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Movie Review

The Bat (1959) Movie Review

The Bat – Movie Review

The Bat is an engaging murder mystery film featuring a mystery author unraveling a killer's identity in a mansion.

First Reaction – The Bat is an entertaining murder mystery.

Watch The Bat on Tubi.

Director: Crane Wilbur

Writer: Crane Wilbur (Screenplay)

Writer: Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood (Play)

Cast

Plot: A crazed killer known as “The Bat” is on the loose in a mansion full of people.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Bat starts when acclaimed mystery author Cornelia van Gorder (Moorehead) rents a summer mansion. The mansion has a reputation and the owner is killed while away. Dr Malcolm Wells (Price) returns to the area to search for a fortune. Meanwhile, Cornelia and Lizzie Allen (Lane) deal with the staff members walking out on them.

The reputation around the home sees a serial killer named ‘The Bat’ targeting women and their victims are usually women. Cornelia takes on her ability to write mysteries to solve the latest one, leading to a surprising series of events.

Verdict on The Bat

Recap

The movie follows a murder mystery author who discovers herself in the middle of a mystery. It follows her using her knowledge to understand the situation and figure out who lurking around the home.

Best Parts

The set-up to the mystery is interesting and the calm approach to solving it keeps things relaxing throughout the movie. We get good performances from the whole cast that help keep us wondering how things will unfold.

Worst Parts

While it is an interesting mystery, it lets us know who is behind it early on and it’s more about how they will try to get away with the crime.

Final Thoughts – The Bat is a fun murder mystery to watch unfold.

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Movie Review

First Man Into Space (1959) Movie Review

First Man Into Space – Movie Review

Explore the sci-fi movie 'First Man Into Space'. Uncover the suspenseful story of a pilot who vanishes after a historic space mission.

Director: Robert Day

Writer: John Croydon, Charles F Vetter (Screenplay)

Writer: Wyatt Ordung (Story)

Cast

Plot: The first pilot to leave Earth’s atmosphere lands, then vanishes; but something with a craving for blood prowls the countryside…

Runtime: 1 Hour 17 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: First Man Into Space starts as Commander Charles Prescott (Thompson) is preparing the first pilot to get into space. LT Dan Prescott (Edwards) is selected for the mission and during the testing breaks the rules in his attempt to get into space. However, he reluctantly leaves Dan on the mission knowing he is the best pilot.

On the latest test, Dan disobeys orders to go further than planned and loses contact with the ground. However, his risk came at a price and he goes missing and the ship crash lands back on Earth. Over the next couple of days, strange events start happening in the area, which leads them to question what came back from space.

Verdict on First Man Into Space

First Man Into Space is a sci-fi horror movie following one of the first attempts to get into space. It follows the reckless pilot who goes against orders and goes missing. However, what returns has a hunger for blood and it becomes a race against time to discover what it is.

This movie dives into the paranoia of the 1950s and 60s in the space race. I say this is nearly every review of what came from space movies, and it is an effective tool for entertaining horror. It uses the idea to show how much of a cowboy people can be when following orders that could change history and the small changes the world would witness. The monster is frightening and its power brings plenty of danger to the locals. Even if it follows the more traditional idea that America can overcome the problems.

Final Thoughts – First Man Into Space is a fun creature feature for the era.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Action – R – Rio Bravo (1959) Movie Review

Director: Howard Hawks

Writer: Jules Furthman, Leigh Brackett (Screenplay)

Starring: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond

Plot: A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Runtime: 2 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Rio Bravo starts when Sheriff John T Chance (Wayne) catches one of the most dangerous outlaws in the west, knowing his brother Nathan Burdette (Russell) will come for him, Chance must put together a team to defend the town, the drunk Borrachon (Martin), the loyal old friend Pat Wheeler (Bond) and upstart kid Colorado Ryan (Nelson).

As Burdette looks to execute his own plan to free his brother, Chance must use his experience to stay ahead of the outlaw and the many men he will pay to help him.

Thoughts on Rio Bravo

Characters – Sheriff John T Chance likes to work alone in enforcing the law in his town, he has the respect of the town and the few people he does let help him are usually on a redemption arc, he will help them find their feet and he doesn’t want to let people get killed working for him. He knows what is coming into the town and needs to protect the people before the outlaws cause more problems. Dude is a former gunslinger with a drinking problem, he is one of the best and fast gunslingers, but he needs to recover before it is too late. Nathan Burdette is the man that is looking to free his brother, he has money to back anyone who wants to make quick money while coming off like a calm rich businessman in the area. Colorado Ryan is the son of one of the best gunslingers who is just finding his way in the west, a place where he knows how to get involved and how to stay away from trouble.

Performances – John Wayne was always the screen presence even if his acting wasn’t the most convincing, Dean Martin gets the best performance in the film with how he his character must go through the biggest arc. The supporting cast all work well through the film too.

Story – The story here follows a small town sheriff who is waiting for the US marshal to arrive to take an outlaw away when his brother looks to put his own move on the town to release his brother. This is a much clamer western where the story builds on the characters strengths and weaknesses to show us what it will mean to the people int eh town to capture the outlaws, the villain doesn’t get that much development though, he is just sending people for his brother, with only one major sequence meeting the people in the town. This isn’t what you would expect from a western, but it does do everything right for developing a set of characters well.

Action/Western – The action blends with the western themes with ease, with mostly shooting, but nothing too much.

Settings – The film mostly remains in one town, showing how knowing your home ground will give you an advantage over anyone looking to enter and cause trouble.

Final Thoughts – Rio Bravo is one of the classic westerns that remains an easy watch even after all these years.