Rating: 
Summary: Another Vincent Price Gem
Review: 1959's "The Bat" is one of my favorite Vincent Price flicks. To be sure, it's campy as all get out. But, what the heck...it's fun as all get out too!Agnes Moorehead, as always, is just perfect in her role here as a mystery writer who rents an old, creaky mansion, which comes complete with invading bats and a fortune in hidden loot! "The Bat" has the "feel" (to me anyway) of a William Castle picture. Although this one is not a Castle creation. It was directed by Crane Wilber. This film is ideal video material for late on a stormy night. * 4-and-a-Half Stars *
Rating:
Summary: Another Vincent Price Gem
Review: 1959's "The Bat" is one of my favorite Vincent Price flicks. To be sure, it's campy as all get out. But, what the heck...it's fun as all get out too! Agnes Moorehead, as always, is just perfect in her role here as a mystery writer who rents an old, creaky mansion, which comes complete with invading bats and a fortune in hidden loot! "The Bat" has the "feel" (to me anyway) of a William Castle picture. Although this one is not a Castle creation. It was directed by Crane Wilber. This film is ideal video material for late on a stormy night. * 4-and-a-Half Stars *
Rating:
Summary: Another Vincent Price Gem
Review: 1959's "The Bat" is one of my favorite Vincent Price flicks. To be sure, it's campy as all get out. But, what the heck...it's fun as all get out too! Agnes Moorehead, as always, is just perfect in her role here as a mystery writer who rents an old, creaky mansion, which comes complete with invading bats and a fortune in hidden loot! "The Bat" has the "feel" (to me anyway) of a William Castle picture. Although this one is not a Castle creation. It was directed by Crane Wilber. This film is ideal video material for late on a stormy night. * 4-and-a-Half Stars *
Rating:
Summary: "No matter how clever you are, you can't hide murder."
Review: Even way back in 1926, they were making re-makes of films. This story was told in two silent films in 1915 and 1926. Then when putting sound into film was invented, they made another "Bat" film for 1930. Thank goodness by 1939, film became more advanced to make GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) and The BLUE BIRD (1940).
In 1959, they gave "The Bat" a full black & white treatment. They cast the master of macabre, Vincent Price and the stunning Agnes Moorehead (whom you remember in Who's Minding The Store [1963] and the "Bewitched tv series [1964-72]). Darla Hood plays "Judy Hollander". You recall Darla Hood from the Our Gang/Little Rascals short films.
Agnes Moorehead (as "Cornelia Van Gorder") is a novelist who lives at The Oaks. The Oaks is a mansion. She has heard the haunted house stories of the place, but she thinks they are ridiculous. meanwhile it has just been discovered that the town bank has been looted of millions of dollars in securities. One customer's bonds were being held there as colateral for a loan. Those bonds are gone. They want to reach John Fleming (Harvey Stephens), but he is in the woods with Dr. Wells (Vincent Price) and they can not be reached. In the woods, Fleming tells Dr. wells that he embezzled the millions from his bank that he works at. They also discuss a possible hidden room in The Oaks mansion and faking Fleming's death so he can make his getaway. So who do they murder for the body? Suddenly, they open the door to see the woods are on fire. At The Oaks, a storm is brewing, the lights are out. There's a man trying to get in the mansion.
That is just for starters. The suspense is compelling!
This DVD contains only a chapter selection.
Rating: 
Summary: He had no face! He had claws! He is a master thief!
Review: I've got the Bat on DVD and it runs fine it's not none of these DVD's though it's 2pack with the Bat and The House on Hanted Hill both run fine. I liked this movie from the beggening I saw the Bat in appear in the film. Now did you know that the Bat was one fo the insperations of Batman? Yes he is, if he were a foe aganst Batman he whould be a tough one to beat for he preaty much is Batman gone bad. He can sneak into anyplace, he's long gone before the police arrive, he's a master crook, and his secret identaty is most shocking. This is a fantastic movie!
Rating:
Summary: He had no face! He had claws! He is a master thief!
Review: I've got the Bat on DVD and it runs fine it's not none of these DVD's though it's 2pack with the Bat and The House on Hanted Hill both run fine. I liked this movie from the beggening I saw the Bat in appear in the film. Now did you know that the Bat was one fo the insperations of Batman? Yes he is, if he were a foe aganst Batman he whould be a tough one to beat for he preaty much is Batman gone bad. He can sneak into anyplace, he's long gone before the police arrive, he's a master crook, and his secret identaty is most shocking. This is a fantastic movie!
Rating:
Summary: WHEN IT FLIES SOMEONE DIES!
Review: In this whodunit Agnes Moorehead is the protaginist. Price the shifty eyed doctor obsessed with bats, cast enough furitive glances to implacate him when in fact he is not the killer. I got this in a triple feature dvd and I love it.
Rating:
Summary: A good suspense mystery!
Review: Some people might think that this is one of those blood and guts types of films, but actually it's more of a suspenseful mystery than a horror film. There are murders, but nothing bloody or stomach turning. Even people who aren't big on mystery films will enjoy this one. Agnes Moorehead shines as an eccentric writer who rents a spooky mansion, unaware that there's a fortune in stolen money hidden in it. Murder and mayhem erupt when a masked killer called "The Bat" tries to retrieve the money at any cost. Vincent Price turns in a good performance as the local doctor. The photography and setting may seem primitive, but it works to the film's advantage in creating a spooky atmosphere. This movie was tastefully made and with stars like Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price, how could you go wrong? Give this one a try!
Rating: 
Summary: The Bat has great cast, great atmosphere.
Review: The Bat is a remake of the 1930 film "The Bat Whispers"--which itself was a remake of the silent film "The Bat". This version has the benefit of Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead leading the cast. Price is a writer who comes to spend the summer at a spooky mansion. A hooded, steel-clawed killer known only as The Bat is terrorizing the locals at the same time. Director Crane Wilbur builds great atmosphere and fans of the genre won't be dissappointed. The DVD is full-frame, with good but not spectacular audio.
Rating:
Summary: Things That Go Bump in the Night.
Review: They brushed the dust off the creaky old Mary Roberts Rinehart story, and produced this minor league suspense flick at Allied Artists. No doubt, Vincent Price had marquee value, but his role is of lesser note in the plot. Agnes Moorehead dominates the movie. She leases the spooky old mansion and murder follows. Moorehead was in her pre-Endora glory in this flick. As mystery writer Cornelia van Gorder, she is by turns comic and abrasive. Overacting is plentiful. As Moorehad wanders the mansion on the night of the murder, she wears diaphanous sleepwear and displays some surprising decolletage. The heaving bosoms at Hammer Films have nothing on old Agnes. Some of the other casting is just as quirky. Darla Hood, of all people, shows up in an adult role long enough to get bumped off by The Bat. She would have been better off hanging out with Spanky and Alfalfa down at the old clubhouse. Gavin Gordon (Lord Byron in "Bride of Frankenstein" prologue) plays the hapless police inspector. Lizze Allen (Lenita Lane, if it matters), Cornelia's housekeeper, goes around calling her "Miss Corny" amidst double negatives. There is a lot of screaming on dark and stormy nights. The Bat prowls around in a fedora, dark head mask, and wearing gloves with steel claws. Necks are crushed and then lacerated. This was years before mad slasher flicks. This flick shows some early potential, but eventually settles back into a so-so low budget mystery thriller. From this point, you are on your own. ;-)
| 
