A while back, I bought this 50-movie set, Sci-Fi Invasion, for five bucks. That adds up to ten cents per movie. Who doesn’t love Vincent Price? His 1959 film The Bat is considered a classic by many, and it’s next on the list. Let’s watch it!

Here’s what happens: A mystery writer and her friend are worrying about rumors of a ghostlike, faceless figure called “the Bat,” running around killing people. Meanwhile, a doctor, played by Vincent Price, gets into a criminal scheme involving a million bucks hidden inside a dead man’s grave.

Speculative spectacle: While there’s some talk about the Bat being a ghost, it’s evident early on that it’s a man in a mask, and we’re in the midst of a crime story, not a haunted house story. 

Sleaze factor: None, other than everybody’s criminal scheming.

Quantum quotables: Crook: “What would you do for half a million dollars?” Vincent Price: “Anything… short of murder.”

What the felgercarb? The writer’s friend is named Liz Allen. Peter Parker had such a crush on her before he started dating Betty Brant.

Microcosmic minutiae: It’s a remake! The Bat began life as a play in 1920, with the first film version in 1926, a second in 1930, and then this one.

Worth ten cents? The movie can’t really hide its based-on-a-play roots, as it’s mostly talky and stagey. The creepy atmosphere it’s famous for doesn’t really come up until the end.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.