A true poverty row production, The Devil Bat's main attraction is not really the bat itself, which is made so that you can see the strings and bad fur (and those cut-aways to the close-up of the bat face), but Bela Lugosi. You want to watch this classic star of the macabre do his stuff in a movie that isn't Dracula or directed by Ed Wood well, which is essentially projecting his cool and menacing presence upon unsuspecting citizens (actually, this time, his employers and associates) while flexing eyebrows and strangeness. He marks up what is essentially a really low-budget B movie into something more interesting- yes, interesting- than it would be without him.
He plays Dr. Cruthers, a scientist who for years has made a business very rich with his own invented perfumes. But after getting cut out of the big profits for years, he concocts a formula that is an "aftershave" lotion where-in the victim puts the lotion on the neck and Cruthers lets out of his house a gigantic "devil bat" which he's created. The movie follows the typical investigation, the intrepid reporter out to crack the case, and the realization (dum-dum-dum!) that Cruthers, who everybody in town loves, is hatching a diabolical plot! AHH! Actually, the movie isn't very scary; one part where a woman sleeps in bed and the bat comes towards the house (intercut between the sleeping woman and some rare good shots of the bat "flying" in the sky) is kind of chilling in a silly way, but it's not scary cause of the bat.
Matter of fact, if gauging the success of The Devil Bat on just being scary, it's not really very good. But, if you're a Bela Lugosi fan, it's probably one of his best performances in these kinds of near-forgotten horror pics where he plays a scientist or doctor or creator of some giant thing to kill other things (maybe not the quintessential one, that goes to Bride of the Monster). The other actors fare well enough too, if usually just adequate for the material, and it's all very enjoyable - almost against one's better judgment for something like this. It's a minor campy treat.
He plays Dr. Cruthers, a scientist who for years has made a business very rich with his own invented perfumes. But after getting cut out of the big profits for years, he concocts a formula that is an "aftershave" lotion where-in the victim puts the lotion on the neck and Cruthers lets out of his house a gigantic "devil bat" which he's created. The movie follows the typical investigation, the intrepid reporter out to crack the case, and the realization (dum-dum-dum!) that Cruthers, who everybody in town loves, is hatching a diabolical plot! AHH! Actually, the movie isn't very scary; one part where a woman sleeps in bed and the bat comes towards the house (intercut between the sleeping woman and some rare good shots of the bat "flying" in the sky) is kind of chilling in a silly way, but it's not scary cause of the bat.
Matter of fact, if gauging the success of The Devil Bat on just being scary, it's not really very good. But, if you're a Bela Lugosi fan, it's probably one of his best performances in these kinds of near-forgotten horror pics where he plays a scientist or doctor or creator of some giant thing to kill other things (maybe not the quintessential one, that goes to Bride of the Monster). The other actors fare well enough too, if usually just adequate for the material, and it's all very enjoyable - almost against one's better judgment for something like this. It's a minor campy treat.