The Creeper

Who cannot resist anything with a title such as that? On paper, "The Creeper" definitely did sound like it would be a creepy episode. And 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' had proven in some previous episodes that it could do creepy and even chilling very well, especially in "Breakdown". This is Herschel Daugherty's second episode after "The Belfry", which was very good and one of the better episodes of Season 1 despite its too low rating.

"The Creeper" manages to be even better than that episode, and is one of the best episodes that Daugherty directed for 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. Along with "Breakdown", "The Case of Mr Pelham" and "And So Died Riabouchinska", "The Creeper" is one of the best episodes of Season 1 and also one of the creepiest. Definitely living up to the episode title. A truly wonderful penultimate episode to the season and would have been just as fitting as a final one.

So much is done right and brilliantly so. It is one of the best looking episodes of the season, with some genuinely eerie lighting in particular standing out and the photography has a noir-ish quality. The main theme is still wonderfully devillish and Hitchcock's bookending goes down a treat, proving that the man of suspense was as good at ironic droll humour as he was at suspense.

Daugherty ensures that the suspense does not slip. The dialogue is lean and thoughtful, without rambling or being melodramatic. The story is very suspenseful and full of truly creepy atmosphere, the ending is chilling. Personally did not see it coming, due to it doing so well at diverting suspicion at more than one character.

Constance Ford gives a most persuasive performance, with her breakdown being harrowing and moving. Personally didn't think it was overdone, even if the performance is not a subtle one which fitted her character. Harry Towne manages to make something nuanced and complex out of a character that doesn't sound easy to like and even easy to downright hate. His facial expressions are very telling.

Overall, brilliant. 10/10.

The Creeper is a solid episode from the first season of the half-hour Alfted Hitchcock Presents series. I've heard it done as a radio show and it worked well in that format. It also works nicely on television.

A killer is on the loose in a low rent neighborhood of Manhattan during a heat wave. His victims are blonde women and no one knows what he looks like. He could be anyone. The story focuses on a squabbling couple, a laborer husband, and shows the stress that his blonde wife is under when he leaves for work one day.

An older woman in the building is of little help. She offers to stay with the younger woman but her basic obnoxiousness if off putting. The young wife passes. Then a friend of her husband turns up and starts giving the housewife a hard time (they'd apparently dated prior to the woman's marriage to her current husband). The friend, a journalist with some inside knowledge about the case, is too weird and aggressive to be good company, and besides, his presence is unsettling. Off he goes.

What transpires afterward, while I wouldn't go so far as to say it was telegraphed early on, certainly comes as no surprise. This kind of suspense tale is as a type as old as the hills. One doesn't watch such things to learn about human nature or expand one's horizons intellectually and emotionally. The central conceit is far from brilliant. It's appeal, it's considerable charm, is watching how it's done,--well or badly, stylishly or ponderously. I'd say that The Creeper is far more stylish than ponderous. It's helped by its director, the capable Herschel Daugherty, and by its small cast. The Creeper isn't one of the sharpest or best written Hithcock half-hours but it's competent and satisfying for those who liked a good chill but who don't want to want to catch pneumonia.

Sometimes this offering is hard to watch because of the frantic, neurotic presence of the principle character. We know that there has been a silent killer around, so we're immediately aware that this guy is going to make his presence known at some point. The director does a good job of presenting us with a host of possible killers while keeping the tension up. Even the lady across the hall is a true virago who passes judgment on any woman who gets killed. She feels that if you get yourself killed, you probably deserved it. I alway wonder why people can be so careful on the one hand and so stupid on the other. Also, the husband must a long suffering type who puts up with his wife's problems. I guess we all know what is going to happen and wait to watch it. There are so many who come and go in the apartment that the security is worthless. There's that funny little man with the whiny voice, the jilted boyfriend, the man at the hardware store, the man at the shoe repair shop. It builds suspense nicely.

Ellen and Steve live in a New York neighborhood that is being terrorized by a strangler known only as The Creeper. When Steve goes to work on the night-shift, Ellen becomes increasingly frightened and keeps asking the hardware store to have a bolt and chain installed on her door as soon as possible. While waiting for this to happen, she starts to suspect everyone she encounters could be The Creeper.

A killer at large story is involving, quite suspenseful and well-acted. It differs slightly from its remake in that it features more talking, building up the scenes and emphasis on the main character's fear. Constance Ford is convincing as the wife fearing that the creeper can be anyone. Every person she sees she suspects might be the fiend.

We have three main characters for this story. Ellen is our lead. Ellen's married to Steve. She used to go out with Ed.

Ellen's been having a rough go of it lately. She's been having problems with her nerves and this Creeper business isn't helping matters any. The Creeper is going around killing blonde women. Ellen's a blonde and she's really on edge. I don't think she had much of a support system around her. I can see it from both points of view. My guess is it must be exhausting married to somebody like Ellen. But I also say it must be exhausting to be married to somebody like Steve as well.

Steve didn't get the raise he wanted and took his anger out on Ellen. Although I'll admit Steve did admit he took his anger out on Ellen when he was talking to Ed and Steve thought he was doing Ellen a favor when he sent Ed over to the apartment to stay with Ellen while he was at work.

Let's get back to the anger. Steve also tells Ellen to pick up a pair of shoes for him. Ellen does try and get the shoes but they're not ready yet. You just have to feel for the lady because she's afraid to go out and just seems to be afraid and paranoid of people. It's not clear if her feelings stem from her past illness, if she's that paranoid of possibly any man she meets being the Creeper or if it's a mixture of both. The man she's talking to about the shoes asks for her address and he'd drop them off when they're ready. Ellen is suspicious about giving out her address.

Ellen also shares the apartment building with a mean, judgmental lady. You'll definitely see her in action in a couple of scenes. One almost wishes the Creeper had went after this lady, considering her nasty attitude. She's not afraid of this Creeper business. She puts the blame on the victims. These women that got themselves killed must've been doing something to ask for getting killed. Decent women don't go and get themselves killed.

Another scene with this neighbor involves when Steve sent Ed to the apartment to keep Ellen company. Ellen and Ed rehash the past on why she left him. She saw the cruelty in Ed. Even the games he came up with as a child were cruel. Well, Ed's got an axe to grind against Ellen and he torments her while he turns the radio up to a very loud volume to drown out Ellen's frightened screaming. Thankfully Ellen can get rid of Ed because the janitor came to the door because people were complaining about the noise. Ellen clearly wasn't having fun times with Ed but that didn't stop Ellen's judgmental neighbor from making snide remarks.

I should mention that the theme running through this episode involves Ellen wanting to get another lock put on the door. Ellen ended up calling a locksmith because nobody else would do it for her. Ellen's phone is ringing and it's Steve. The two chat for a bit when there's a knock at the door. It's the locksmith. Steve frantically tells Ellen the police suspect a locksmith is the one doing all these murders. And it's true because Ellen manages to cry out Steve's name before the Creeper kills her.

Again, this is a very interesting story and would recommend you give it a try.