The Vampire Bat

Released Jan 21, 1933

1h 3m

Horror

List

67%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

26%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

When corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, town elders suspect a vampire on the loose. Policeman Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) doubts the existence of vampires, but Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) argues to the contrary. Fingers point at the village idiot, Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye), but after local vigilantes get him out of the picture, the killings continue. Brettschneider then tries to keep a cool head as he searches for possibly supernatural answers.

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Chris M

Amazing how backwards people were still even in the 1930s. The truth is only more bizarre and dumber when you think about it. There is no real mystery to it. You see the character come on screen and instantly you say, "He did it." And you'd be right. It's not totally horrible but it is piss poor.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/19/22

Full Review

floyd b

The quality of the video and sound need to be updated, like some Charlie Chan and other old black/white movies have been. That would make the movie a truly enjoyable classic. Otherwise, the acting is entertaining.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Blobbo like. Period piece. Old. Pretty good.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

The was a cute wannabe "Universal Horror" film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

At the time a total cash grab, Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill had previously starred in Dr. X, and were about to film Mystery of the Wax Museum, when they made this little picture, the presence of Melvyn Douglas and the always creepy Dwight Frye add a bit more prestige to this film than most poverty row pictures usually had or deserved. The plot is beyond convoluted, to the point where you wonder why the film took such a hard right turn in about halfway through. However Atwill, Douglas and Wray keep everything watchable with Atwill getting to bring his scenery chewing up to an 11. Also worth noting since this film is in the public domain a lot of shit copies exist so finding a good one is hard to those early horror film purists out there who haven't seen it

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The Vampire BatÂ is an unexpectedly effective film. Although it is completely unapologetic about copying bothÂ DraculaandÂ Frankenstein, the recycled elements are combined in a highly imaginative way that seems to reflect a much clearer and more developed understanding of what a horror film could be than either Tod Browning or James Whale possessed in 1931. And while the recasting of traditionally supernatural horror commonplacesâ?? werewolves and zombies especiallyâ?? as the products of mad science would become a recurring theme of poverty-row fright films in the 1940â??s, few of those later movies would wed science to the supernatural with anything like the degree of care and craftsmanship on display inÂ The Vampire Bat. Von Niemannâ??s technology-driven vampirism has an internal logic to it which is extremely rare among very old horror films (except for that part about using Emil as a remote-control killerâ?? thatâ??s just plain silly), and the real nature of his research, when it is finally revealed, is both commendably ghoulish and commendably different from the earlier cinematic mad science which so obviously inspired it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Frank R. Strayer

Director

Lionel Atwill

Dr. Otto von Niemann

Melvyn Douglas

Karl Brettschneider

Fay Wray

Ruth Bertin

Dwight Frye

Herman Gleib

Maude Eburne

Aunt Gussie Schnappmann

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Poverty Row studio Majestic Pictures had quite the all-horror-star lineup when it debuted this moderately entertaining yarn.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 10, 2022

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

The movie is no timeless classic, but it's definitely a unique one-off.

Rated: 7/10

Jun 4, 2015

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 21, 2005

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rated: 3/5

Aug 29, 2003

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 1.5/5

May 4, 2003

Full Review

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Great cast and borrowed sets (from Universal) distinguish this poverty row thriller.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 29, 2002

Full Review

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Synopsis

When corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, town elders suspect a vampire on the loose. Policeman Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) doubts the existence of vampires, but Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) argues to the contrary. Fingers point at the village idiot, Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye), but after local vigilantes get him out of the picture, the killings continue. Brettschneider then tries to keep a cool head as he searches for possibly supernatural answers.

Director: Frank R. Strayer
Producer: Larry Darmour
Screenwriter: Edward T. Lowe Jr.
Distributor: Capitol Film Exchange Inc.
Production Co: Larry Darmour Productions
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 21, 1933, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 3m

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