Bat, The (1959)

... aka: A Mansão do Morcego (The Bat's Mansion)

... aka: Das Biest (The Beast)

... aka: Garras del murciélago (Bat Claws)

... aka: Il mostro che uccide (The Monster That Kills)

... aka: Le masque (The Mask)

... aka: Ölüm Saçan Yarasa (The Deadly Bat)

... aka: Vampyren (The Vampire)

... aka: Yön pahat silmät (Evil Eyes of the Night)

Directed by:

Crane Wilbur

Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Circular Staircase was first published in six parts in All-Star Weekly magazine in 1907, with a novelization following in 1908. The book was popular, so a (now-missing) silent film adaptation was made by Edward LeSaint in 1915. Though the film received middling to poor reviews, Rinehart decided to expand her property by purchasing back the rights and adapting it into a three act stage play. Utilizing the services of co-writer Avery Hopwood, alterations were made to the book's plot and it was re-titled The Bat; taking its namesake from a newly-added villain created specifically for the play. Rinehart and her husband themselves personally financed the play, which ended up paying off when it debuted in 1920 and became a huge hit with both critics and audiences alike. In America, it ended its initial run as the second longest-running play in Broadway history. There were road company productions that traveled the U.S. and it even made it overseas to London, where it was also a success. When all was said and done, the play was estimated to have grossed (according to an ad seen below) around 10 million dollars.

Due to its popularity, it's no surprise then that there were numerous film versions. The first, The Bat, came in 1926 from director Roland West, which was a box office success and praised by critics of the day. Just four years later, West remade the film again under the title The Bat Whispers (1930). This version was extremely innovative for its time, not only for being one of the first talkies but also for its widescreen photography (not at all common back then) and use of multiple cameras, crane shots and dollies for fluidity. Technical influence aside, it also made an indelible impact on pop culture when Bob Kane took inspiration from it for a comic book character he was creating. You've probably heard of him before: Batman.

There wouldn't be another filmed adaptation until 1956 (not long after a 1953 revival of the play), this time for the CBS TV series Climax! Directed by Ralph Nelson (who'd go on to direct Sidney Poitier in the Oscar-winning Lilies of the Field in 1964 and later made EMBRYO with Rock Hudson) and starring starred Judith Anderson, Kathleen Crowley and a young Kevin McCarthy, this episode is currently m.i.a. and is likely gone forever, though it leads us right up this fourth official version of The Bat. The following year, the story was back on TV as part of The Dow Hour of Great Mysteries; this time starring Helen Hayes and Margaret "Wicked Witch of the West" Hamilton. Finally, it became the basis of the German TV movie Der Spinnenmörder / "The Spider Killer" (1978), which was incidentally that last credited adaptation of any of Rinehart's work.

Famous murder-mystery novelist Cornelia van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) rents a huge, remote mansion called The Oaks for an entire summer so she can get some work done. The place is spooky enough to provide the perfect ambiance for a horror writer just the way it is... and that's not even factoring in the home's sordid recent history! Just a few months earlier, a serial killer called "The Bat" murdered some people there and then vanished. And he / she / it / whoever is still out there. While that doesn't deter Cornelia, it does freak out her staff. Local gossip about recent "Bat" sighting have driven the butler, cook, maids and nearly everyone else away. Well, everyone except for Cordelia's faithful assistant of twenty years, Lizzie Allen (Lenita Lane, the director's wife). Cornelia and Lizzie are tight. Very tight. So tight that this 1959 film has been known to raise a few eyebrows, but we'll take a deeper dive into that here in a bit.

While The Oaks is the ancestral home of bank president John Fleming (Harvey Stephens), who vowed never to lease the property ever again after the last batch of murders, Cornelia actually rented it from his nephew, Mark (John Bryant), who seems to be trying to take advantage of the fact that his uncle is vacationing deep in the woods with his physician friend, Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price). With the two men at a cabin with no phone, so far away it takes "a 20 mile canoe trip" to make it back to civilization and not slated to be back until the end of the summer, it figures there's a huge emergency at the bank in their absence...

Bank vice president Victor Bailey (Mike Steele) discovers that 350,000 dollars of bonds, plus other negotiable securities, totaling over a million dollars, have been swiped from the vault. Seeing how only he and Fleming have access, suspicion soon falls on him. However, the real culprit is Mr. Fleming, who's stolen the money and stashed it in a hidden room at The Oaks. His vacation has been an excuse to fake his own death and he's hoping his buddy Malcolm will help in exchange for half a million dollars. Instead, Malcolm decides to kill him and blame a (hilariously convenient!) forest fire that breaks out right in the middle of their conversation. Now he'll have dibs on all the money... granted he can find it.

Back at The Oaks, Cornelia and Lizzie are terrorized by The Bat, a "faceless" black-clad, fedora-wearing figure with a razor-sharp steel claw glove (sounds quite similar to a pretty popular 80s slasher movie figure we all know!) that he's already used to rip out several throats. When the two women barricade themselves inside a bedroom, he unleashes a live bat into the room while they sleep, which bites Lizzie. Dr. Wells, now back in town after John's "accidental" death, comes to the mansion to treat Lizzie and encourages the two women to leave while he's there. The best case scenario for him is to obviously get the women out of the house so he can try to locate that hidden room John told him about.

Meanwhile, Lt. Andy Anderson (Gavin Gordon) is busy at working investigating matters. He spies on Dr. Wells and not only catches sight of him experimenting on live bats but also discovers a giant bat replica hidden behind a curtain in his lab. He goes to question nephew Mark, who's recently done a whole renovation on his real estate office. Just where did he get the money to do that? This case isn't just work for Andy, but also personal. He's on the bank's board of directors and had his life savings invested in bank stock, so if the money doesn't turn up, he'll probably never get to retire.

Despite everything that's been going on, Cornelia is able to convince her chauffeur, Warner (John Sutton), to work double duty as butler, and finds another apparently desperate woman named Jane Patterson (Riza Royce) to fulfill maid duties, so she can have a few guests over for the weekend. The first is Dale Bailey (gorgeous Elaine Edwards), Vic's wife, who's out to prove her husband's innocence. The other is Judy Hollander (Darla Hood, of Little Rascals fame), a bank secretary who claims she has information that will implicate John and is set to testify in court to that effect. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to have a key witness stay in a house being stalked by a killer is anyone's guess. It's an even worse idea to continue to allow her to stay when one of the chief suspects is found dead behind a removable panel.

There's no real way to sugar coat it: A lot of things about this film are stupid... painfully stupid! Just the premise of a highly intelligent, well-known writer with means staying in this place and putting her life at risk - for NO reason whatsoever - is about as difficult to swallow as it gets. Sure she's drawn to mystery, but I doubt she's drawn to dying before she can even finish her latest novel. The fact she then has no issue also dragging a bunch of other innocent people into this mess and getting them killed is just icing on the cake. This also has some of the absolute worst policing you'll ever see in any film. The cops basically come and go, and spend most of their time posted outside, knowing full well the killer is either still inside the home, or at least has a way to get in without being detected. I could go on.

Considering this is based on a very old play, it's not at all surprising it feels really tame, stagy, hoary and outmoded, even by the standards of the the late 50s. While there are things they could have easily done to modernize the film, they chose not to for whatever reason, which is probably why it wasn't well-received by audiences of the day. The potential for reissues would pretty much die the following year. After all, something that seemed like it time warped in from the 1930s certainly wasn't going to be able to compete with genre films like Psycho, EYES WITHOUT A FACE, BLACK SUNDAY, Peeping Tom, Jigoku and the list goes on.

But dammit if this isn't enjoyable in spite of that! The cast seem to be having fun, it's humorous, boasts very handsome art direction, cinematography (by future Emmy and Oscar winner Joseph F. Biroc) and lighting (making especially good use of shadow) and is entertaining throughout. The killer's disguise is really cool and, even though the suspect who turns out to be The Bat was on my radar, I still wasn't 100% sure it was them until the final reveal, which was nice. This is also interesting in a few other unexpected ways...

The employer / employee relationship between Cornelia and Lizzie is much talked about for good reason. Neither lady is married, nor is there any mention of either of them ever having been married, neither lady appears interested in romance with men, and neither lady has kids, yet they make it a point to note they've “been together” for twenty years. And the two do everything together. They hug. They cuddle. They comfort each other. They put their arms around each other. They hold hands. They even sleep in the same bedroom, with Cornelia insisting it's for “mutual protection” lest anyone get the wrong idea! Make of that what you will, but it's clear that, in lieu of male company, these two ladies prefer each other.

Cornelia, who's independent, self-made and strong, comes off like a really forward-thinking character in general, which is partially in how she's written and partially in how she's played by Moorehead. It's also unique (and refreshing) for a horror film to put two middle-aged women front and center. Even Vincent Price himself had to take a back seat here in a strictly supporting role, which may explain why he didn't think much of the film (he'd previously been sole focus in the Wilbur-scripted House of Wax and THE MAD MAGICIAN). While I agree this is far from his best showing or character, he does at least get to shoot off some smarmy facial expressions that are pretty hilarious.

And good role or not, the participation of Price is one of the main reasons this has been kept in heavy circulation all of these years. Well, that and the fact this is one of the most popular public domain titles there is. Countless labels have released this on DVD, including Alpha, Anchor Bay, Echo Bridge, Film Detective, Mill Creek, Reel Media, The Roan Group, Shout! Factory, Sinister Cinema and VCI, and it's on pretty much every film archive and streaming site, which not only makes this one of the easiest horror films from this decade to find but also one of the most viewed. I can't tell you how many times in the past I've skipped right past this, so I'm glad to finally get it checked off my list.

★★1/2

Luo xie (1969)

... aka: 裸血

... aka: Law huet

... aka: Raw Passions

Directed by:

Chen Lo

A lot of movies, regardless of the era they were made in or country of origin, are now being retroactively referred to as giallo (most are really regular ole murder mysteries, suspense or crime films just like they made decades before giallo even existed), which usually has me defiantly raising my eyebrow as the stickler for defined terminology that I am. However, the opening sequence of this Hong Kong production from Shaw Brothers screams giallo, so I don't necessarily mind comparisons in this particular case.

Things open with quiet, picturesque panning shots of a still lake, starting high up in the pine trees. Only a single bird can be heard. As the shots progress, they start to move down, gradually closing in a small lakeside cabin. And then the camera looks up at the trees and starts doing 360 degree spins because it spells incoming trouble. We then get the closest look at the cabin yet and a scream is heard. Inside, a young woman is in the process of being attacked and we get lots of quick cuts of a gloved hand holding a shimmering knife. The woman is finally stabbed and a hand reaches down and rips off her necklace. Those few minutes all capture the essence of what a true giallo is in my opinion, with off-kilter camerawork and editing, the unknown black-gloved killer, the light-reflecting blade, the beautiful, sexualized female victim (this one has her shirt torn and bra exposed) and the immediate introduction of a mystery element the rest of the film will play off of.

We then meet our four principal characters; two married couples. We have the Tao's; Wai Kong (Hsieh Wang - THE WEB OF DEATH) and his wife Ai Jun (Hsiang-Chun Li), and the Lin's; newlyweds Sau Ming (Yuen Kao - THE PAINTED SKIN) and wife Man Ying (Ivy Ling Po). Out for an evening of drinks and some adult-oriented entertainment at a fancy nightclub, the couples watch sexy chanteuse Sa-Sa (Li Meng) sing and then strip down to a sequined bikini to perform a belly dance. Afterward, she goes right up to their table. The wives don't seem to like Sa-Sa, but Mr. Lin blushes at her presence and it's soon made clear that Mr. Tao is already very well acquainted with her when this cuts to the next scene and the two of them are in bed together. They've been carrying on a long-time affair, but now Sa-Sa wants more, especially since she's three months pregnant. Ultimatum time: Leave his wife to be with her, or give her 200,000 dollars and she'll go away quietly. Problem is, Mr. Tao's business has barely been staying afloat recently and he doesn't have that kind of money on hand.

It's not all smooth sailing with the newlyweds either. Prior to getting married, Sau Ming also had a brief fling with Sa-Sa. Now his suspicious spouse suspects that they may be continuing that affair. One day out of the blue, Sa-Sa calls Sau Ming and demands he come to her apartment. There, she unsuccessfully attempts to seduce him and then attempts to blackmail him. If he doesn't pay her 100,000, she'll tell the wife they're still seeing each other and do all she can to destroy his marriage. I tell ya, this lady is one hell of a schemer! An outraged Sau Ming storms off.

Rather hilariously, Sa-Sa secretly arranges to perform at Sau Ming's birthday party and shows up to serenade him with a love song! Later that night, Man Ying's suspicions are put to rest when he husband explains that nothing is going on between them, but she's then put in another awkward position after overhearing Sa-Sa and Mr. Tao discussing their affair. Soon after, Sa-Sa's corpse is discovered in the lake house by a young couple as this comes first circle to the opening scene. Since Sau Ming was spotted in the area fishing, he's hauled off to the police station, questioned and, because of his recent encounters with the victim, becomes the prime suspect. However, the necklace yanked off the corpse, perhaps in an effort to hide a connection to her, was one that Mr. Tao had given to her as a gift. Philandering husbands and betrayed housewives aren't the only possibilities here either...

To complicate matters further there are not one but two other blackmailers trying to capitalize on what's going on. The first is Sa-Sa's mentally unstable loser brother, Dai Kang (No Chai), who is first seen swinging by his sister's place trying to bum money, which is apparently a regular occurrence for him. Since she's dead now, how's he going to get by? Why trying to extort 50,000 from Sau Ming in order to "leave him alone," that's how! His plan doesn't quite pan out after Sau Ming beats him in a fight, so he later sneaks into their home and attacks Man Ying with a switchblade. Another mysterious man, Fei Ma (Feng Ku), is lurking around as well, making claims he has audio and photographic evidence about who the killer is. He too has an asking price: 100K, and he offers it to both the Tao and Lin couples.

This is a pretty standard mystery from a writing standpoint. I wish I could say I was taken by surprise or thrown for a loop by the red herrings at any point in this film, but I was able to accurately guess who the killer was in the first 20 minutes and nothing I saw after that ever made me second guess myself. In fact, what I saw afterward only made me even more certain I was correct. You can see it from a mile away based on what they choose to show and what they don't, and who they try to make you suspect and who they leave at the periphery.

Aside from that, this is well made and produced. The direction and acting are both fine, the camerawork and shot compositions are sharp and, best of all, the late 60s clothing, cars, interior décor and overall style are eye candy in the extreme. From a contemporary standpoint, much of the entertainment here actually comes from the art direction, with shots specifically framed to showcase loud wallpaper, swanky home furnishings and colored lights. Did people really decorate like this back then? If so, someone need to bring it back! There are also some nice exterior locations used and red-tinted and b/w flashbacks thrown in toward the end.

Since this was made during a transitional period in world cinema, while there's some nudity (all provided by Li Meng), it's of the very fleeting variety. You get lots of legs, bare backs and cleavage and a brief flash of an exposed nipple here and there. For a 1969 mainstream release, this was probably considered pretty risqué, but just a few years later, the sex and nudity would be much more prominent in these kinds of films, which probably rendered this comparatively tame affair pretty obsolete soon after it was made.

The two original songs on the BMI-issued soundtrack album - "The Night Before" and "Mad About You" - are performed by Mona Fong, who was a top recording artist at the time. Less than a decade after this was made, Fong would become a regular producer and production manager for Shaw and racked up well over 150 credits with them, including working on many of their major cult horror releases, like BLACK MAGIC (1975), BEWITCHED (1981), HUMAN LANTERNS (1982), THE BOXER'S OMEN (1983) and SEEDING OF A GHOST (1983).

Understandably, the demand for this particular title hasn't been quite as high as many others from the extensive Shaw catalogue. There was a customary DVD release from Celestial in 2005 (with English subtitles), but it came and went and not many were particularly interested. While this is perfectly fine to sit through once, it's still just kind of mid / forgettable in the grand scheme of things.

★★1/2