Horror Classic 46 of 50: THE BAT
The Bat. It's a 1959 film starring Agnes Moorehead, which means it came a few years before her role as Endora on Bewitched, and several years before the pinnacle of her career when she played the Goose in the animated Charlotte's Web movie. It also features Vincent Price, as well as Darla Hood, best-known as Darla from The Little Rascals/Our Gang. She's all grown up here, which is strange, as it never occurred to me that the Little Rascals ever grew up.
But that's not the most exciting thing about the movie. The most exciting thing is that it's the 2nd film on Side B of Disc 11 of the 50 Movie Pack: Horror Classics. That means I only have 1 disc of 4 movies left to go!
Anyway. The movie:
Synopsis
Agnes Moorehead plays Cornelia van Gorder, a mystery writer who has rented a house called "The Oaks" for herself and her good pal Lizzy for the summer. In an early scene jam-packed with white-knuckle exposition, we meet Victor Bailey, the local banker; his wife Dale, and police lieutenant Anderson.
They're all happy to welcome Cornelia to their town, but everyone's a little nervous because of a serial killer called (you guessed it!) The Bat. He's described as "a man with no face" (Dude ain't got no face!) who slashes his victim's throats with his claws, and he probably has some connection to the rabid bats who have also been causing trouble.
Cornelia should have spent her summer somewhere else, somewhere without any bats. Does Idaho have bats? She should try Idaho.
Are you ready for more characters? Good. Vincent Price is Dr. Wells, who's hanging out in a secluded cabin with his patient and friend John Flemming, the president of the bank who also happens to own The Oaks. Flemming tells the doc a secret, and it's not "I know who has a crush on you." It's more like, "Hey, guess what? I stole a million dollars worth of securities from my bank and hid them. If we kill our hunting guide, you can put him in a coffin and tell everyone it's me, so everyone will think I'm dead. Then we can split the money and nobody will ever suspect me! Woo-ha!"
Wells has a different plan: He shoots Flemming. Ouch. That's the last time he'll ever tell a secret! (Of course it is; he's dead.) Meanwhile, the bank discovers they're missing a million, and Victor Bailey gets blamed for it and arrested. Tough break, man.
Cornelia and Lizzy have a rough night, during which a storm blows their suit of armor down the stairs, Lizzy gets bitten by a bat... and then The Bat (the killer, not the animal!) tries to break in. Eventually, Dr. Wells is summoned to look at Lizzy's bite. And guess what he's doing when he gets the call? He's experimenting on bats! He's totally the killer. Totally. Come on, he's Vincent Price.
Meanwhile, Mr. Flemming's nephew Mark reports to Lt. Anderson that they can't find any of his uncle's personal fortune. Where could it be? Hidden in the Oaks maybe? Maybe! Cornelia's writerly instincts kick in, and she starts writing a story based directly on the mystery that's unfolding around her.
She gets plenty of material to work with when the Bat breaks into her house one night and kills Mark. Yikes! The next night, Dale (Darla from the Little Rascals!) and her friend Judy (Spanky from the Little Rascals! Just kidding!) sleep over at The Oaks, which seems like a really dumb idea. The writers don't really even try to come up with a contrived reason to keep them there.
Predictably, the Bat waltzes into the house again, and this time he attempts to cut a hole in the wall of a spare room. He's caught in the act by the girls, one thing leads to another, and soon Judy is dead. Fingers are soon pointed at Cornelia's chauffer/butler Warner, who's been hiding the fact that he's been arrested for murder before.
Come on. The Bat is Dr. Wells. It has to be. Oh, wait. He just got killed... by the Bat. Nevermind. So who the heck is the Bat, anyway? Does he know where Mr. Flemming's fortune is hidden? And how many people will he kill before he finds it?
Is It Scary?
Kinda. The Bat is an effectively creepy villain. The black mask that covers his whole face is especially striking in dark, shadowy nighttime scenes. And somehow he seems more fearsome because he's not a slow-moving, hulking monster. He's just a man in a suit, and he moves through the house quietly and nimbly, effecient in his ruthless mission.
Also, a scene in which Cornelia gets trapped in a secret passageway all alone was pretty unnerving.
Body Count
Five onscreen characters, plus two Bat victims mentioned in the newspaper.
Lessons I Learned
- Don't continue to stay over at a friend's house when a serial killer who's still at large has repeatedly tried to break in. That's a pretty important lesson.
My Favorite Lines
- Dale: [Cornelia's last book] gave me the shivers!
Lizzy: Only the shivers? Scared the hell out of me! (They're allowed to say that in 1959?!)
- Lizzy: There's a storm comin' up, and it's gonna be a snorter!
- Dr. Wells, to Cornelia, on the night of Mark's murder: This has been a tragic house for anyone who's ever lived in it. [pause] Well, good night! (He's the least reassuring doctor ever.)
- Cornelia: No matter how clever you are... you can't hide murder!
• It's always nice to see competent filmmaking in one of these "horror classics." The Bat held my interest, and rarely gave reasons to mock it. Except... why did they stay in the house?
• An author who finds herself tangled up in a real murder mystery and takes it upon herself to do some investigating? Hey, Murder, She Wrote totally stole this movie's idea!
• A killer who wears a hat, has a frightening face, and kills using one clawed hand? Hey, Nightmare on Elm Street totally stole this movie's idea!
• I didn't really think Vincent Price's character would be the Bat, but I was actually pretty surprised when the Bat killed him.
• Agnes Moorehead has super-long hair in this. I don't think it was her real hair, but with one endless braid in the back, she looked kinda like Willie Nelson.
• When Lt. Anderson shows up on the night of Lizzy's bat bite, he says something like, "It looks like a TWO-legged bat got in!" But don't all bats have two legs?
• Cornelia is a smart lady who takes active steps to solve the mystery, rather than just a passive victim who screams a lot. I like her.
• If you want to know who the Bat was, give me a holler and I'll spoil the movie for you.
Letter grade for The Bat: B (B for Bat!)
Next film in the 50-movie set: The House on Haunted Hill
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