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The Devil Bat | Year: 1940 Classification: Horror Directed: - Jean Yarbrough Actors/Actresses: - Bela Lugosi It's good cheese! This is a bad movie, but it's good-bad, and a lot of fun. If you enjoy poverty-row horror flicks or are a big Lugosi fan, this is for you. The basic plot: Bela Lugosi plays a mad scientist (is there any other kind?) who, in addition to his day job in product development for a cosmetics company, breeds giant killer bats. He uses the bats to avenge himself for various wrongs. The usual dopey horror-flick characters are in there, too. The usual sort of murderous mayhem ensues. This is a Producers Releasing Corporation film -- the bottom of the barrel as far as poverty row goes. The film, however, is fun in a very cheesy sort of way. The director (Jean Yarbrough) went on to direct some "Addams Family" episodes. If you enjoyed "The Corpse Vanishes" (1942) or "Scared to Death" (1946), you will enjoy this one too. Those titles are available on DVD with "The Devil Bat" in double features, for those of you who like your cheesy horror flicks by the pound. I would also recommend this if you want to invite friends over to give a film the "Mystery Science Theater" treatment Bela Goes Batty! Dr. Paul Carruthers (Bela Lugosi) is a scientist who invents new fragrances for a successful aftershave maker. His failure to invest in the company has left him without the millions he feels he deserves. Carruthers is a bitter man who has sworn revenge. How? Does he plan to sue for his fair share of the profits? Nah, the sinister doc creates a small army of giant, mutant, killer bats to exact his vengeance! These fuzzy monsters are attracted by a new aftershave lotion he's formulated in his secret laboratory. He gets his intended targets to splash some on their faces. One by one, the victims are attacked, their throats ripped out by soaring, shrieking, stuffed devil bats! Bela is priceless as always. This movie belongs in every horror collection... THE povery-row Lugosi film Here's a nice treat: Bela Lugosi Jr. has acquired to rights to some of his famous father's lesser films, and the first offering is the lovable, laughable PRC programmer THE DEVIL BAT. Bela is Dr. Carruthers, plotting the death of his enemies by training giant mutated bats to attack those who wear the doc's new experimental shaving lotion. Bela has some great, darkly-comic dialogue. When one intended victim comments on how smooth the new lotion is, Carruthers offers, "I don't think you'll ever wear anything else." THE DEVIL BAT has, of course, been previously available on DVD and VHS, in various conditions. The best previous DVD release is certainly the one offered by Roan. This new "official" version compares favorably to the Roan disc, though acute listeners might find the sound is a touch clearer on this new disc. Bela Lugosi Jr. partners with genre critic Ted Newsom for an interesting commentary track, which unfortunately shows how little Bela Jr. actually knows about the film. There are 2 other Lugosi theatrical trailers (but not one for Devil Bat?), some archival photos and a pretty neat audio-only feature: A radio play from the 1940's starring Bela. If you're a fan of these type of "poverty row" horrors, DEVIL BAT will certainly make your day. If you're a fan of his more popular Universal features, this is a good introduction to a very different career path that poor ol' Bela got stuck on around 1940. Buy The Devil Bat at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Devil Bat Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Devil Bat This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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