Just perfect...

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Okay,so it isn't really scary,but it is well made.Agnes Morehead and Vinny Price are the stars,but there are so many great supporting actors.John Sutton as the chauffeur promoted to butler,Gavin Gordon as the cop,Lenita Lane as Lizzie the companion to Cornelia.Price is as much the star as Morehead and I loved every second he was on screen!Knew right away who was The Bat,but watching this film unfold was a great experience.Have the DowHour Of Great Mystery version with Helen Hays,so will have to watch,but what little I saw of that version didn't compare.Will also look at the 1941 film The Black Cat again,as this reminds me of that LOL film.

Yet another movie that has fallen prey to poor copies released by numerous companies since it fell into public domain titles is saved by The Film Detective. While perhaps not the greatest film ever made it does offer an evening's worth of entertainment that all ages can watch leaving children with a bit of dread and adults with a chuckle or two.Agnes Moorehead, just before her stint as Endora in the popular TV series BEWITCHED, stars as mystery writer Cornelia van Gorder who has just rented a country home known as The Oaks in a small town where her celebrity status is well known. Her constant companion Lizzie tells her that the house is supposed to be filled with mystery, enough so that the servants eventually all leave save two. At the same time a local killer has returned to wreak havoc on the town, a killer who leaves no trace and is known only as The Bat.While this is going on the local bank president has gone on a hunting trip with his trusted friend Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price). There he reveals that he is responsible for embezzling $1 million dollars from the bank and is willing to split it with Wells if he will simply help him with killing a local guide and passing the body off as his own. Apparently Wells isn't as good a friend as he thinks since he kills him first but not before finding out with certainty where the money is hidden in his home, The Oaks.After returning home Wells is contacted when Lizzie is bitten by an actual bat inside of the house and fearful she might get "the rabies". This gives Wells an excuse to visit the house and perhaps a chance to find the hidden stolen loot. But his plans go wrong when The Bat himself, the person responsible for releasing the actual bat into the house, continues to visit the home as well.Local police chief Lt. Any Anderson is called out and sets up an officer to keep an eye on the house. The Bat eluded him once before and he doesn't intend to let him slip through his fingers again. The suspects are plentiful from Wells to the house's chauffeur turned butler Warner. The clues are there but never certain enough to identify just who The Bat is and why he's returned. All comes to a finale when Cornelia invites over several friends to help her piece the puzzle together. But can they survive another night of The Bat? Based on the novel THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE by mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart, this was the fourth time the book had been adapted for the screen. The film itself is definitely of the low budget variety and every scene is definitely shot on soundstages, including outdoor sequences. There is little doubt in my mind that many of the sets used in this film weren't made just for this movie but probably reused in countless other films as well.Perhaps what makes this movie stand out is the caliber of the actors involved here. Price had played as a leading man in many films prior to his stint as horror film icon. This was made just after his turns in THE FLY, THE TINGLER and THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL but before his memorable performances in the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe films. Moorhead had begun as an actress in the Orson Welles films like CITIZEN KANE and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSON before a long career in series television. Both add to the production here.While a bit over the top in some ways the film does offer a solid mystery to be solved and one that isn't quite so obvious in its conclusion. To my knowledge it is also the first time the film has been offered on blu-ray. The Film Detective has once more brought forth the best quality print possible of the film and offered it without extras to get in the way. Instead you find yourself with a fun movie that will entertain while seeming silly in other ways. But if you put that aside and take the movie in on its own terms you're bound to have a good time.

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?

Here's a tip: Upon having embezzled a million dollars, don't tell your mate Vincent Price if the two of you are in an isolated cabin with a forest fire raging outside. That's what a guy does here and before you know he's full of lead and Vincent is heading for his family home, looking to get a piece of the action. The question is, we know Vincent is a murderous doctor with an unhealthy interest in bats, but does that actually make him The Bat, a serial killer who's also started snooping around the mansion with his clawed hand and mask, scaring the life out of famous crime writer and her sidekick who merely rented the house for a bit of peace.This film is almost giallo-like in the way it plays out. We've got our hat wearing, gloved killer stalking the various characters, and a list of suspects including Vincent, a dodgy butler, a cop and the nephew of the guy who got killed at the start. Throw in a house full of secret rooms and you've got a winner with a surprisingly sharp script, too. As it's a murder mystery type film, I can't say too much about the plot, but The Bat does get his hands on a few victims and not everyone is who they seem.Of course, you can't go wrong with the acting talent here either. Vincent Price is basically Vincent Price, but when was that ever a bad thing? The guy playing the cop, the crime writer, and her sidekick all held up their end well. I give this one a big, steel thumbs up.