The Bat

This 1959 murder mystery resurrects the oft-filmed titular 1920 stage play by Mary Roberts Rinehard and Avery Hopwood, serving up low-budget horror in the vein of William Castle's movies, right down to the casting of Vincent Price as a medical doctor and prime suspect. Price receives top billing, but Agnes Moorehead is the real star as Cornelia Van Gorder, a murder mystery novelist who goes to a summer home that turns out to be "haunted" by a mysterious killer known only as the Bat. When the local bank is robbed of $1 million in bonds and the bank president (who also owns Cornelia's rental) goes missing, the killings begin again, as an increasingly larger number of suspects converge on the home in hopes of finding the stolen money. Director Crane Wilbur lets his stars ham it up just enough to give the film personality and he maintains a snappy pace as the deaths pile up. While no horror classic, The Bat is fun and Moorehead and Price are quite entertaining. Long available on poor quality discs, this public domain title debuts on Blu-ray in a well-mastered transfer from a high-quality 35mm print in its proper widescreen aspect ratio. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)