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10
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Dull.
Stale. Contrived. Boring. That, folks, is The
Bat in a nutshell. I'm a big Vincent Price
fan but even his special brand of velvet villainy
can't energize this 1959 clunker.
The third film adaptation of the Hopwood-Rinehart
stage play, The Bat
is a mystery melodrama in the tradition of The
Cat And The Canary and The
Old Dark House. It centers on Cornelia Van
Gorder (Agnes Moorehead), a celebrated crime novelist
who's rented a rural mansion, The Oaks, for the
summer. Not long after settling in her servants
up and quit, unnerved by rumors of a maniac killer
who terrorized the area in the past. Dubbed "The
Bat" by the local press, the killer is reported
by witnesses as a "man without a face" who uses
steel claws to rip out the throats of his victims.
Cornelia is more bemused than alarmed by these tales,
chalking it up to small town media sensationalism.
Her faithful maid Lizzie (Lenita Lane), one of only
two servants to remain at the house, takes the stories
more seriously. But for now The Bat remains a phantom
fear — the town has a new crime story to gossip
about.
The amiable, well-liked assistant
manager of the local bank has been charged with
embezzling $1 Million in negotiable bonds, though
no money has been recovered. At the same time his
boss, the bank's director, is reported killed in
a forest fire by Dr. Wells (Price) when the physician
returns alone from a hunting trip the two men went
on together. Not coincidentally, a shadowy figure
with claw-like hands is spotted creeping around
The Oaks, frightening Cornelia and Lizzie into summoning
the police for protection. The friendly Detective
Anderson (Gavin Gordon) promises to keep the house
under nightly surveillance to prevent a return visit
by the intruder.
Unbelievably, Cornelia and Lizzie remain at
The Oaks and even invite guests over while the mysterious
Bat remains at large. Demonstrating an inordinate
interest in the house, The Bat outwits the police
again and again to gain entry; clearly, he's searching
for something hidden inside. Credulity is stretched
beyond the pale when two visitors to the house are
murdered by the masked killer — one, a young woman
(Darla Hood), in full view of Cornelia and Lizzie
— yet the writer and her maid STILL don't leave.
Cornelia, in typical Murder, She Wrote fashion,
is intent on solving the mystery. Obviously the
missing money is what The Bat seeks. But who is
the killer? The curious Dr. Wells (who happens to
be engaged in some unusual experiments with bats
— the flying kind)? Warner (John Sutton), Cornelia's
new chauffeur and the only servant besides Lizzie
who didn't flee the house? Someone else? Will
the viewer even give a bat's ass?
I sure as hell
didn't. It was quite a chore just staying conscious,
much less involved. No two ways about it, The
Bat is dull as dishwater. This thing was
already a hoary old chestnut when filmed back in
'59, much less by today's standards — now, it's
practically farting dust. The low budget and stodgy
direction only exacerbate the stilted script, betraying
the film's stage play origins in the worst possible
way. (I want to see a movie, damn it, not
a community theater production.) The mystery, such
as it is, is pretty dumb. The pool of suspects consists
of all of three people; the killer's identity is
fairly obvious, along with the requisite red herrings.
Consummate pros Vincent Price and
Agnes Moorehead, try as they might, just can't add
any luster to this tired snoozer. Price is essentially
wasted here, stuck in a more or less generic role.
Even his most ardent fans will be left unsatisfied...
despite the riveting dish-drying scene. |
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| There
are actually a number of different versions of The
Bat on DVD —
the film's copyright has apparently lapsed into
the public domain. This is the widescreen edition
released by GoodTimes Entertainment, which specializes
in 'bargain bin' budget titles (The
War Lord, Kingdom
Of The Spiders). The transfer seems to be culled
from an OOP laserdisc. Consequently, audio/visual
quality is quite good for such a cheap DVD, though
there's some faint 'ghosting' evident in a number
of scenes. Alas no extras, not even a trailer. 12/23/02 |
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