The Bat, a master criminal terrorizing the city wearing a fearsome bat costume, sets his sinister sights on the eerie Fleming mansion. Within the walls of this spooky house, a bank robber has stashed $20,000 in stolen loot. Leasing the mansion is the wealthy Cornelia Van Gorder, along with her niece Dale. Dale's fiance, Brooks Bailey, a cashier at the bank, becomes the prime suspect in the robbery investigation. After the bank president is found dead, a group of house guests search the mansion for clues to the whereabouts of the missing fortune and the identity of The Bat. They set a trap for the mysterious killer, but the master criminal manages to escape with the money.Based on the famous play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, The Bat is renowned for its expert use of miniatures and striking set designs by William Cameron Menzies. In 1930, Roland West skillfully remade the film as a talkie, The Bat Whispers. Vincent Price starred in yet another version of The Bat in 1959. West, an innovator of movie-making techniques in the silent era, also made The Monster in 1925 with legendary silent star Lon Chaney. Along with the 1927 classic, The Cat And The Canary, The Bat is highly regarded as a prototype for the haunted house film genre that flourished in the '30s and '40s.
