Sorry, this movie sucks

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Crappy film

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Bodies found, drained of blood. Two marks found on the jugulars of their necks.....The Burgermeister, fears there is an outbreak of vampirism.....Howling wolves create the mood of the horror setting.....The movie, is slow going. There appears to be no real encounters with the vampire bat at the beginning of the film; past the opening sequence.As with many of the remembered classic horrors, there is a doctor with a laboratory.The first sighting of the vampire bat, is a shadow that teases of the attack of a vampire.There appears to be a decent gathering of talent that worked on the film. The story seems to play on superstitions of the time.I feel, that there could have been more adversary interaction; and perhaps some kind of background score, to increase the suspense.Regardless, I feel that The Vampire Bat; is a good movie, and it should appeal to fans of Dracula and of other classical horror films.

I watched "The Vampire Bat" a couple of days after watching "Murders In The Zoo", also with Lionel Atwill, also made in 1933. The comedown in production quality is notable - there is a reason why you have heard of Paramount but not of "Majestic Pictures"! There is some impressive (subjective) camera-work, and the plot touches peripherally on the lynch-mob-mentality topic, but the film is excessively talky, and about as (un)surprising as a Scooby Doo episode. Atwill is perfectly cast, but his presence is a mixed blessing; it means than you know immediately who the villain of the story is. Fay Wray is highly desirable - even the camera loves her. ** out of 4.

Fresh from the success of Bela Lugosi in "Dracula" and his low-budget success "White Zombie" came this slightly above average horror melodrama where an "A" list cast, on loan to an independent studio, seem to be having a blast camping it up. "King Kong's" Fay Wray and "The Old Dark House's" Melvyn Douglas are the romantic leads in this Gothic thriller where townspeople are systematically killed off by some sort of mysterious creature. Werewolf? Vampire? Or even an actual vampire bat? There are genuine chills for the bedridden old lady who has nightmares over being a victim, and the shots of the actual victims being approached by a shadowy figure are moderately frightening. When a loony towns person is confronted, there is a Frankenstein monster like chase into a dangerous cave where the Renfield like character (played by none other than Dwight Frye, of course) continues to protest his innocence. The actual motivation for the killings is never quite explained even though the atmosphere is eerie and the music (stolen from "White Zombie") is appropriately haunting. Performances by Lionel Atwill as the town's kindly doctor and salty Maude Eburne as Wray's aunt are other highlights.

Tod Browning was probably very pleased if he ever saw this movie, as the plot is so similar to his London After Midnight (1927), and later remake The Mark Of The Vampire (1935)he would have been very complimented at such stealing! A top notch cast including Melvyn Douglas, Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill and Dwight Frye try hard to make The Vampire Bat believable, and it has some nice atmospheric touches and ghoulish moments; but it also has a totally ludicrous solution to the mystery and Maude Eburne, who makes Una O'Connor look like someone you'd love to spend an evening with! The story concerns a series of vampire-like murders in the German village of Kleinschloss. The local oddball Herman is a chief suspect due to his penchant for visiting victims the night before they were murdered and making pets from the local bat population. The locals, obviously having just moved from Ingoldstadt near the Frankenstein residence, pursue him to his death, which they hope will solve the problem. Kindly Dr. Otto Von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) even admits that it looks like Herman (Dwight Frye) could be the one responsible. The local police inspector (Douglas) finds himself beginning to agree. You know where this is going, don't you? Atwill can act this sort of stuff on his head, and he's always welcome and value for money. He really needed a better script, as it's not very clear exactly what he's trying to achieve. Frankenstein creates a man-monster, Von Niemann what looks like a bath sponge!The Vampire Bat never gels very well but it does have its moments, notably a medical blood draining session and some shadowy sequences with the murderer leaping across the rooftops near the beginning of the film. I won't go any further into the story other than to say it ends in a rather nasty case of...Epsom Salts! What is of interest is the cast. As well as the horror regulars mentioned above we also have Lionel Belmore (Frankenstein) Robert Frazer (White Zombie) and Rita Carlisle (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) to round things out and its always fun to watch such actors go through their usual routines. A minor entry then in the early 30s horror boom, not without compensation.