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Fans of old school haunted house melodramas should dig this version of the 1920 Broadway play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart about a serial killer on the loose in a spooky mansion. Previously filmed by Roland West in 1926 and again by West in 1930 as THE BAT WHISPERS, this version is surprisingly violent in its depiction of how the faceless title fiend kills his victims.  Vincent Price is more of a supporting character in this, giving a rather subdued performance as one of the plot’s many red herrings.  Darla Hood, of Our Gang fame, plays a victim in her last screen appearance.

Trivia note: Batman fans will be interested to know that the 1930 version helped to inspire Bob Kane in creating his Dark Knight.

Zevk,

Poe

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Jon Abrams

Editor-In-Chief at Daily Grindhouse

Jon Abrams is a New York-based writer, cartoonist, and committed cinemaniac whose complete work and credits can be found at his site, Demon’s Resume. You can contact him on Twitter as @JonZilla___.

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