Thursday, November 24, 2011

The Bat (1959)

***

Starring Vincent Price as Vincent Price, and Agnes Moorehead as Jessica Fletcher.  In other words, awesome.

But if that's not enough to snag your interest, here's a more straightforward description--Agnes Moorehead plays a mystery author who rents a huge (spooky) mansion in the town of Xenith, which is being terrorized both by rabid bats and a serial killer known only as "The Bat".  In other news, the local bank was recently deprived of $1 million, and no one knows where the money is.  Vincent Price plays the creepy town doctor, who seems to know more than he is letting on . . .

Honestly, though, the one-two punch of Price and Moorehead ought to be enough to earn this film a spot on your to-watch list.  It's public domain, so you can download it for free if you don't feel like tracking down a hard copy.  Moorehead is a tougher, more angular amateur sleuth than Angela Lansbury--no disrespect to the erstwhile Mrs. Potts, of course.  And Vincent Price does what Vincent Price does best.

Bottom line:  Old school creepy fun.  Even if it's not actually scary, and features the most bloodless throat slashing I've ever seen.

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