Director: Jean Yarbrough (as Yarborough)
Writers: George Bricker, John T. Neville
Producer: Jack Gallagher
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Dave O’Brien, Suzanne Kaaren, Donald Kerr, Yolande Mallott aka Yolande Donlan; Guy Usher, Edmund Mortimer, Alan Baldwin, Gene O’Donnell, John Ellis, Arthur Q. Bryan, Hal Price, John Davidson, Wally Rairden
Heathville’s beloved physician Dr. Paul Carruthers (Bela Lugosi) uses electrical stimulation in his home laboratory to create giant killer bats. He has also formulated unique shaving lotions and perfumes to attract the bats to attack anyone wearing those scents. He dispenses the prototype products to the members of the Heath and Morton families. Dr. Carruthers feels that they have financially slighted him since he was responsible for the invention of the cold cream formula that launched their successful cosmetics company. One by one, the creature that the press labels “The Devil Bat” kills Heath and Morton family members.
The Flashback Fanatic movie review
The Devil Bat is the film that launched Bela Lugosi’s string of starring roles in low-budget fright flicks during the '40s. It was the only one he made at PRC, which was the most humble of all the Hollywood studios, yet their productions’ stories were usually more sensible than the wacky Lugosi-starring thrillers at Monogram Pictures.
Lugosi is the main reason this movie is still remembered. It is fun to watch his Dr. Carruthers relishing the results of his bat mutation process, fuming over his self-inflicted financial loss, and then carrying on like the kindly village doctor in public. It is the Lugosi name and his facility to make his role interesting with his mercurial mood swings that enliven the whole production. PRC stories were simple and direct and needed a colorful star like Lugosi to generate interest and energy.
Dr. Paul Carruthers is a real Renaissance man among mad scientists. He practices family medicine, formulates cosmetics, and conducts electrical experiments to mutate bats into monsters. In true crackpot mode, he is hell-bent on carrying out his wild revenge based on a slight that is entirely his own fault. He sold his cold cream concoction for a flat cash fee to the Heath and Morton families rather than become a partner in their company. Ever since, he’s been stewing over the big success of the company that he opted out of.
The most fun in The Devil Bat is when Lugosi’s Dr. Paul Carruthers dispenses his shaving lotion to his intended victims and bids them goodbye as a secret death sentence. Since some of his victims seem to be a bit spoiled or thoughtless regarding Carruthers, we can get a little satisfaction seeing them get it. One victim-to-be unwittingly rubs Carruthers’ face in the very reason that Carruthers has him targeted for death.
I also like the pair of newspaper reporters sent to cover the story of the Heathville killings. Dave O’Brien plays pistol packin’ newshound Johnny Layton. He is a smooth and assured presence that still comes across as a regular guy. His sidekick is the comedy relief half of the team, photographer “One-Shot” McGuire (Donald Kerr). They invariably irritate their grouchy editor (Arthur Q. Bryan) and clash with each other occasionally, but they still get the job done. Sure, these two are tropes so familiar to movies of this era, but these are also the workaday heroes that keep the public informed. Unlike the cynical, self-conscious posers passed off as the heroes of so many modern day movies and television shows, these are two guys that can laugh, foul up, and still express a little honest sentiment. They may be clichés, but they are human clichés.
Beyond the three characters of Carruthers, Layton, and McGuire, there is not much more human interest in this film. Suzanne Kaaren as Mary Heath is the female in the cast that is there to fall for our hero Johnny Layton. The film does not make that development the least bit interesting. It just happens because the filmmakers think the audience expects it. Photographer “One-Shot” McGuire also seems to instantly click with the Heath family’s pretty French maid Maxine (Yolande Mallot). At least that provides a bit of humor. If I had known being reporters could make guys such chick magnets, I would have majored in journalism.
The ethics of our heroes seem to be a little challenged, or Ethics was not included in their journalism courses. It is puzzling trying to figure out what will be accomplished by taking a phony picture of a prop bat to submit with their news story to their editor. This scheme blows up in Layton’s and McGuire’s faces and rightly gets them fired. It is a bit of silliness and added conflict to keep things perking in a short film with a simple plot.
The title monster is quite deftly deployed. We see it fly out of the mad doctor’s window and his auto trunk, soar through the treetops, and swoop down upon its victims. This is a pretty effective special effect for a very fast and cheap film. While some sort of wire work must have been used to maneuver the eagle-sized creature, despite the many times I have seen this film, I have been unable to detect the wires except, perhaps, for a single frame. Yeah, I know. I have too much free time.
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