Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

One of my all time favorites.

Great Film overall

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Sometimes, the background story of a certain film production is more interesting than the actual film itself. This is definitely the case here. "The Brute Man" and the more or less simultaneously produced "House of Horror" both star Rondo Hatton and only got released after his death at the age of 51. Hatton suffered from Acromegaly, a terrible illness which caused for the bones in his body to deform badly. As an effect from his Acromegaly, Hatton looked like an authentic boogeyman without make-up and thus he quickly got typecast as monstrous and merciless killer, like The Creeper in the two aforementioned titles. Allegedly the good people at Universal Studios became so ashamed and remorseful about exploiting Hatton's looks and condition that they decided to sell the rights of "The Brute Man" to an inferior yet more unscrupulous production company. Is it immoral and completely insensitive to cash in on the physical handicaps of actors and deliberately use their disfigurements to frighten viewers? Yes, probably… On the other hand, it was Hatton's looks that put the food on the table during the last years of his life and made him a cult monument. If he was a "regular" actor, Hatton would have been long forgotten, but now – more than sixty years after his death – he's still a genre legend almost as famous as Boris Karloff or Lon Chaney even though he starred in a lot less films. "The Brute Man" on itself, with its running time of barely 1 hour, is actually a very passable and unmemorable film. Hatton stars as Hal Moffat, but the tabloids and news bulletins baptized him as The Creeper. Moffat is out on a vengeance spree to kill all the people that he holds responsible for the chemistry lab accident that mutilated his face. Whilst on the run for the police, he breaks into the apartment of blind but beautiful and gentle piano teacher Helen Paige. Since she can't see his face and refuses to judge him, a tender friendship develops between them. The plot – as far as there is one – makes very little sense. The film somehow wants us to believe that Hal Moffat is basically a good and gracious person who got wronged by various opponents. But, quite frankly, what happened to him at school is ludicrous and he was responsible for his accident himself. Also, even though he's being sensitive and warm to Helen he still continues his murder spree and also kills innocent people like grocery delivery boys. The police hunt for The Creeper is dull and the entire story is pretty much told in a mere ten minutes.

****SPOILERS**** Introduced as the notorious "Creeper" in the movie "House of Horrors" Rondo Hatton, due to popular demand, is back for an encore appearance in "The Brute Man". It's there where we get to see what caused this man to turn into the monster that he became due to a chemical accident while in collage. The "Creeper" was in fact handsome collage football star Hal Moffat, Fred Coby, who's friend Cliff Scott, Tom Neal, played a prank on him causing him to fail his chemistry class. That ended up leading to his tragic, in mixing the wrong chemicals after classes, accident that changed his handsome looks for the worst.Despite the "Creepers" brutal string of murders during the movie, where Scott was one of them, he's given a sympathetic side in falling for the blind piano player Hellen Paige, Jane Adams. It was Hellen who save him from being arrested by the police by hiding him in her apartment. The fact that Hellen wasn't able to see him and how hideous he looked was the only reason she wasn't afraid of the guy. This has the movie take on a "City Lights" like story with the "Creeper" going on a new murder spree just for him to get the money that Hellen needs for an eye operation to restore her sight. In the end the "Creeper" turns on Hellen herself in feeling that she betrayed by ratting him out to the police which she, in finding out that he's a serial murderer, reluctantly did.This turned out to be the last movie that Rando Hatton made released some seven months after he passed away. In fact the two films that established Hatton as the horror star that he was to become, "House of Horrors" & "The Brute Man", came out after his death making him a movie icon for generations of movies fans to come like the late rebellious and teen anti-hero actor James Dean. Who also became famous, some ten years later, after his signature film "Rebel without a Cause" as well as "Giant" were released after his death that catapulted him to movie super stardom.

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).

Before I begin talking about BRUTE MAN, there's some important information you should know about the star of the film, Rondo Hatton. Earlier in life, he's led a rather normal existence, though he later developed acromegaly--which caused his features to become disproportional and deformed. He was truly an ugly man in need of work and Universal Studios thought he'd be a natural to play monsters, as he needed no makeup. Considering how exploitational this seems, I couldn't help but feeling sorry for the guy and thinking about this throughout BRUTE MAN. As a result, though it wasn't a bad little B-film, I couldn't really enjoy it very much. I felt like a customer at a freak show, gawking at this poor guy.As for the film, it's a very short and not especially memorable suspense film. A guy was disfigured in a laboratory accident and since then, he has been rather indiscriminately killing people. The police dub him "The Creeper" and despite being exceptionally noticeable, the police have a heck of a time catching him.The acting is fine and the production is fine--not distinguished but acceptable for a B. However, as I said above, I had a hard time enjoying it knowing that around the time the film was completed, Hatton died from his illness.