MST3K Week: The Brute Man

Welcome readers of the inane lunacy that is this blog to EVEN MORE MST3K Week!!!!

Tackling another Mike episode as the show had transitioned from Comedy Central to Sci-fi Channel during Season 7.  Frank Coniff (TV’s Frank) wanted off the show thus leaving Dr. Forrester to run the experiment with his retiree mother from Hell.  So kick yer shoes off, sit a spell and take in the splendor.  This is The Brute Man a.k.a. The Creeper, creeper, CREEPER!!!!

Mammy!!!

Spoiler, why the long face?

Season 7 Episode 2 brings us a lovely big screen event about the follies of college, the choices that were made and the repercussions to follow.    Invention Exchange has been abandoned for such time as Doctor Forrester really isn’t in the mood since TV’s Frank went to Second Banana Heaven and so he deals with his loathing of Mike and the bots and his mother Pearl moving in with him.

 Prior to the main movie the fellas have to endure a PSA short about The Chicken of Tomorrow.  A fascinating look into the raising and production of chickens and eggs for mass consumption… oh who the hell am I kidding?   Aside from the jokes; that short was duller than the white bread the writer was ingesting as he wrote that boring piece of tripe.  

Tom Servo, won't you come out of your shell?

And now we discuss the amazing cinematic main feature.  A story of life, loss and the ability to creep about town with a face bigger than a large mouth bass, The Brute Man tells the tale of a homicidal killer with a quick temper and a nasty pension for snapping his victims’ spines like so much kindling.  Our steadfast detectives are clearly on the case as the bodies keep piling up without them so much having a clue to why such violence is being doled out or what the connection each of these people means.   With the aid of the mayor’s office the cops have a largest dragnet since Joe Friday first prattled on and on and on.

Soon after the loss of a potentially fine delivery boy his boss seems to loathe, the police manage to link our killer with a former college students and a crippling accident that occurred to one of these college chums.  A dim light bulb goes off in the good captain’s head that this fella Hal Moffet might be The Creeper a.k.a. The Brute Man and preps a daring attempt to ensnare him…by smoking…a lot…really not a lot of action for our thriller protagonist there.   Evading the cops in a less than stellar neighborhood, the Brute is befriended by the most incompetent blind woman.  

Seriously, this woman hears next to nothing, he broke into her place 4 or 5 times and she picked up on not a thing.   Given the size of this guy and the fact his hideout was a fishing shack on the pier I am thinking the B.O. alone should give him away.

I have just a few fun facts of the film.   The obvious original title was The Creeper but PRC Pictures had not nailed down the rights to the name The Creeper and Universal Studios had already established a similar character played by the same actor Rondo Hatton.  Rather than alter the entire movie they simple changed the title card to The Brute Man.   The actor Tristram Coffin (ironically named as he was smoking through most of the film) doubled as the police lieutenant and the radio reporter for all the key plot points. 

Cripes buddy have a Tic Tac.

The Moffet jokes were a plenty as well as various comments about Rondo’s face suffering from a bizarre form of gigantism but overall there is more padding in this film than a freshman’s bra or a wacko basket.   This film just drags on and thankfully Mike and the bots were cruel to be kind to the audience as always.   The scene with the curmudgeon grocer and his poor door mat of a grocer delivery boy alone are worth suffering through this episode.