A frightened housewife is alone in her apartment when she begins to suspect just about anyone could be the unknown killer who has been strangling women.A frightened housewife is alone in her apartment when she begins to suspect just about anyone could be the unknown killer who has been strangling women.A frightened housewife is alone in her apartment when she begins to suspect just about anyone could be the unknown killer who has been strangling women.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe newspaper Mrs. Stone is reading in the opening scene is The New York Chronicle, with the headline "East Side Killer Still At Large" and the subhead "Police Tag Killer of Two Women 'The Creeper'".
- GoofsWhen Ed turns on the radio in Ellen's apartment the sound comes instantly on. However in the days before solid-state electronics there was a delay for the vacuum tubes to warm up before the sound would come on.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Himself - Host: [Hitchcock is seen through the shape of a life-sized keyhole] Good evening, and thank you for peeping in at me tonight. I shall try to make it worth your while. Now, if you will look through the keyhole with your other eye...
[hangs up an eye-chart. The camera zooms in through the keyhole]
Himself - Host: Excellent. Thank you. Incidentally, those of you who think these letters don't spell anything couldn't be more incorrect. The last line was copied from an old insurance policy. Now that we are all in focus, I should like to make a few preparatory remarks about tonight's librette. It is called "The Creeper," and is about a person who had a very peculiar way of striking up an acquaintance with women: He killed them. A distinctly antisocial tendency, for it never leads to any lasting friendship.
- ConnectionsRemade as Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Creeper (1986)
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
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.
- glitterrose
- Jul 12, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1