THE BAT (1959)

The Bat pretends to surrender

THE BAT (1959). Director: Crane Wilbur. Colorized.  

Mystery novelist Cornelia van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead of Dear Dead Delilah) and her companion, Lizzie (Lenita Lane), are currently residing at the Oaks, an estate which is rumored to be haunted. A bigger problem is that a criminal known as the Bat -- who tears out victims' throats with metal claws on his gloves -- is also operating in the area, and wandering around the Oaks. The owner of the estate, John Fleming (Harvey Stephens), has stolen valuable assets from his own bank and pinned the crime on head teller, Bailey (Mike Steele). Dr. Wells (Vincent Price of House of a Thousand Dolls) takes advantage of this situation in his own inimitable style. Bailey's wife, Dale (Elaine Edwards of You Have to Run Fast), hopes to find the missing loot at the Oaks with the help of Fleming's nephew, Mark (John Bryant). Meanwhile the Bat is also hunting for the loot and kills anyone who gets in his way. Lt. Anderson (Gavin Gordon) does what he can to track down the Bat while new butler Warner (John Sutton) skulks about ... 

Moorehead with Price etc. -- WHAT'S with Agnes' dress?   

A remake of The Bat Whispers, this version is fast-paced and much more entertaining, with a highly interesting cast, which includes Darla Hood (from the Our Gang comedies) as the ill-fated Judy. Although not nearly as irritating as Maude Eburne in the earlier film, Lenita Lane, who talks through her nose, is still a bit annoying. Price is smooth and oily and altogether competent, and the other cast members acquit themselves nicely. When the identity of the Bat is revealed, one has to wonder why this character even bothered with the silly disguise, as it would have suited their plans much better to just walk around as themselves! Speaking of silly outfits, at one point Moorehead wears a dress with a balloon bottom that would have to be qualified as a "would you be caught dead in this outfit?" affair. The claws tearing out throats business was not used in the earlier version. The play this was based on was in turn based on the novel "The Circular Staircase" by Mary Roberts Rinehart. The play was filmed four times. 

Verdict: Not at all logical, but a lot of fun anyway. ***.  

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

Mark Damon, Vincent Price, Myrna Fahey

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (aka House of Usher/1960). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Richard Matheson. 

"It's just that he's highly overwrought, sir." -- Bristol. 

Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon of Naked You Die) follows his fiancee, Madeline (Myrna Fahey), back to her ancestral home where she lives with her strange, affected brother, Roderick Usher (Vincent Price of Twice-Told Tales) in a crumbling estate on a moldering, foggy acreage. Roderick suffers from an abundance of sensitivities, such as to noise and light, while Madeline is becoming unhinged, convinced she is on the verge of death. There is a great fear she will be buried alive, while the house crackles and a fissure in the wall grows ever wider and manservant Bristol (Harry Ellerbe) rubs his hands and worries ... 

The eerie Usher estate

Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's study of a highly dysfunctional family, Roger Corman's Usher is attractively produced, well-acted, and entertaining, albeit imperfect. Although the picture has a creepy atmosphere, it never quite develops into anything that would give it truly classic status. Price is good, and plays it in the way you would expect, while Damon is even better as Philip, playing a difficult role in just the right note. Les Baxter has written some good theme music -- which plays for several minutes on a black background with no visuals before the credit sequence -- but the chorus is rather hokey. Neurotic Roderick's paintings are quite well-done. In Poe's story the protagonist is an old friend of Roderick's and is not engaged to his sister, whom he has never actually met. Richard Matheson's script is faithful to the spirit of Poe's story if not the letter.  

Verdict: Fun and absorbing, but just misses being a real classic. **3/4. 

HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS

George Nader, Martha Hyer and Vincent Price

HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS (aka House of 1000 Dolls/1967). Director: Jeremy Summers. 

Dr. Stephen Armstrong (George Nader of Sins of Jezebel) and his wife, Marie (Ann Smryner), are vacationing in Tangier when their friend, Fernando (Sancho Gracia), tells them that he's searching for his missing fiancee, Diane (Maria Rohm). Diane was last seen in Vienna where she was made to disappear by stage magician Manderville (Vincent Price) and his assistant, Rebecca (Martha Hyer of First Men in the Moon) -- and she was never seen again. Diane has been shanghaied to the House of 1000 Dolls, a house of prostitution where most of the kidnapped girls are forced to service wealthy clients and are mistreated by the staff, including Madame Viera (Yelena Samarina). When Fernando is found murdered, Stephen begins his own investigation, but he doesn't realize that this will cause a lot of trouble for himself and his wife ... 

Magician Manderville (right) checks out Dr. Armstrong

House of a Thousand Dolls, whose villains are truly loathsome, has a certain sinister atmosphere throughout and holds the attention, if for no other reason than you hope to see the bad guys get their comeuppance at the finish. Manderville, Rebecca, and the others report to a mysterious King of Hearts whose identity isn't revealed until the end. The actors are all professional, although Price -- probably contemplating which piece of art he will buy with his paycheck -- doesn't put himself out too much. Luis Rivera makes an impression as Fernando's sexy friend, Paul. For some reason Stephen is remarkably obnoxious to the police inspector (Wolfgang Kieling of Our Man in Jamaica) in the case, which seems foolish for someone who may need the man's help in the future. There's a fairly exciting chase scene with two desperadoes pursuing Stephen through a series of interesting locations (the film was actually shot mostly in Spain). Reportedly a racier version of the flick was shown in Europe. The villains in this don't really get the vicious fates they so richly deserve. 

Verdict: Minor but entertaining and smooth Euro-thriller. ***.  

TWICE-TOLD TALES

TWICE-TOLD TALES (1963). Director: Sidney Salkow. 

Star Vincent Price appears in three stories freely adapted from the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Heidegger's Experiment Price and Sebastian Cabot play love rivals who discover the dead woman they both loved has been preserved by a natural chemical like a fountain of youth. As portrayed by Mari Blanchard, however, the lovely Sylvia comes off more like a hard-boiled slattern than anything else, but there's no accounting for taste. In Rappaccini's Daughter a young man (Brett Halsey) falls in love with a woman (Joyce Taylor) who has been raised on poison by a jealous father (Price) and whose very touch means instant death. This is the best of the three stories but it isn't well served by the insufficient playing of the lovers. As an actor, Halsey was good-looking and little else. Primarily a TV actress, Taylor was vivid enough in George Pal's Atlantis the Lost Continent but in this she's simply bad. The weakest segment is a poor and loose adaptation of The House of Seven Gables which is somewhat bolstered by the appearance of Beverly Garland and not at all by the unlikely presence of Richard Denning, although he's not terrible. More derivative of other horror films than of Hawthorne. 

Verdict: Has its moments. **1/2.

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Season 4

Richard Basehart and David Hedison

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Season Four. 

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, despite a few silly detours, began as a relatively serious show that could be watched by both children and grown-ups. But with each season it became increasingly ludicrous, mostly because the powers-that-be concluded that it was mostly kids watching the show. It would have been better had they provided more storylines that viewers of all ages could appreciate, but that was generally not the case in the later seasons of the show. 

Vincent Price with one of his "Deadly Dolls"

Nevertheless, even season four -- the final season -- had a few watchable and interesting episodes. Vincent Price guest-starred in "The Deadly Dolls," which had a script by Charles Bennett, and had the crew being replaced by puppets; it was not memorable, unfortunately. "Cave of the Dead,' with Warren Stevens, had to do with missing ships and the Flying Dutchman. "Man-beast," "Fatal Cargo" and "The Abominable Snowman" featured dangerous creatures, mutated or otherwise, the first of which was actually Captain Crane (David Hedison), stomping around the Seaview. Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) is told that Crane is an imposter in "Edge of Doom," which was a more serious but, ironically, less interesting episode than others. "The Death Clock" is a loopy episode in which guest-star Chris Robinson uses a machine to manipulate time and space. Mr. Pym (Henry Jones) did the same thing with a stop watch in two episodes with missed potential, "A Time to Die," and the series's final episode, "No Way Back," which is the better of the two. 

Basehart and Hedison keep straight faces with the Lobster Man

The show's nadir might well have been "The Lobster Man," with a silly-looking crustacean man -- Victor Lundin managed to keep his dignity in the part -- although there were other contenders for silliest monster/alien. The best episodes of the season, however, included "Sealed Orders," in which the Seaview crew disappear one by one while a neutron bomb is being transported; "Rescue," (guest-starring Don Dubbins) with saboteurs on the sub causing havoc and death; and arguably the very best fourth season episode, "Man of Many Faces," in which an unknown person disguises himself as several crew members even as a certain device begins to pull the moon out of orbit. 

David Hedison and Bob Dowdell

Most of the fourth season episodes of the show proceeded as mysteries, providing a weird situation which Nelson, Crane, Chip (Bob Dowdell) and the others would have to figure out, only the solutions too often tended to be childish alien menaces. "Nightmare" began well, with Crane being accused of treason even as the Seaview aims missiles at Washington D.C., but it collapsed before the conclusion. There were far too many episodes in which Nelson or  Crane were mind-controlled into trying to kill each other or destroy the ship. At least producer Irwin Allen got to use his beloved giant lizard from The Lost World once again in "Death Clock."

Verdict: Not enough great episodes to make this a memorable season. **1/2. 

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS. Tom Weaver. McFarland; 1994.

This book collects interviews, some already published in such magazines as Fangoria, with a variety of people associated with the horror/sci fi genre. These include Hitchcock screenwriter, Charles Bennett, who is billed as the "oldest employed screenwriter;" producer Herman Cohen, who hired Joan Crawford for her last features Berserk and Trog; director Val Guest, of Creeping Unknown and The Day the Earth Caught Fire; actress Susan Hart of Dr. Goldfoot infamy; Candace Hilligoss of Carnival of Souls and The Curse of the Living Corpse, who provides lots of behind-the-scenes details on those pictures; veteran actress Rose Hobart [The Adventures of Smilin' Jack]; Roger Corman actress Betsy Jones-Moreland, who says of Corman, "I wanted to kill him sometimes, but I liked him;" veteran actors Cameron Mitchell and Vincent Price; and lesser- known folk such as actor William Phipps [Five] and screenwriter Harry Spalding [Spaceflight IC-1]; not to mention Kenneth Tobey, who confirms that Howard Hawks was the one and only director of The Thing from Another World; among others.

Verdict: Very readable and interesting series of interviews with lesser (but no less memorable) lights. ***.