In Case You Missed It: ‘The Bat’

P.S. After seeing ‘The Bat’ 7 out of 8 people will get cold feet tonight!

Okay, I’ve gotta be honest.  I don’t even know what that tagline for the 1959, murder mystery, ‘The Bat,’ means, but evidently it’s supposed to be menacing.  Much like a majority of the film.  It’s supposed to be foreboding and full of danger.  It’s not.  In the end, fun as it might be for the sheer entertainment value, ‘The Bat’ is nothing more than a stagy, hokey version of a story that had been twice before in the film world.

Based on the stage play from the 1920s, ‘The Bat’ tells the story of a masked killer who strikes his victims with steel claws.  Throw into a large mansion, a missing, million dollars,a mystery novelist, and about 84 secondary characters who serve one of two purposes (suspect or victim) and you’ve got yourself a pulp caper full of twists and turns.

Agness Moorehead turns in a commendable performance as the novelist,one of only two or three people who you know isn’t the killer.  She takes charge and makes every attempt at coming off as the film’s lead.   Unfortunately, she has Vincent Price to contend with, an actor who could find a way to work an Oscar nod into any one of Ed Wood’s films.  It really doesn’t matter the subject matter, Price always comes through with shining illustriousness.  Even subtle glimpses the actor gives towards the camera bring much more detail to any picture than what is already put forth from the filmmakers.  In ‘The Bat,’ he really plays just another suspect in the long line of possibilities.  He comes off as the film’s main suspect, but, being Price, he isn’t satisfied with his character being lumped in with a cast of dozens.  He stands out, and, in the end, both based on his performance and name recognition, he is the face that sells the film.

But don’t take anything away from director Crane Wilbur.  Working off his own screenplay, you get the impression Wilbur should have stuck to his duties behind the camera.  The script had already been put to film in 1926 (‘The Bat’) and 1930 (‘The Bat Whispers’), and, as a director, Wilbur had to work tooth and nail to get any kind of ingenuity into his film. He does so with an atmospheric look and an admirable pace that never leaves the viewer wanting more.  Even a few moments where The Bat appears from nowhere, sometimes silently behind someone, are rather creepy giving the film more of a slasher feel long before that genre was even named.  Much of where ‘The Bat’ succeeds is in Wilbur’s direction and the staggering performance by Price, because the screenplay is nothing to be appreciated.  Granted, this hindrance can also be placed at Wilbur’s feet, as his screenplay offers moments of unintentional hilarity and forced plot twists. This is noticed first and foremost in the end reveal as to who the killer is.  It’s both nonsensical and laughable, and you get the impression the screenplay was begun before even the writers knew who the killer would end up being.  In that, it’s not unlike the recent murder myster, TV show “Harper’s Island.”  At least with ‘The Bat,’ the story is over and done with in a matter of 80 minutes.

‘The Bat’ is the kind of film to keep you entertained on a quiet, Saturday evening.   There’s a reason it’s not as memorable as most of Vincent Price’s other vehicles.   It’s loaded with shoddy dialogue, nonsensical plot twists, and enough scenery chewing to make the Langoliers cry gluttony.   None of that stops the level of atmosphere the director puts into the film nor the always ingenuous and solid acting from Price.

Also, here’s the first 10 minutes of the film, just so you can sample the amazingly kitschy opening theme by Alvino Rey.