Despite its alternative title, 'House of Horrors', B-movie 'Joan Medford is Missing' isn't really a horror movie and it doesn't take place in a house: it's actually more of a crime thriller, and, for the most part, is set in the studio of struggling sculptor Marcel De Lange (Martin Kosleck), the apartment/studio of successful commercial artist Steven Morrow (Robert Lowery), and the dark streets of New York City.
When the latest work of penniless De Lange is mauled by cruel critic F. Holmes Harmon (Alan Napier), the artist goes to the docks to end his pitiful existence, but instead saves a life -- that of the wanted murderer known as The Creeper (last seen in the 1944 Sherlock Holmes adventure The Pearl of Death). Inspired by the man's unusual features (actor Rondo Hatton, who plays The Creeper, suffered from a hormonal disorder called acromegaly, which causes bones to increase in size), De Lange starts a new piece of work, but in addition to using his new found friend as a model, the sculptor also employs him as a weapon, tricking the brute into silencing his critics.
As the bodies pile up, Police Lt. Larry Brooks (Bill Goodwin) investigates, at first suspecting Morrow; however, pretty female art critic Joan Medford (who also happens to be Morrow's girlfriend) unwittingly leads the investigation in the right direction when she half-inches a sketch of The Creeper from De Lange's studio. Unfortunately, in doing so, she also makes herself a target of the over-sized spine-snapping psycho.
House of Horrors is, by and large, a predictable B-movie that delivers tepid thrills, with some whimsical interaction between Morrow and Medford. There is, however, one scene that stands out from the rest -- the brutal murder of innocent cheesecake model Stella McNally (Joan Fulton). Having introduced the leggy blonde beauty in several lighthearted scenes, and established her as the romantic interest for Lt. Larry Brooks, the film has the lovely lady killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's an unexpectedly shocking moment in an otherwise forgettable potboiler.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the delightful Ms. Fulton -- I'll never look at Sweet Sue in Some Like It Hot the same way again.
