LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

hte-trasme I just watched The Devil Bat for the first time since I was a child. I remembered Bela Lugosi, the central plot device of murder by means of an aftershave that attracts killer bats, and the fact that everyone in the movie seems to listen to exactly the same radio station at exactly the same time. All those elements are still there, and though the last one only occurs once, it still seems like an amusingly silly way of conveying exposition. But much less prevalent than the cinema cliché of panning, zooming, and spinning newspapers, which appear here constantly. Perhaps that's more appropriate than normal, though, since two of our main characters are reporters.The Devil Bat has been one of the more enduring of Lugosi's cheap "poverty row" horror/mystery roles, no doubt because it remains highly entertaining and watchable despite, or perhaps because of the fact that everything that happens in in the realm of high silliness with horror trappings. Lugosi is a scientist (which here apparently means both a physician and a perfume chemist) who cashed out early after making a perfume formula for a successful company, and now thinks the company's fortune should be his. So his solution is to murder the family who runs the company in a very convoluted fashion. The concept is, well, batty. And from an acting standpoint, you can't say Lugosi makes this character "believable." Nobody could make someone doing this believable. But is is very entertainingly creepy, which is exactly his job.Because we know from the start what he is doing, this can't be a traditional mystery. But it's well-paced enough that we still follow the other characters as they inevitably move towards finding the solution we already know. And we don't blame them for not guessing such an unlikely scenario. Reporter Johnny is our hero. He's a little hard to take seriously as he spends most of the film wearing a tie with a huge question-mark pattern on it. Perhaps he is secretly The Doctor.He gets fired after his photographer "One-Shot" fakes a news photo of the devil bat. But he rather unbelievably wants to keep working on the story despite no longer technically being a reporter since he as no one to report to. When they find out more about the case their boss rather shockingly wants to hire them back, despite the fact that at least one of them provably fabricated his earlier journalism.But it's all part of the comic relief, which is still fun working alongside the unintentional comic non-relief. And though the film is clearly quite low-budgeted, its hows that more in its flimsy castle set (of course, all doctor-scientist-perfumers live in castles) than in its devil bats.There's very little objectively "good" about this movie, but it's everything a fun B movie should be.

dougdoepke An inventor gets revenge on his treacherous employer and family by programming vampire bats to attack them.Wow, those devil bats look more like eagles than little flying mammals. I thought they might have to get a fighter plane to knock them down. Still, this is a tightly scripted, more believable than most, horror film. Sure, it's got its hokey elements; plus, it's a PRC production meaning the exterior sets are about ten-feet by ten-feet. But at least, Lugosi doesn't have to mug it up all the time. In fact, his nice guy is pretty persuasive, even if he's got his mad scientist moments. Good thing Dave O'Brien's around. He's really lively, more than expected for such a cheapo. And please, I'm lusting after the maid, Yolande Donlan. I can see why ace filmmaker Val Guest scooped her up for his prestige productions. Anyhow, this is a better than average little thriller that understandably led to several sequels. Thanks to the movie, however, I won't be using shaving lotion unless the window's closed and I'm going to bed.

Scott LeBrun Out of the "poverty row" productions that star Bela Lugosi made during this period, the diverting "The Devil Bat" is considered to be one of his most notorious - and it's a certainly fun one, although that has a lot to do with Bela himself, who gives his all as usual. The premise makes for agreeably goofy entertainment; direction (by Jean Yarbrough), script (by John T. Neville), and acting are all basically adequate.Bela plays Dr. Carruthers, the beloved and supposedly benevolent doctor in the employ of a cosmetics company in a small town. He's actually quite disgruntled because he hasn't been sufficiently rewarded for his special formula (although this is largely his own fault because of a choice he made). Now he breeds bats in his private laboratory, grows them to a large size, and trains them to savagely attack any person unlucky enough to dab on his super duper "experimental" shaving lotion. A reporter, Johnny Layton (Dave O'Brien), attempts to solve the mystery."The Devil Bat" is much more amusing than scary, but it's so damn amusing that it's a hoot to watch. Bela looks to be enjoying himself in the lead. The ladies present are attractive: Suzanne Kaaren as Mary Heath, and Yolande Donlan as French accented maid Maxine. O'Brien is likable as the reporter who's not as pushy or obnoxious as some reporter characters from this time period. Donald Kerr adds silly comedy relief as his goof ball photographer / sidekick "One-Shot" McGuire. Adding to the appeal is the way the movie cuts from obviously phony prop bats in wide shots to close ups of real bats. And it's nice to see some of the trappings from the horror films of the time, such as the obligatory laboratory equipment and the secret passageways.This is the kind of thing that gets high marks for entertainment value, if not quality.Seven out of 10.

DarthVoorhees I don't have any pretensions of diluting my good senses to call 'The Devil Bat' a good movie because it really isn't. It is a really stupid and poorly conceived thriller which shows the general bottom of the barrel production values and directing in every shot. It stars the great Bela Lugosi in a great performance and I very much say that without any reservations or irony intended. Bela Lugosi is absolutely terrific here because he takes this ridiculous material with all the sincerity in the world. It takes a special kind of actor that is willing to treat crap like Shakespeare and unfortunately for Bela he was forced to do this a great many times. 'The Devil Bat' is a bad movie but it is a brilliant bad movie propped up by Lugosi and a plot so stupid that it actually kind of transcends it's stupidity and is enjoyable through the scope of Lugosi's performance. I was never bored watching 'The Devil Bat' and I often quite enjoyed it's campiness and that is the best compliment you can give a film like this. Of course what separates this from forgotten poverty row thrillers is Bela Lugosi, the tragic horror super star who experienced brilliant highs and agonizing lows in his career. 'The Devil Bat' is not as bad as some of the other pictures he made. I recommend this over the Ed Wood pictures though because it is a good performance and a much more watchable film that flows much smoother. I imagine people going into 'Plan 9', 'Bride of the Monster', or 'Glen or Glenda' wanted something more like 'The Devil Bat' which indulges in the fact that it stars Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is 'exploited'(take it in what connotation you want) for all he is worth. Essentially Lugosi is doing a horror film commercial for after shave and it is very fun to see him deliver on this goofy premise. Lugosi has a perfect mix between the sinister intentions of the character and a goof ball salesman. It is a hoot seeing him hawk his product with the oblivious customers because they are usually horrible actors and because Lugosi out acts them. I had a great time with his performance and I think anyone drawn to the film because they are Lugosi fans will too.There isn't really anything else to talk about here. The script is dumb, the production values are laughable, and the acting aside from Lugosi is unwatchable(I wish there was a version of the film with the non-Lugosi scenes edited out). I recommend the film to anyone who is a Lugosi fans and has that occasional wish to enjoy something they know is terrible.