Starring: Bela Lugosi, Dave O’Brien, Suzanne Kaaren, Donald Kerr, Edward Mortimer, Guy Usher, Alan Baldwin, John Ellis, Hal Price, Yolande Mallott

Directed by: Jean Yarborough

The Story: I'm not a great big fan of old horror movies. They just don't do anything for me. They never scare me. I can't think of an old black and white horror movie that I found scary. Well, maybe The Invisible Man. It wasn't scary, but it was pretty good. Of course when one thinks of old B&W horror movies one probably thinks of Bela Lugosi. Its ironic that poor Lugosi died penniless, but is considered an icon of horror. When I think of Mad Scientists I usually think of Lugosi...I don't know if its because he does the role of a mad scientist so well, or because I laughed my ass off watching him in "Bride of the Monster". (on MST3K)

In this movie, Lugosi plays Dr. Caruthers. Caruthers is pissed off, you see, because he made a mistake. Working with perfume magnates Henry Morton and Martin Heath, Caruthers took a cash option in the business instead of becoming a full partner. Morton and Heath made a bundle of money using fragrances that Caruthers developed. The doctor feels that he got the short end of the tick and has an elaborate revenge plan.

Hey, he's a scientist! In movie terms that means he can do anything even remotely scientific. He can develop perfumes and shaving lotions and also turn an ordinary mouse sized bat into a big honking bulldog sized bat! Don't ask me how that works...he just plugs the bat into some electrodes, throws a switch and viola. Giant bat! Using some kind of scented oil he discovered in Tibet, Caruthers is able to make the "Devil" Bat attack people he wants dead. The first two victims are the sons of his hated partner, Martin Heath.

I don't know a whole lot about bats. When I was younger we had bats in our house frequently. Our house was next to a large wooded area. On warm summer nights we could see the bats streaming out of the trees. One of the pastimes we had as kids was to throw rocks up in the air and watch the bats chase them to the ground. I had no idea that bats would also attack things with certain smells. Still, most of the bats that flew into our house were easily dispatched by my broom swinging grandmother. None of them were big friggin fifty pound bats though.

The murders attract newspaper reporter Johnny Layton and his photographer, One-Shot McGuire. Its a good thing too, because the police (all ONE of them) are useless. all of the victims have Caruthers's new shaving lotion on them and have the jugulars ripped apart, but the only person to even think about making connection to the doctor is Layton. Of course everyone else poopoos this idea....even the sister of the dead men, Mary Heath. Doc Caruthers responsible for the mysterious devil bat? No way! He's a kindly old gentleman! Why, Caruthers is the guy they call every time the bat strikes. So not only is he a chemist and a giant bat maker, he's also a medical doctor! Scientists can do anything.

Layton tests his theory by using some of Caruthers new shaving lotion on himself. At night the Devil Bat comes after him and attacks One-Shot instead. Layton manages to kill the Devil Bat before his friend is killed, but you would think that would deep six his theory. After all, One-Shot doesn't have any of the lotion on him and the bat went right after him! (Maybe the bat just doesn't like short wisecracking' guys) Well, we all know that Layton can't die by Bat attack. He's the only one in the flick that can modestly reason anything. For instance, Caruthers has a conversation with Morton where he practically admits his guilt and it Morton doesn't get it at first. By the time Morton begins to figure out that Caruthers is the murderer its too late....for him at least! ( I like the way the devil Bat is supposed to sever the jugulars of its victims but no blood is seen on anyone)

Layton manages to turn the tables on Caruthers. He douses him in the shaving lotion so when the devil Bat makes its nightly appearance it goes after its creator. There's no real poetic justice here friends...you'd expect that the bat would kill its creator. That's just the way Mad scientists usually get killed. Especially in cheesy B&W horror movies.

This movie is just over an hour long, though it felt a little longer. That's due to the fact that some parts are a little padded. When we first meet Caruthers in the movie the film burns up several minutes showing him dinking around with his Bat Growing Mad Scientist Kit. The bat itself is laughable, but forgivable. After all, its not like they had any CGI or Harryhausen stop motion technology in 1940. Its of little matter, because the movie is pretty fun to watch just to waste some time. Knowing that Lugosi would end up in silly Ed Wood movies makes watching him here a hoot.

If you seek this movie out, be advised, you can get it on a disc with White Zombie on it too. Probably for 6 bucks or less. So if you enjoy collecting silly old movies this might be a buy for you. At any rate, this movie might have scared my momma, but its only a drop in the pond compared to the other horrors found in the Inferno.

Best Lines:  “Your brain is too feeble to conceive what I have accomplished in the realm of science!” -Caruthers in full Mad Scientist mode.

 Are you kidding me?

1.) Bela, Bela, Bela....what's up wit dem goggles man? I mean, it doesn't look like your Bat electrifying kit is throwing sparks or anything....and you're behind a door anyway! Mad scientist labs in these old movies always crack me up.

2.) Speaking of old movies, I'd bet that a bonus check of 5 grand was a big deal way back in 1940....and make no mistake, I wouldn't snub my nose at five thousand big ones right now....but it does lose a bit of its impact when you view in the context of today. 5 thou is a lot of money, but it ain't that much money. I'll bet though in 1940 you could by a house with it!

3.) Okay, I'm confused. While trying to sort out clues about Roy's death, Mary, Caruthers and Layton discuss the events. They suspect a wild animal killed Roy. Layton says when an animal attacks a person there's usually a lot noise....Ms. Heath (Mary) testified there wasn't any. Then Mary chimes in "No, only those awful screams.". Um, aren't awful screams considered noise? I mean what kind of sound did they expect? A brass band? Awful screams are EXACTLY the kind of sound you would expect to hear if someone were being attacked by a wild animal!

4.) I've seen some cheap ass stupid things in movies, but this has got to be one of my favorites.....One Shot and Layton are sitting in the Heath Garden, holding vigil to try and catch the Devil Bat. One-Shot asks Layton what time it is....Layton pulls his sleeve back looks and says "After midnight."...but...but Layton isn't wearing a watch! He motioned as if he were pulling his sleeve back to look at his watch but you can clearly see that he isn't sporting one! Are you telling me that the producer or the director couldn't have just given this guy a watch to wear for that? Did they think that no one would notice that? I did and I'm not very observant! Dumbass movie.

5.) Jeez! How many bullets does it take to kill the devil Bat? Layton shot it about five or six times! From a distance of about four feet! Actually the real amazing thing is that he didn't hit One-Shot! The bat was attacking him at the time and from the angle I find it hard to believe that he didn't shoot the photographer by accident.

Nudity and Sex: None.

Huh?:

Dr. Caruthers house doesn't match the exterior and interior shots. From the outside it looks like a large European style house but the inside looks like a castle....well, a castle set from a High School production of Excalibur maybe. And if you'll note, when Roy leaves the Doc's house, he steps directly outside from what looks to be the Doc's lab. Now call me picky, but it looks like the doctor has set up his lab in the living room! That's dedication!

It sure looks awfully bright in the "night" time shots of the Devil Bat flying around.

Tommy Heath sure spends a lot of time yelling when the Devil Bat attacks him and fails to kill him in the first swoop. Enough time that you'll wonder why he just didn't step into the house instead of standing there for 15 seconds allowing another (fatal) attack. And speaking of that scene, where did Layton get that pistol? did newspaper reporters routinely carry firearms in the 40's? (Maybe they did....its not like I was around then....I really don't know)

Ha! After Tommy's death, we get to see an overly long sequence of newspaper headlines announcing the "Mysterious Devil Bat killed Tommy heath". When I say overly long, I mean it. Was life so boring in the 1940's that this story was on the headlines of several papers? Wasn't there a war going on in Europe at that time?

Ooooh boy....the newspapers we see after Layton kills the Devil Bat are wrong....I almost didn't catch this....in the first one it says reporter HENRY Layton killed the devil bat, blah,blah, blah.....but as we all know, Layton's first name is Johnny. Admittedly his name is correct in the next article. But its still a flub, so I'm gonna point it out.

I didn't know bats could hover. Especially a 50 pound bat.

The Final Judgment: A chuckle worthy installment to the Infernal archives, Devil Bat receives three devil heads. By no means is this a good movie, but its a decent one for those of us that enjoy stuff like this. Any one who has a phobia about bats will find that this flick will cure them. After watching it you'll only be able to giggle uncontrollably every time you see one of the flying rodents.