Movie Title: The Bat
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Writer: Crane Wilbur (based on the play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood)
Starring: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton, Lenita Lane, Elaine Edwards, Darla Hood, John Bryant, Harvey Stephens, Mike Steele, Riza Royce, Robert B. Williams
Review: Cornelia van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) has taken up residence in a spooky old mansion. The mansion's former owner was a banker who embezzled a large sum of money and stashed it somewhere on the property. Now it appears that a mysterious murder known as "The Bat" is stalking the sprawling manor in search of the hidden loot. Will Gorder and her guests find the money and survive to spend it... or will they fall prey to...THE BAT!?
The Bat is another film version of the rather startling play. With a title like that and having Vincent Price in a lead role you think you're going to get one kind of movie, but this time around you get a funny and menacing little movie that entertains while and keeps you in suspense as the mystery gets unraveled.
A lot of the movie does indeed feel like a stage play which definitely benefits the script. It is a rather silly premise with a few too many characters thrown in to keep you guessing who the true identity of "The Bat" really is.
The mansion set is foreboding and Vincent Price as Dr. Malcolm Wells adds to the tension by shifting from attentive to alarming like only he can. Agnes Moorehead, in one of her few starring roles is also wonderful as a mystery writer that seems to be living one of her own books.
The real highlight is the titular "Bat"-man. Dressed in all black, sporting a fedora, and fitted with ridiculously long razor sharp claws, this murderous monster is sinister, but absurdly memorable as he stealthily movies through the mansion and picks off our unsuspecting cast of characters.
I really enjoyed The Bat for its fun, theatricality, and Vincent Price chewing up the scenery. It's a kind of a silly-scary gem that was a staple of late-night TV, which makes it my kind of movie.
Fun Fact: The first of only two films in which Agnes Moorehead was the lead, the other being 1972's Dear Dead Delilah (1972). In this film she got second billing, but in "Delilah" she actually received top billing.