The Bat

The Bat is a 1959 American mystery film starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) is a mystery writer who rents a summer home in a small town from a local bank president John Fleming (Harvey Stephens). Over $1 million in securities is discovered missing from the bank while Fleming is on a hunting trip with his physician, Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price). Fleming confesses to Wells that he stole the securities and offers to split the money with Wells in return for help in faking his own death and threatens to kill him if he doesn't agree to help. A forest fire breaks out nearby and Wells shoots Fleming and uses the fire to cover up the murder. Meanwhile, the town is being terrorized by a mysterious murderer known as 'The Bat'. The Bat is said to be a man with no face who murders women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws. The Bat breaks into the house and releases a real bat which bites Van Gorder's maid. Van Gorder calls Dr. Wells to treat the bite. Wells (Vincent Price) is in his laboratory doing experiments on bats and leaves to go to Van Gorder's assistance. Wells catches the bat that bit Van Gorder's maid and checks her wounds. Van Gorder is then visited by detectives who are investigating the stolen securities from the bank and discover blueprints which may indicate in the house walls where the stolen money has been hidden. The women are told to go to bed, but soon after The Bat re-enters the house and cuts the phone lines and goes to the third floor where he begins chiselling a hole in one of the walls. The plot thickens when Van Gorder investigates the room where the noise was coming from and realizes there is a secret room behind the wall where The Bat was chiselling. She accidentally traps herself in the room and things go from bad to worse as the identity of The Bat becomes apparent. This is a classic horror movie with a memorable cast and an unforgettable plot. (79 minutes - 1959 - Black & White - 4:3).