6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a country house called "The Oaks", which not long ago had been the scene of some murders committed by a strange and violent criminal known as "The Bat". Meanwhile, the house's owner, bank president John Fleming, has recently embezzled one million dollars in securities, and has hidden the proceeds in the house, but he is killed before he can retrieve the money. Thus the lonely country house soon becomes the site of many mysterious and dangerous activities...
Starring: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton, Lenita LaneHorror | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
As is gotten into in some of the appealing supplements included on this release, The Bat has had a venerable history, both as a literary property, a piece for the legitimate stage, and with a handful of cinematic adaptations to boot. Noted mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote a story which was originally serialized (as was often still the custom in the early 20th century) before making it to hardback as The Circular Staircase in 1908. The enormous success of that book helped to establish Rinehart as a mystery writer of note, and really in a way as a major precursor to a certain woman named Christie or something like that. Rinehart herself decided to adapt the book for the stage, and 1920's The Bat was the result, once again generating huge amounts of income for Rinehart and her husband, who had pretty much mortgaged their future on the production. Kind of hilariously, though, once film adaptations starting entering the fray in 1915 (prior to the play adaptation), things started getting dicey for Rinehart in terms of who really had the underlying rights to the story, whatever it was being called. This kind of ended up backing Rinehart into a corner for a while, forcing her into the probably untenable position that The Bat was in fact not based on The Circular Staircase, in spite of manifest evidence to the contrary. If that particular brouhaha ultimately died down, film adaptations of The Bat (and/or The Circular Staircase, of course) kept on a-comin', to the point that this 1959 opus is actually the fourth big screen version, after 1915's The Circular Staircase, 1926's The Bat and 1930's The Bat Whispers. The vintage of those three previous versions may indicate that, despite being ostensibly "modern" or at least mid-century-esque, The Bat is pretty resolutely old fashioned.
The Bat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As usual, The Film Detective doesn't provide any technical information, though it's notable that several online sources cite this film as having entered the public domain. Whatever element here was either in or restored to good shape, but this is another release from The Film Detective that has been shorn of virtually all discernable grain. Despite the fact that this definitely has more of a modern day digital capture appearance in terms of a sleek, smooth surface, detail levels are actually surprisingly good quite a bit of the time. Fine detail on costumes is appealing, and things are clear enough you can easily make out freckles on Moorehead's forehead, especially in some of the close-ups. Similarly, the frayed edges of the stocking The Bat has pulled over his head are precisely offered. That said, this has a somewhat soft and video-like appearance, which I'm certain will be off putting to many. Damage is really slight in any case, and contrast and black levels are consistent.
The Bat features a DTS 2.0 Mono track which is probably perfectly supportive of the film's unambitious sound design. A kind of semi-hilarious score weirdly blends swingin' nascent rock 'n' roll infused big band charts with what also sounds like a pedal steel giving an almost Hawaiian tinge to things, believe it or not. Dialogue (including some establishing voiceover by Moorehead), occasional hysterical screams, and other sound effects are delivered without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.
- Suspense, November 12 1943
"The Strange Case of Charles Umberstein" (HD; 29:13)
- Suspense, June 1, 1944
"Fugue in C Minor" (HD; 29:37)
- Suspense, September 12, 1946
"Hunting Trip" (HD; 29:51)
- Escape, January 31, 1950
"Present Tense" (HD; 29:27)
- Escape, March 17, 1950
"Three Skeleton Key" (HD; 29:26)
- Escape, June 30, 1950
"Blood Bath" (HD; 29:27)
- Theatre of Romance, October 9, 1945
"Angel Street" (HD; 24:48)
- Hollywood Star Time, May 19, 1946
"The Lodger" (HD; 29:48)
- The CBS Radio Workshop, April 6, 1956
"Speaking of Cinderella" (HD; 29:20)
The Bat has moments of near whimsy, and it's of course a lot of fun to see Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead paired, but things are curiously listless throughout this enterprise, and probably most problematically, they're never very scary or mysterious. This is still an intermittently interesting effort, if for no other reason than to see how that manly camper Vincent Price washes dishes when he's out in the wild. Video looks like, well, video but still retains some decent detail levels, while audio is lossy but still functional. The supplements on this disc are all well done and fun, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
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