Superb silent that clearly influenced Bob Kahn ("Bob Kane") when he conjured forth his AcroBat-Man, The Bat-Man, in DETECTIVE COMICS #27, way back in 1939. If I have a quibble with THE BAT (and, of course, I DO), it's that it tends to drag quite a bit when the title character's not on screen. The only other problem I have with this version is that it often suggests a Supernatural Element that turns out to be misleading: at one point, we see The Bat's SHADOW reach out, NOSFERATU-like, and close a door; we also see a bat flittering about a rooftop, then cut to the rooftop, where we find The Bat himself looking for a way into the building (and there's no sign of the bat we just saw swoop down to where he is). The fanged mask he wears (see DONNIE DARKO) looks like a Monster straight out of a Fright Film (it's too bad the character wasn't in fact Supernatural...) and the method employed to try to catch him- a bear trap, of all things- is novel, to say the least. Due for another remake- only THIS time, they need to make him a Supernatural creature.

A killer dressed like a giant bat stalks a mansion where a mystery writer and several others are staying. Silent old dark house thriller that was remade twice, in 1930 and 1959. Most notable today for its influence on the creation of Batman. Well, actually, the 1930 remake The Bat Whispers was said to be the inspiration. Besides, the Bat character here looks more like Die Fledermaus from The Tick cartoon than Batman! This is an OK movie of its type. Overshadowed by the 1930 remake as well as The Cat and the Canary, which came out the year after this and was the best old dark house thriller ever made, in my opinion. Still, this is enjoyable enough if you're a fan of silent films. Roland West's direction and the great house sets are a plus.

This is a film that could never be made today. The idea of a master criminal running about in a bat costume is pretty silly--and the outfit is actually rather cute. Oddly, today we cannot imagine such silliness in a criminal but we COULD in a crime fighter! However, there are many more silly moments in this film--so many that it's hard to take it all very seriously. The plot is also amazingly convoluted...so trying to figure it all out isn't particularly important.The film begins with a bank robbery. The trail to the robber goes to an old mansion and inside are some innocent folks. However, when people start appearing, the chaos begins. Heck, after a while it's all pretty funny, as detectives, private detectives, bloody strangers and gardeners who know nothing about gardening all show up unannounced. It's a typical whodunnit style film morphed with an old dark house movie and it never seems to take itself very seriously.While there are MANY logical errors throughout the film (too many), the whole thing is pretty entertaining and you can't help but marvel at the set and cinematography. The film certainly looks good--and it doesn't hurt that the print they recently unearthed is, for the most part, rather pristine.Overall, for silent movie fans, this is an excellent picture. For others, however, it may all just seem too silly and trite to make it worth seeing. My advice is that if you aren't a silent fan, try watching some other silents first--this one probably isn't good enough to make you a fan of the genre...and it's all a bit silly.

There certainly is a lot happening in this film. Trap doors. Secret passages. Staircases. A "Bat" man. A hysterical maid who screams and leaps and circles and points. She must have been totally worn out when this film ended. Having seen the later version, I kind of knew the ropes a little bit. The idea is to get people out of an old mansion in order to grab a bunch of money that was embezzled from a local bank. The title character harasses the inhabitants, but doesn't know he has a real foe in the tough, matronly, unflappable owner of the mansion. She holds her own no matter what transpires. We have lots of suspects and that bat costume is pretty good. We can see elements of the Batman character of the early comic books. For a silent film this is very high quality and wears very well.