A very odd though fascinating film. Van Gorder (Emily Fitzroy) and her niece Dale (Jewel Carmen) have taken over a remote country house, unknown to them the previous and now dead owner's money has been concealed in the house. Now a mysterious character and master criminal who dresses as a giant Bat has come to steal it! What follows is a series of spooky antics via hidden passageways and red herrings.
Brooks (Jack Pickford), Dale's fiancé, is the man suspected being behind the (quite frankly) bizarre Bat character. With the help of Detective Anderson (Eddie Gribbon) the Bat is finally run to earth, quite literally thanks to a man trap. But who was the Bat? At the time audiences were asked not to tell people who it was (an early example of no spoilers!), we'll honour that too!
This is basically a dark house mystery with some added suspense and horror and indeed humour thanks to the Bat. The thought of a man dressed as a giant bat to commit murder and robbery is quite surreal and the wonderfully atmospheric sets and clever cinematography really make this film something special. This film was remade in 1930 and that version of the Bat was said to have been a big inspiration behind Batman!
