The Devil Bat

All is not well in Heathville, the town where cosmetic magnates live off the wealth and riches made from the purchase of a cold cream formula from benevolent scientist Dr. Carruthers. Or is Dr. Carruthers as nice as he seems? Maybe, while others sleep, he experiments with bats and somehow comes up with some huge bat that kills people that have used a specially formulated cologne or aftershave. Such is the premise of The Devil Bat, with the addition of a couple wise-cracking, no-acting newspaper men thrown in for extra measure. The film was one of those Poverty Row features made by Bela Lugosi in the forties, and if anything, it is fun to watch. But that does not mean it is good. Lugosi hams up his scenes with outrageous speeches and the usual flair only he can give. The rest of the cast is very unspectacular as is the script, the special effects, the budget, and the direction. Speaking of direction, this film WAS directed by the man who would later bring us Hillbillys in a Haunted House. Enough said!

Bela Lugosi will always be remembered as one of the greatest horror stars of all time for 'Dracula'. Less than ten years later he was forced to star in third rate material like 'The Devil Bat'. He had supporting roles in a couple of good movies like 'The Wolf Man' (with Lon Chaney and Claude Rains) and 'The Body Snatcher' (with Karloff) after this, but for the most part his career was in severe decline, culminating in the awful (but awfully entertaining) movies he made with Ed Wood, Jr. ('Glen Or Glenda', 'Bride Of The Monster' and very briefly, 'Plan 9 From Outer Space') 'The Devil Bat' is b-grade all the way, with a lousy script, uninspired direction, a ridiculous looking "devil bat", and a forgettable supporting cast, led by 'Reefer Madness' Dave O'Brien. The only reason to watch this is Lugosi. Sometimes he seems to be actually trying, at others he hams it up. Either way he's great to watch. He plays a scientist who works for a hugely successful perfume company. In his laboratory he experiments on a bat with electricity which makes it grow very large, and that, combined with his new aftershave which contains a Tibetan scent which enrages the bat(!), becomes his method or vengeance on his employers. You think I'm making this up, don't you? Look, this is a silly movie, but if you're a Lugosi fan you'll have fun.

I've seen this many times since my childhood. Probably a few dozen times... Yet, every once in a while, I'll take out my best video copy of it, and play it again. When it was screened on TCM last Halloween I was pleased as punch.

-- By the way, on that Halloween, TCM screened several other Lugosi low-budget films--- all considered bad by critics, but for some unexplainable reason, All very entertaining, and (dare I say it?) ALL were GREAT FUN to watch! (some of them were: "Scared to Death", "The Mysterious Mr. Wong", and "White Zombie").

-- Yes, I enjoyed "The Devil Bat". Another commenter on this film said it was so awful that it should be counted among the "100 worst films". That same commenter said he thought Lugosi only did "bad" films for Ed Wood.

I have news for him, and everyone else: Lugosi NEVER made any bad films!

"The Devil Bat" may be low-budget nonsense (as were Ed Wood's efforts), but it is still being discovered by new generations of film buffs. It's still "In-Print" in both VHS and DVD format (and still selling), and it's still being shown on both local and cable-network TV.

That commenter may be interested to know that Bela Lugosi made NINE low-budget films for Monogram (far more than he made for Ed Wood) as well as films for PRC and other poverty-row studios.

"The Devil Bat" may be tripe, but it's GOOD tripe, and it makes for fun viewing. Kind of like "Spooks Run Wild" (which Lugosi made with The East Side Kids), and "The Gorilla" (which he made at 20th/Fox, with Patsy Kelly and Lionel Atwill). --By the way-- The Ritz Brothers, who were billed as the 'stars' of "The Gorilla," turned in totally forgettable performances.

-- Let's not leave out "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla", or "Vampire Over London" which Lugosi made in England, with Arthur Lucan in drag as Mother Riley (also known as: "Mother Riley Meets the Vampire").

-- In fact, Arthur Lucan's entire late-1940's-to-early-1950's series of "Mother Riley" films (all of which starred Lucan in "old-lady" drag) could have taught Ed Wood a few things about low-budget film-making.

Ed Wood may have a well deserved reputation for having made "bad, but fun to watch" films, but he sure wasn't the first one to do it.

I've always liked "The Devil Bat". I rated it 6.

This is one of the poverty-row pictures from Bela's history. The plot is an important lesson in avoiding passive-aggression. Bela plays a brilliant chemist who creates a formula, then sells it to his bosses for $10,000. The company proceeds to make a mint, and decides to give him another $5,000 bonus to express their thanks. Lugosi decides this isn't enough, but, even though they're very friendly and approachable, he doesn't ask them for more. Instead, he goes back to his lab and creates a giant maniacal bat that kills everyone wearing after-shave. Now, I ask you, how is that going to solve anything? Even assuming that he could kill off the whole of the family that wronged him, and that he could get away with it, he'd still be poor. Anyway, I like Lugosi in this one pretty well, partly because he balances his "friendly Dr. Caruthers" and his Mad Scientist pretty nicely. Dave O'Brien as the unethical but honest reporter is fun to watch as well.

The plot is pretty well laid out here already, so I'll just say that THE DEVIL BAT is one of the best Bela Lugosi poverty-row horrors. It was made for Producers Releasing Corp (PRC) in 1940. I think it's as good, perhaps better than any of the titles in his Monogram resume. In general, PRC delivered the goods with their horror pictures, and if what you're looking for is peak Bela madness- wild eyed and possessed, than DEVIL BAT will definitely satisfy. A sequel, DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER, came in 1946, and GEORGE ZUCCO starred in a remake, THE FLYING SERPENT, in 1946.