The Bat Movie Review

The Bat is a 1959 thriller directed by Crane Wilbur and starring Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead and Gavin Gordon.

The movie begins at a house called The Oaks which is owned by a man called Fleming. He works at a bank and he has stolen money. He is on a weekend away with his pal Dr. Wells(Price) and he confides in him about stealing the money and hiding it somewhere. Wells is surprised at this and he listens as Fleming concocts a plan to fake his own death. Wells wants the money and he shoots Fleming and makes it look like an accident. Meanwhile, an mystery author called Cornelia Van Gorder(Moorehead) has moved into the house and is leasing it from Mark Fleming who is the nephew of the dead Fleming. She has her servant Lizzy with her and some other servants.

There is a killer lurking around called The Bat. He is called that because he he has no face and claws made of metal. He kills women. Lizzie and Cordelia are a tad nervous in the house alone. They hear noises as a man fitting The Bat's description tries to break into the house. A hand breaks through the glass and he lets himself in. Lizzie and Cordelia barricade themselves into the bedroom but The Bat releases a bat into the room and freaks them out. Lizzie gets bitten and they call Dr, Wells to help her. He comes and The Bat escapes. Lieutenant Anderson(Gordon) comes over to investigate and the two women tell him what happened in the house. He searches the house but the killer has left. Anderson looks around Dr. Wells' place and he sees a lot of bat related things which makes him wonder.

DR. Wells and Cornelia wonder if Fleming had hidden the money in the house. They want floor plans and Mark Fleming comes over to the house to find them. He meets The Bat and gets killed. Cornelia decides to write a book based on The Bat case. She has two women staying with her, Judy and Dale.
They all look through the house and find a secret door. Mark's body is in there. They call Anderson and he comes over with Wells. Anderson seems suspicious of Wells. Later, The Bat gets into the house once again and the phone line is cut. Dale and Judy go up to the attic and they startle The Bat. He knocks Judy over and heads off.

Cornelia decides to investigate herself. She finds a hole in the wall and it leads to an airtight room with a safe in it. Wells finds The Bat at his place. He is going to frame Wells. They fight and Wells gets shot dead. Cornelia ends up locking herself into the room and she is running out of air. The two girls and a detective called Davenport find her.  They turn off the light to let The Bat think that there is no one in the room. He takes the bait and comes into the house. They hide and he comes in. The butler, Warner is with the women too. Davenport tackles The Bat and gets killed. Warner tackles him and manages to shoot him dead. He is revealed to be.....Lieutenant Anderson!!!! The movie ends with Cornelia finishing her book on The Bat. She says to the audience that 'You can't hide murder.'.

This was an old fashioned mystery story which I loved. It was well directed and the cast were perfect in their roles. Price was very good as the shifty Dr Wells and Moorehead was excellent as the headstrong Cornelia. I liked the story and I liked wondering who The Bat was. I had it wrong as I assumed that it was Dr. Wells, but I love a good whodunit. It was a fun movie which I really enjoyed and I am really glad that I watched it. I would definitely recommend this to any Price fans or lovers of mystery tales. This gets a 7/10.