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Horror in Black and White: ‘The Bat’ (1959)

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The Bat

A mysterious old house, a masked killer, a $1 million theft, and a best-selling mystery novelist converge in 1959’s The Bat

You thought I was going to say “Murder, She Wrote” didn’t you?

Sorry, this is Horror in Black and White, and while you’ll find no Angela Lansbury here, you will be treated to Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price!

The Bat began its life as a novel called The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart in 1908. Just over a decade later Rinehart and Jazz Age playwright Avery Hopwood adapted it for the stage, first called A Thief in the Night becoming The Bat when it moved to Broadway where it ran for more than 800 performances and spawned six touring companies.

Naturally, it was a prime candidate to bring to film, and it was adapted three times before the 1959 version that I’ve chosen. Each has their strengths and weaknesses, but only one had Agnes Moorehead in all her glory.

Perhaps one of the greatest character actresses of her time, Moorehead rarely saw herself in the leading role. In fact, she only really held that spot twice in a decades long career: The Bat and 1972’s Dear Dead Delilah, though it’s important to note that despite her leading lady status, she wasn’t given top billing here.

Agnes Moorehead The Bat
Agnes Moorehead was never more regal than she was in The Bat…okay, maybe she was as Endora on Bewitched…

That went, of course, to the master of the macabre himself, Vincent Price, but more on him later, because I think Ms. Moorehead more than earned her time in the spotlight here.

Moorehead plays Cornelia Van Gorder, a best-selling mystery novelist who has rented a rather magnificent manor referred to by locals as “The Oaks” to work on her latest novel. The home has a checkered past, however. It was the scene of several murders by a mysterious, and reportedly faceless man, known as The Bat.

The home’s owner, who also owns the local bank, recently embezzled one million dollars and hid the money in the house, but is killed before he can retrieve it.

Soon, Cornelia and her maid/assistant find themselves along with a few other locals trapped in the house with someone. Could it be The Bat or is it simply an imitator out to find the money? You’ll just have to watch to find out.

What’s important here is that Moorehead is at her regal best in the role of Van Gorder. Elegant, charming, level-headed, and always in charge, she wonders at those around her losing their heads over silly stories. However with the discovery of a body, and upon seeing a masked man herself, she decides to put that rather impressive novelist’s imagination to work to see if she can figure out the mysteries around her.

Honestly, just listening to her speak in this film is a treat, as she thinks through each successive problem in her attempt to unmask the madman.

Okay, okay, we’ll talk about Vincent Price. Price agreed to do the film because he saw a production of the play as a child and it terrified him. He felt, however, that this particular incarnation was inferior to that previous play.

Still, he is Vincent Price, and even with an admittedly smaller role, he manages to impress. I’d like to say that it’s surprising the he took top billing over Moorehead, but let’s be honest, it’s not at all.

Price was the “bigger” star, and he also happened to be male and this was 1959 after all.

There’s a lovely symmetry in the two acting together. They were both formidable talents, after all, and I wonder what it would have been like to see the two play the MacBeths…?

The rest of the cast is quite good, as well, and you might find one actress, in particular, familiar. Her name was Darla Hood, and she was THE Darla from the Little Rascals films. This film was her final performance on the big screen.

The Bat has more than its fair share of tension thanks to director Crane Wilbur’s sense of place, coaxing The Oaks and its shadowed halls to life and making it a character all its own. It was also Wilbur’s decision to focus more on the horror elements in the story with this particular adaptation of the source material.

Louis Forbes also lends his considerable talents with an impressive score.

By the end of the film, when the plot has twisted and the mystery has been solved, The Bat is at its core an entertaining, melodramatic spectacle, and because it has fallen into the public domain can be viewed just about anywhere in multiple formats.

For the fair price of free, check out The Bat on Amazon Prime or even YouTube. You’ll be glad you did!


Related: Horror in Black and White: House on Haunted Hill (1959)

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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