The bat

Year of release : 1959

 

Run time : 1h20min

 

Genre : Heist / Thriller / Mystery

 

Cast : Vincent Price

 

 

The movie is the 4th adaptation of the 1908 novel ' The circular staircase' by Mary Roberts Rinehart,which she later adapted into the 1920 play The Bat.

 

Mystery writer who rented a mansion to write her new story, ends up living in the kind of stories she writes for a living.

Cornelia is being told by her assistant and close friend her staff is planning on leaving her,as the mansion is haunted,and they are afraid of living there. And not just that, there's rumours of a serial killer,called The Bat, stalking the area, releasing rabid bats in the neighborhood, and they want out.

 

Flemming, the local bank president, where Cornelia has her money,is also the owner of The Oaks, the house she lives in. We find out he is in the woods for the whole summer with his doctor.

 

Flemming confesses to the doctor he stole over one million dollars in negotiable securities from the bank,and is willing to split the money with him, if he can help him stage his own death,meaning help him kill someone. He threatens to kill the doctor if he doesn't help. So the doctor kills him.

 

In town, The Bat, known for ripping women's throats with his claws, seems to have set his eyes on The Oaks mansion.

Being caught while trying to get in, the women call the police,and lock themselves into Cornelia's bedroom. The Bat releases a bat through the window above their door,which bites the assistant. Doctor Wells is called to treat the wound.

 

Anderson, the local detective,seems to be suspicious of Wells. He also seems to fail at protecting the women, as he and his police officers are never there when they need them.

The Bat comes and goes as he pleases into the house, and he even starts hammering holes into the walls,at night, while the women are sleeping,to find the stolen money.

 

The acting was fine,especially for that era. I particularly liked Agnes Moorehead,who played Cornelia.

 

The movie was at times cut weird, as in,in a scene they were in a certain place,doing something,and when they cut,to show us a different character in the same scene,they were somewhere else.

When the Bat kills people, they just stand there without putting a fight, letting him slash their necks,and it doesn't even look like his claw touched them,but they are dead. It looks like Play Pretend with adults instead of children.

There's a scene at the beginning, in which the man working at the bank invites his wife and police officer to talk privately, in an enclosure to a desk,as if if they talk inside the small fence,people outside it,and around them can't hear their conversation!

 

The movie is kinda like Panic Room (but Panic Room is much better),just that, the action takes place over many days,unlike in that one,in one night. This house also has a hidden room with no air.

 

I liked the mansion with its interior design,and the women's clothes.

 

I didn't like the soundtrack,which seemed made for a happy movie,not for a heist / thriller / horror.

 

You can watch the full movie for free,here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDfYhyhyCVE&ab_channel=CultCinemaClassics

 

Rating : Worth a watch !