The Devil Bat (1940)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Jean Yarbrough

Writers:

George Bricker (story)
John T. Neville (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Sharp Fanged Blood Sucking DEATH Dives from MIDNIGHT SKIES!

Plot:

A mad scientist develops an aftershave lotion that causes his gigantic bats to kill anyone who wears it.

Plot Keywords:

Bat | Mad Scientist | Aftershave Lotion | Reporter | Revenge

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Dr. Paul Carruthers
Suzanne Kaaren	...	Mary Heath
Dave O'Brien	...	Johnny Layton
Guy Usher	...	Henry Morton
Yolande Donlan	...	'Frenchy' (as Yolande Mallott)
Donald Kerr	...	'One-Shot' McGuire
Edmund Mortimer	...	Martin Heath (as Edward Mortimer)
Gene O'Donnell	...	Donald 'Don' Morton
Alan Baldwin	...	Thomas 'Tommy' Heath
John Ellis	...	Roy Heath
Arthur Q. Bryan	...	Joe McGinty
Hal Price	...	Chief Wilkins
John Davidson	...	Prof. Percival Garland Raines
Billy Griffith	...	Coroner (scenes deleted)
Wally Rairden	...	Walter King

Also Known As:

Killer Bats (USA) (16mm release title)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (2004) | USA:Approved (PCA #6897)

Company:

Producers Releasing Corporation

Trivia:

This low-budget thriller, boosted by Bela Lugosi, was one of the biggest successes for the poverty row Producers Releasing Corporaton (PRC). After the war, the studio tried to recapture this success by producing a non-sequel "sequel", Devil Bat's Daughter (1946), and a virtual shot-by-shot remake, The Flying Serpent (1946).

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Throughout the movie, references are made to Illinois locations (Chicago, Peoria, Springfield), yet the scenery shown at the beginning of the movie is clearly Californian.

Quotes:

Dr. Paul Carruthers: Now, rub it on the tender part of your neck.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

One for all of the REAL Lugosi fans!!!

One of Lugosi's best movies from his low-budget PRC and Monogram years. Lugosi is an inventor who creates an after-shave lotion that attracts giant "Killer Bat's" that he has created to kill off his enemyies! I bought this one along with "The Invisible Ghost" (another low-budget Lugosi romp) and was very pleased. Devil Bat is a very entertaining movie and has many fine points,including some very cool shots of giant bats attacking people and soaring out of an attic window. As well as a very impressive laboratory set. I have heard many many people bad mouth this movie and even heard some say "worse than an Ed Wood movie"! Watch this movie along with one of Karloffs "worst" films or any Ed Wood vid and you will see that even on his way down the movie scale that Bela Lugosi's magnetic presence could have even made "Die Monster Die" or "Night of the Ghouls" a good viewing experience!

After several viewings this leads me to conclude that those "Devil Bat" haters out there have never even seen the film itself,only read bad reviews and pre-judging from the very B-movie title. Trust me, this movie is well worth any real Lugosi fans time.