Touches You

Sorry, this movie sucks

Just perfect...

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

After some ultra-cool opening theme music, THE BAT begins. When writer Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead- HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE) moves into a big, spooky mansion, she finds herself plagued by the titular killer. Why is this murderous maniac so interested in Cornelia's new abode? Can she and her kooky cohort, Lizzie Allen (Lenita Lane), figure it all out, before THE BAT swoops in to grab them w/ his steel claws? Not a bad mystery, w/ a dash or two of suspense, and some humor too! There's even a nice twist ending! Co-stars the one-and-only Vincent Price (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, PIT AND THE PENDULUM) as Dr. Malcolm Wells. Also co-stars an adult Darla Hood (yep, Darla from the LITTLE RASCALS / OUR GANG films) as Judy Hollander...

Mary Roberts Rinehart is my all-time favorite author, and having read the book, most of my complaints have to do with the mish-mash of characters. The maid's name is LIDDIE (Lydia), not Lizzie, which grated on my nerves, and she and Cornelia have a complex, platonic, of course, relationship which isn't shown, but is significant in the book. Most of the humor between these two was eradicated from the movie. Darla Hood was dreadful in her part, and the two romances were cut entirely. The back-story was left out completely, so way too many characters just showed up, with no obvious relationship to each other or the plot. Agnes Morehead does as well as possible in her role, and Vincent Price is always superb. I found it surprising that "Cornelia" is presented as a "cougar". Cornelia, in the book, would never have worn the revealing night clothes, and her hair wasn't worn in a braid down to her butt. It's a different era. The characters' problems with daily details of life in the country is also ignored, but are a plot imperative and a lot of fun, so the feel of the era is destroyed. It was jarring to see early 1950s fashion in a period piece. Part of Cornelia's charm is her "elderly", rich, out-of-her-comfort zone, with a spine of steel, reaction to the weird happenings.Spoiler Alert: The "Bat" is a human criminal. He didn't have steel claws, and didn't slash throats, or do monstrous experiments on bats. This movie is a mixture of crime novel and early 1950s horror movie, which is an uncomfortable union. I'm sure the producer, director, and the actors tried hard to make a success of this bastardized version of a good book. I've never made a movie, but think in more talented hands, it would have been a major hit.

This was a typical class 'B' picture but at least there was a mystery that kept the audience in the program to the very end. Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead actually did a nice job with the light script they were given-- but for some reason the screen play writer threw in an aide to Ms Moorehead that ruined the entire process.Lenita Lane played Lizzie Allen the aide to Moorehead's character. It seemed that every time she had a speaking part she was trying to give a comical tone to the story but ended-up being an albatross around the neck of the movie. Her every line was like fingernails running across a chalkboard that made me shiver at each bewildering statement. Her acting ability ruined the entire experience.With that said, the mystery was a clever who-done-it tale that kept the viewer guessing to the very end. And with the weak script, I will give credit to the performances of all the actors, except for one. Too bad that one character was not killed off very early in the show. Where was the bat when you needed him?

The Bat has a woman writer who is like Agatha Christie. She stays at a house that has a mysterious reputation.A person called the "Bat" kills women. Miss Cornelia wrote murder mysteries and does not scare easy. She does her own investigating in this story.The story was good but some things did not make sense. They throw you off guard to make you think someone else as the Bat. They make 4 men looks like suspects. The Bat kills women with gloves that have claws and wears a mask. There is more than one killer in this movie. The Bat cuts all the telephone wires in the house so the women cannot call out. Police are stationed around the house no one is caught. One cop is stationed in the house. He drinks wine that is drugged and passes out. He is supposed to guard 5 women and a butler.The goofy thing that happens is this drugged cop calls the police station from the phone in the house where the wires were cut recently. Then to me the suspense falls apart a bit. If they cannot see their own mistake about making the phone work when it has been cut I don't know. Vincent Price is in this and he is always a nut case. The movie is in black and white. Agnes Moorehead plays the writer. She is young, beautiful and smart.Really a pretty good mystery. Free to watch or download on this link. http://free-classic-movies.com/movies-05/05-1959-The-Bat/index.php