THE BAT WHISPERS On Blu-ray From VCI

 

Director Roland West's THE BAT WHISPERS is a 1930 sound remake of his silent 1926 film THE BAT, based on the popular play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood. THE BAT was one of the main progenitors of the "Old Dark House" mystery thriller story that had a major impact on American popular culture in the first half of the 20th Century. 

West actually made two versions of THE BAT WHISPERS--a full frame "regular" version, and a widescreen 65mm "Magnifilm" version. VCI Entertainment has released a new 2-disc Region Free Blu-ray set which contains three cuts of the film--a full frame American version, a full-frame British version, and the widescreen version. All three versions have been restored and remastered for home video. 

I had already owned the old DVD release of THE BAT WHISPERS from Image Entertainment, which included the full-frame and widescreen versions. The movie itself is a decent example of its genre, but if it wasn't for Roland West's attempts at visual wizardry and the widescreen version, it wouldn't generate a lot of attention. The story is very stagy at times (which is to be expected), and it has way too much comic relief. If you thought Maude Eburne was annoying in THE VAMPIRE BAT, you'll find her incessant caterwauling in this movie as a cowardly maid to be insufferable. Her mediocre stooging is matched by Spencer Charters as a moronic caretaker and Charles Dow Clark as a so-called detective who appears to be an ancestor of Barney Fife. While watching Eburne, Charters, and Clark, one wishes that The Bat would kill them.

Chester Morris plays a very belligerent police inspector, and Una Merkel is very cute as the ingenue, but the visual tricks of THE BAT WHISPERS are far more interesting than the cast. The Bat himself is presented most effectively, but it's very easy to guess who the culprit is (just go by how dramatically lit each character is). One big problem with THE BAT WHISPERS is the lack of any background music. 

All three versions of THE BAT WHISPERS on this set have subtle differences from each other. Among the many extras on this release are featurettes that compare the three versions. Out of the three, I believe the widescreen version looks and sounds the best overall, but it doesn't have many of the striking close-ups presented in the full-frame versions. The full-frame British version, in my opinion, looks and sounds better than the full-frame American version. (The full-frame versions are on disc one, and the widescreen version is on disc two.) 

The extras include a 10-page booklet that has an article on the restoration of the film and stills from the production. There's a poster & stills gallery, along with a comparison between the silent 1926 THE BAT and THE BAT WHISPERS (this video proves that Roland West remade the film scene-by-scene). There's also a presentation of restored scenes from THE BAT (which will be released on Blu-ray itself soon). There's a new audio commentary as well, by Mick LaSalle, but it is a very disjointed and haphazard discussion (the talk is attached to the widescreen version). The 1959 version of THE BAT is also here as a bonus--it appears to be a print that is in the public domain, and it has not been remastered in any way. The '59 version has an interesting cast (Vincent Price, Agnes Moorhead), but I've always thought it was very mediocre. 

VCI has made this release of THE BAT WHISPERS a very enticing package, with three versions of the film and plenty of extras. It's a good thing that this has all sorts of bells & whistles, because the movie itself isn't as impressive as the technical tricks involved in making it. THE BAT WHISPERS and this Blu-ray set will be more appreciated by film geeks than a general audience.