Le masque

At least the third filmed version of story dealing with master criminal known as the "Bat" that steals and robs and kills. This version is probably the most brutal and certainly the most suggestive. Although shot on an extremely limited budget, The Bat is a pretty good little thriller, thanks in large part to the performances of Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead and a pretty good script. The story is one of those types that keeps throwing red herrings at you so you will have no idea who the real Bat is. I had no idea who the real Bat was. It also makes good use of a creepy old mansion and has some good comedic, subtle relief. Watch for Darla Hood of Little Rascals fame in a smaller role.

Fans of Vincent Price know and love him for his horror films and with a title like THE BAT, you'd think that this is a film about some evil murderous bat,...right? Well, despite the title, it's actually a murder mystery about some stolen stocks and the murders that occur to try to recover this fortune. For me, this wasn't a problem--it was still a pretty good film. But some will no doubt be disappointed that this isn't a horror flick.

Because this isn't exactly a horror film, it also isn't so surprising then that Agnes Morehead is the star of the film and Price is actually a supporting player. She is a mystery writer (like TV's Jessica Fletcher) and the mystery appears to be unfolding all around her. So, it's up to her and her small band of helpers to unravel who is dressing up in silly garb (the mystery person in a black hood refers to himself as "The Bat"--hence the title of the film) and killing people in the house Ms. Morehead is renting.

The film features decent writing and acting, but in many ways it's obvious that this was originally a stage production. This isn't a terrible thing, though the staginess of the film is apparent at times. Additionally, since the ladies inside the rented house were being constantly threatened, I couldn't help but think "why don't they just leave the house??!!". Duh. But despite all this, it's still a decent time-passer and worth a look.

Agnes Moorhead (Endora of "Bewitched" fame) is a sheer delight as a cagey old bird of a mystery writer, and Price is wonderful in his seemingly dual role. As has been lamented here before, the brevity of Price's screen time is somewhat disappointing but that is the only factor which disappoints.

I found this to be an inventive and disingenuous endeavor full of red-herrings and wrong turns. Figure this one out for yourself. Puzzle the clues, weed out the characters set here as distractions, look past the deliberate contrivances and solve the mystery on your own.

Excellent entertainment with a splendid darkling atmosphere which I found enormous fun to view. While this is not up to "Gaslight" or "Rebecca" standards, there are many worse ways to spend a late Saturday night, or a rainy Sunday afternoon.

It rates a 7.5/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Watch out for the red herrings, I was wrong. And I am very rarely wrong in pre-1980's whodunits. Grabbing this to watch early Vincent Price I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of thriller that could be produced with the technology. For those of you looking for the technological aspects of movies the lighting and shadow work was excellent. That and the sound-tract adds a lot to the overall feel of the movie. An added plus was Darla from "Our Gang" adding a cute bit part of the movie. Comletely gore-less, this movie actually does as promised and delivers thrills without blood. Something most modern movies cannot pull off.

Problems with the movie - First it has a nasty habit of just dumping information on you instead of making the viewer gradually learn what happens. Second as most 1950's horror fare it does have a tendency to drag on. But both of these can be overcome by what some previous reviewers call a confusing plot. Sorry guys, if you know whodunit at the beginning of the movie it is not worth watching.

Cornelia (Agnes Moorehead) is a mystery writer who temporarily moves into a mansion to attempt to get some work done. She later learns that the homeowner embezzled money and hid it in somewhere in the house. After he turns up dead, Cornelia and her houseguests find that someone knows about the money and will stop at nothing to get it. Could it be the notorious spikey-fingered murderer, "The Bat"?

This is a fun little mystery with a delicious performance by the always fabulous Agnes Moorehead. Vincent Price co-stars as the slightly creepy (of course!) town doctor. One of the most intriguing things about the movie is the refreshing treatment of the lead heroine. She has no love interest--something you don't see often in 50s horror movies. Her only reliance is upon her tough (and slightly butch!) maid, and her independence has garnered admiration by her female houseguests (one of which is played by Little Rascal Darla Hood).

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't really capitalize much on the potential of its "big creepy house with a claw-gloved murderer on the loose" premise, and seems to run out of fuel towards the end. Once the body count starts, the actors look like they couldn't care less. But overall, this is an enjoyable and often creepy mystery with terrific performances by Moorehead and Price.

My Rating: 6.5/10