teacher, are especially moving. Helen sees the inner man without being able to see the physical one, and although as I said he's a killer he gives the impression of a very human, tragic figure. Helen wants to touch his face, but he won't let her; this gives one a strong impression of a mirroring of the life of the actor himself. Just like the character he plays, Rondo Hatton was an athlete when younger, and excelled at football.

All of the cast play their parts well. Donald MacBride, frequently cast as the dumb cop, plays a very canny and intelligent one here, and he's ably supported by Peter Whitney-looking handsome and slim!-as Police Lieutenant Gates. The photography is well-done-especially considering the budget (or lack thereof) and there are some nice angles and lighting, especially when Hatton is prowling around the city.

Note: This film was actually made at Universal, who sold the rights to it to PRC shortly after it was completed (and Rondo Hatton died).

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18 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Beware of the Creeper, 23 February 2006

Author: Chris Gaskin from Derby, England

For such a low budget movie and from PRC as well, The Brute Man is quite good.

As a result of an experiment going wrong at university, Hal Moffat becomes disfigured and some years later, starts killing people. His victims include a grocer's delivery boy and a jeweller. He makes friends with a blind woman but nearly kills her after shopping him to the police and is arrested in her home after she set him up.

The Brute Man is shot well in black and white and is certainly one of the better efforts from PRC.

I've never heard of any of the cast in this, with Rondo Hatton in the title role.

This is worth checking out. A good way to spend an hour one afternoon or evening.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Not The Worst You Could Watch, 1 September 2005

Author: monsterlover58-1 from United States

After reading many of the other reviews for this film , I just thought I would try to say a couple of positive things about it. For one if you,re a Universal Horror film completist like myself , it's a "must have" I realize the production values are somewhat low for Universal standards , thats why they released it as a "PRC" film , but hey! they were glad to get it. Secondly , It's actually a "prequal" to the film House Of Horrors , which is really a lot better film overall , and moves at the brisker pace you'd expect a Universal Horror flick to travel at. Third , It's got Rondo. Truly an unusual character to build a film around. He is now now a minor cult icon , and the inspiration of the Rondo Awards , that honor many different aspects of Horror & Sci-fi , by allowing us to vote online..All & All , I gave this one a 5 out of 10 mainly based on my great love of the classic Universal Horror films. Take a second look some evening , watch it with House Of Horrors. It's not all that bad.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Back-breaking work..., 7 July 2010

Author: poe426 from USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

While it's by no means a classic of any kind, THE BRUTE MAN nonetheless rates a look- primarily because of its star, Rondo Hatton. Soft spoken and intelligent, he gives an understated performance that, in its own limited way, rivals that of Charlie Chaplin in CITY LIGHTS. I cite the Chaplin movie only because of the similarity in the storyline: both deal with men who fall for blind women (both of whom need "an operation" to restore their sight) and fear that, once able to see, the women will reject them (Chaplin because he's down and out, Hatton because he's "disfigured"). The direction as well as the supporting performances are something less than stellar (this is the guy who gave us the motionless picture SHE-WOLF OF London, one of the biggest cheats to come down the pike since MARK OF THE VAMPIRE), but Hatton as "The Creeper" comes across as somewhat sympathetic- especially when the blind girl attempts to touch his face: he turns away abruptly, and one can't help but factor his action(s) into his Real World experiences.

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Rondo Hatton is the Brute Man...aka the Creeper!, 16 April 2012

Author: Aaron1375 from Alabama

This film is about a disfigured man out for revenge and a little company that will not be scared of his hideous face. Well, it is not all that bad, granted he would have a hard time getting a date and all, but it is not as if puss is pouring from open wounds or anything. Well, this creeper as he is dubbed by the police is on the prowl. Why the film is called the brute man when he is never referred to as such is beyond me. My guess, to many movies already called the creeper, perhaps? Well he has to ditch the police and stumbles across a blind girl who treats him kindly and he likes that so he makes a friend. This does not stop him from killing as he must get revenge and when you see how he was disfigured you can sort of understand where his anger is coming from, but he is still rather overzealous in his pursuit for revenge. Of course, the blind girl makes him shift from revenge to killing people so he can get her nice things, including a chance at sight again. The film does make one feel a bit of pity for the title character, but then it does not. He is basically a product of his own temper yet he feels the need to blame everyone, but himself. The film also kind of ends suddenly, granted it is a bit resolved, however it is still a bit unique to see it end in the fashion it did.

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The Brute Man, 15 April 2012

Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Solid chiller, capitalizing on the popularity of Rondo Hatton's creeper character made popular in the Sherlock Holmes classic, "The Pearl of Death", has The Creeper on the rampage breaking the backs of those he deems responsible for his facial abnormalities, which occurred when a college rival infuriates his temper (both were affectionate for a beauty in their same graduation class) causing a mishap in the chemistry lab. The police have a city-wide manhunt in place, with lots of pressure on Captain MJ Donelly (Donald MacBride) to find The Creeper with the public in a state of panic, the psychopath a media sensation, making all the headlines. The police continue to have a black eye with the city mayor becoming more and more frustrated the longer The Creeper remains at large and not arrested. The possible key to The Creeper's capture is his utter hatred for the former rival, Clifford Scott (Tom Neal) and his wife, Virginia (Jan Wiley), the two he especially holds responsible for his ugly facial scars. Hatton's Hal Moffet was once a rising football star and Clifford was his scholarly tutor, both in love with Virginia. However, Clifford was the man she was in love with and the nerd made sure Hal got placed in the lab thanks to a failing grade. Jane Adams (the lovely hunchback nurse who met a gruesome fate in "House of Dracula") has a crucial role in the potential apprehension of The Creeper as a blind piano instructor he falls in love with (she cannot see his face, therefore does not frighten at his hideous visage). The Creeper wants her to get an eye operation and will try to finagle money from Clifford, with problems ensuing…

Like other movies in the same vein, "The Brute Man" sympathizes with a beastly man suffering from the unpleasantness of fate, whether it is a hunched back, ugliness in appearance, or some other bodily malformation that horrifies "normal society". While acknowledging his crimes and not making excuses for them, this film still empathizes with Hatton's grotesque features (not exactly a comment directly from me, but just in the way movies imply how unpleasant he looks), and having him befriending a kindly blind woman who probably would not judge his looks if she had sight just further elaborates a sense of mourning for his predicament, asking us to at least invest emotionally in the way society cringes at his presence, screaming out instead of simply listening to him before doing so. Still, he kills a woman who cries out because she feels threatened and a teenage grocery courier, so Hal isn't a completely sympathetic figure; he's a bonafide killer who needs to be taken off the streets. This movie definitely has the look and feel of a Universal Studios release, with Hatton's involvement a major factor in its appeal to fans of classic horror. Not deserved of such a low rating, I think "The Brute Man" is worthy of discovery.

It is so tragic that Hatton did not live long enough to see how much people enjoyed his brief work in the movies--yes, his condition was exploited in a manner that turned him into almost a sideshow, but I think "The Brute Man" establishes that the actor could in fact earn pathos instead of just walking around as a hulking brute destroying people.

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