... in spite of the fact that he is top billed, so if you come to this expecting trademark Vincent Price spooky goodness - big doses of that distinguished but raspy voice, that duplicitous smile - then look elsewhere. If you want a good murder mystery then this is a pretty interesting one.
(SPOILER) I watched this, and about twenty minutes in realized I was watching a remake of the early talkie "The Bat Whispers" - well, actually both are based on the same source material. There are some basic differences though.
The setup is this - Murder mystery author Cordelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) has decided to reside for the summer at The Oaks - estate of bank president John Fleming. Fleming had been away in the north woods on a hunting and fishing expedition with his physician, Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price). However, Fleming dies while on vacation in a forest fire, and his nephew and heir, Mark, says there is no reason to change the arrangements for the author renting out the estate.
But Van Gorder's staff deserts her save her loyal maid. The reason is that a homicidal maniac - The Bat - has become active again, and has been sighted in areas around The Oaks. His MO is that he rips the throats out of women. An intertwined plot is that one million dollars in negotiable securities have been stolen from the local bank, and a young employee of the bank has been arrested for the crime, although protesting his innocence. The bank will be declared insolvent if the money cannot be found.
So one "dark and stormy night" the maid and Van Gorder, while alone in the house, get a visit from someone who appears to be The Bat. But there seems to be method in his ordinary madness. This guy is not just here to rip out throats, although he ultimately does some of that. He is up to something else as well, but what? Van Gorder puts on her mystery author hat and tries to find out why. There are numerous suspects - there is a servant who turns out to have a record, some wonder if Fleming is really dead, the doctor seems to turn up whenever The Bat is around, and so does Lt. Anderson of the local police, who - after every thorough search he does - seems to turn up no sign of The Bat. What is going on here? Watch and find out.
I liked this one because, for a poverty row production, you have two very good actors - Price and Moorehead. Moorehead reminds me very much of Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote. She is determined to use the logical and creative skills that she uses in mystery writing to solve an actual murder mystery. One great improvement over 1930's The Bat Whispers is that the maid, although she adequately voices her fright over the situation, is not having the completely annoying and distracting 90 minute conniption fit of the corresponding character in the 1930 film. What is not so good? There are a couple of plot holes you could drive a truck through. One non spoiler one is this - Why was the Bat happy with killing random women for years and now is turning to a more complex crime? This film never really answered that question.
(SPOILER) I watched this, and about twenty minutes in realized I was watching a remake of the early talkie "The Bat Whispers" - well, actually both are based on the same source material. There are some basic differences though.
The setup is this - Murder mystery author Cordelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) has decided to reside for the summer at The Oaks - estate of bank president John Fleming. Fleming had been away in the north woods on a hunting and fishing expedition with his physician, Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price). However, Fleming dies while on vacation in a forest fire, and his nephew and heir, Mark, says there is no reason to change the arrangements for the author renting out the estate.
But Van Gorder's staff deserts her save her loyal maid. The reason is that a homicidal maniac - The Bat - has become active again, and has been sighted in areas around The Oaks. His MO is that he rips the throats out of women. An intertwined plot is that one million dollars in negotiable securities have been stolen from the local bank, and a young employee of the bank has been arrested for the crime, although protesting his innocence. The bank will be declared insolvent if the money cannot be found.
So one "dark and stormy night" the maid and Van Gorder, while alone in the house, get a visit from someone who appears to be The Bat. But there seems to be method in his ordinary madness. This guy is not just here to rip out throats, although he ultimately does some of that. He is up to something else as well, but what? Van Gorder puts on her mystery author hat and tries to find out why. There are numerous suspects - there is a servant who turns out to have a record, some wonder if Fleming is really dead, the doctor seems to turn up whenever The Bat is around, and so does Lt. Anderson of the local police, who - after every thorough search he does - seems to turn up no sign of The Bat. What is going on here? Watch and find out.
I liked this one because, for a poverty row production, you have two very good actors - Price and Moorehead. Moorehead reminds me very much of Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote. She is determined to use the logical and creative skills that she uses in mystery writing to solve an actual murder mystery. One great improvement over 1930's The Bat Whispers is that the maid, although she adequately voices her fright over the situation, is not having the completely annoying and distracting 90 minute conniption fit of the corresponding character in the 1930 film. What is not so good? There are a couple of plot holes you could drive a truck through. One non spoiler one is this - Why was the Bat happy with killing random women for years and now is turning to a more complex crime? This film never really answered that question.