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The Brute Man (1946) is an exploitation noir-style civic horror B-feature in which social fears of deformity seem to come alive in the rather blunt capitalisation of the medical misfortunes of Rondo Hatton, some time proto-horror star and former journalist who found a career in film due to his unique facial features, which were the result of acromegaly. Hatton headlined horror films with Universal Studios near the end of his life, earning him a reputation as a cult icon.
In The Brute Man, Hatton plays Hal Moffet. He’s a handsome college athlete disfigured by a chemistry lab accident. Raging at the friend he blames for his misfortune, he sets off on a killing spree.
This neatly parallels Hatton’s real biography. He was once an athletic youth, but war and disease changed his body.
