The Bat (1959)
Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a country house called "The Oaks", which not long ago was the scene of some murders committed by a strange and violent criminal known as "The Bat". Meanwhile, the house's owner, bank president John Fleming, has recently embezzled one million dollars in securities and has hidden the proceeds in the house, but is killed before he can retrieve it.
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After some ultra-cool opening theme music, THE BAT begins. When writer Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead- HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE) moves into a big, spooky mansion, she finds herself plagued by the titular killer. Why is this murderous maniac so interested in Cornelia's new abode? Can she and her kooky cohort, Lizzie Allen (Lenita Lane), figure it all out, before THE BAT swoops in to grab them w/ his steel claws? Not a bad mystery, w/ a dash or two of suspense, and some humor too! There's even a nice twist ending! Co-stars the one-and-only Vincent Price (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, PIT AND THE PENDULUM) as Dr. Malcolm Wells. Also co-stars an adult Darla Hood (yep, Darla from the LITTLE RASCALS / OUR GANG films) as Judy Hollander...
CAUTION: Plot spoilers present.Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder rents a mansion known as The Oaks in the countryside in order to commence work on a new novel. But what she doesn't know is that the Oaks' owner has stolen a million dollars' worth of bonds & hidden it in the mansion. But before he can retrieve it, he is killed by his good friend Dr. Malcolm Wells, who now must try to locate the loot & flee the area. But at the same time, a masked killer known only as the Bat has been seen in the area. Van Gorder has the suspicion that the Bat could be one of her guests staying at the Oaks. As they attempt to find the stolen bonds, Wells & the Bat both try to outwit each other & get to the loot first.The Bat was based on an old play that has been around since the dawn of the film age. It is also the last of the adaptations to have been done on the play. It has on board writer-director Crane Wilbur, who had done some thirty films, mostly unmemorable, & star & later horror icon Vincent Price.Like I mentioned above, The Bat was the last adaptation made on the play to date – and for good reason. The plotting is routine & the style made as if Wilbur was making a static play instead of a movie – the camera positions are static & there is rudimentary suspense. Some of the plotting leaves a bit to be desired – if you were to track the plot, there is a poorly implemented device where the Bat is hit on the head, only for both Price & the butler to be wounded – but not the real Bat. Indeed the scene where the Bat encounters Vincent Price in his lab is a bit of a disappointment, given that Price would have been a better villain than some usurper with a clawed glove & black gangster suit. Oh well Having said that, The Bat does have a slight glimmer of hope in it & has aged slightly reasonably better for today's audiences. Agnes Moorhead gives another of her classical performances, which has a certain amusement factor while Vincent Price is his usual self – all sinister & friendly at the same time, something that befits a horror icon such as he. If you dig old mystery thrillers from the 1950s, this one could be a safe bet for an interesting evening with friends. Remember to check your doors & windows.
Horrible crappy little low budget film. A female crime writer rents a mansion with a suspicious history to write a new novel. Meanwhile, said mansion owner steals a million dollars from his own bank and is murdered by Vincent Price for the money. He just has to find it, as it is hidden somewhere in the house. Meanwhile (again), a thief and murderer named The Bat is on the prowl in and around the mansion, also after the money. The story was pretty bland, the acting in some parts was so terrible it was weird (mainly the police detective) and I got too bored to watch to the end.
1st watched 12/25/2013 -- 3 out of 10(Dir-Crane Wilbur): Corny whodunit disguised as a horror movie with the king of the genre, Vincent Price, with the star billing. The movie is based on a play and the movie has that kind of feel to it in it's presentation. It starts as a mystery writer, played by Agnes Moorehead, rents out a house with a storied past as a vacation spot. It seems that a criminal called "the bat" has just murdered a couple of women there the last winter, and the being still seems to have some kind of control over it. The writer visits her bank and they discover there is a million dollars in securities missing while the president and his doctor is on a hunting trip. The doctor is the Vincent Price character and he decides to take things into his own hands when he discovers the president did the embezzling. This is where the plot and story gets very confusing as "the bat" starts showing up at the house all over again. Price's character just happens to study bats and he is thrown at the audience pretty blatantly trying to get us to believe he is 'the bat.' I will not reveal the true identity of the character(although I figured it out about 1/2 hour left in the movie) but I will just say that you probably won't care by the end of the movie. There were plenty of twists to the movie, but the real problem other than the bland acting was that it manipulates the audience and it's get boring very quickly. This is definitely an attempt at a different kind of horror/murder mystery but it falls pretty short of anything worthwhile.