The Vampire Bat

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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 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 11/19/22 Full Review Audience Member Blobbo like. Period piece. Old. Pretty good. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member The was a cute wannabe "Universal Horror" film. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review 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 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member The Vampire Bat is an unexpectedly effective film. Although it is completely unapologetic about copying both Draculaand 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 in 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 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member A small town is suffering a rash of deaths that appear to be the work of a vampire ... wounds on the neck, blood drained, etc. Local cop Melvyn Douglas is skeptical, but the townsfolk are convinced and eccentric, bat-loving weirdo Dwight Frye is blamed. How is seemingly benevolent doctor Lionel Atwill connected. An enjoyable, brief little programmer with an impressive cast (Fay Wray is also here as a love interest for Douglas). Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Vampire Bat

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