The Bat Whispers 1930

The Bat Whispers (1930) is a highly entertaining movie. Some of the characters camp it up with facial expressions seemingly left over from the silent era, and the humor involving the maid seems rather silly, but the use of miniatures is excellent, along with lighting, framing, and sound. Truly engaging and entertaining. Make sure to look at the 2nd disc first for the trumpeted "Magnifilm" wide version -- I looked at the U.S. version on the first disc -- but it's good in either version. The 2nd disc has The Bat (1959), which is a remake with Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. I love the actors, but this version is not nearly as good as the 1930 version, to my surprise! Also this particular presentation of the movie has transfer flaws in motion defects -- looks like the characters are slowing down and then speeding up in some scenes. Also included is a comparison of The Bat (1926) vs The Bat Whisper, and I must say it makes the Bat (1926) also look entertaining. Recommended.

The blue-ray was excellent. The film restoration was first class and it was good to be able to see the widescreen version. It was a shame that the disc did not include the silent film 'The Bat'. Highly recommended.

While the digital registration of the various versions of THE BAT WHISPERS (1930) are good, this edition of THE BAT (1959) -- included as a supplemental feature -- is twitchy and jerky in playback. If you want the best-looking edition of THE BAT, I recommend the Film Detective Blu-ray Disc edition instead.

"The Bat Whispers" is an excellent movie--for 1930. It is nearly 100 years old, and the cast of characters shows it. We are cautioned not to give away the ending, so I won't.But the picture is almost flawless, and the soundtrack is excellent. If you want to see how Hollywood did it at the dawn of sound, this is the picture to see. The Blu-ray edition has both the 4:3 and widescreen versions included.

Received quickly and as described.

VCI has released The Bat Whispers (1930) in a 2-disc set that includes three different versions of this wonderful film. I own well over 60 Blu-rays & DVDs from VCI, and this may be their finest release to date.Blu-ray video and audio quality: Included is a very nice booklet that goes into detail regarding the source materials and transfers for all three versions. They all look fantastic. Some VCI releases I own have excessive filtering/digital noise reduction, making the image look very processed. Happily, that is not the case here. All three versions look organic and film-like. The audio on all three versions is presented in LPCM 2.0 Mono and sounds great. Optional English subtitles are available for all three versions.Disc 1:The Bat Whispers: U.S. version 1.32:1 aspect ratioThe Bat Whispers: British version 1.32:1 aspect ratioSpecial Features:* Photo Gallery* Version Comparison 1.32:1 U.S. vs British (10 minutes)Disc 2:The Bat Whispers: Widescreen “Magnifilm” version 2.0:1 aspect ratioSpecial Features:* Commentary track by Mick LaSalle* The Bat (1959) - while a nice bonus, a better version of this film is found on the Blu-ray from The Film Detective* Version Comparison: U.S. 1.32:1 vs Widescreen (10 minutes)* The Bat (1926) vs The Bat Whispers (1930) - this is also a version comparison running 7 minutes* The Bat (1926) Before & After Restoration - this runs about 2 minutes and promotes the work by Undercrank Productions and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The 1926 version of The Bat is not included on this VCI Blu-ray.I own the Image DVD of The Bat Whispers from 1999 and this new Blu-ray is a massive upgrade, and easily warrants a 5-star rating.