Cristi_Ciopron PRC made this modest, often funny horror movie about a village doctor's revenge: Carruthers is a disgruntled scientist (as guessed by the policeman), turned insane, who feels robbed of his discoveries' benefits, through his own business mistake; the people he works for aren't spared, neither by himself, nor by the script. It results in an enjoyable movie. To the complainers: such movies were made to be humorous. In this one, there's no mystery, but the wish to see how many does Dr. Carruthers manage to kill, before he's caught. Moreover, the fact that the reporter understands the trick from the start is meant as funny, and as boosting the suspense.To a fan of cheap horror movies like this, Carruthers' laboratory looked well; he's a village doctor and also a chemist, working for a cosmetics company, the owners of which made a fortune on his behalf, while one of them pretends to even envy him for the joys he has working in his laboratory. 'The Devil Bat' is atmospheric, with a nice sense of the sets: Carruthers' laboratory (two rooms, one with glasses for chemicals and a drawer, the other with electric equipment; plus the attic), and the Heath estate's garden.We understand that Dr. Carruthers was indeed a bright scientist, who works almost unpaid in a village, for greedy employers who throw him tips once in a while, while the cretin professor gives radio lectures. And Lugosi does a good job in showing his character's anger.Lugosi conveyed well sadness, disillusionment, disappointment; we can understand why a man is upset, depressed, not only angered, when patronized by enriched jerks, while cretins are nationally-known professors. You can see why one is angered and upset by these things; if it's true the initial business mistake was his own, the insults he receives, the patronizing behaviors, the offending generosity of his bosses are real.There are several funny one-liners, more often Lugosi's, when he utters sardonic quips about his future victims, while offering them the deadly lotion.I liked the movie's sense of humor, with Carruthers' lines about Tibet, or with the clueless professor giving radio lectures, or the editor's reply about his reporter's many lies; then there's also the hoax with the bat made by the taxidermist, at the reporters' request. An early postmodernist self-awareness gives the episode of the bat made by the taxidermist, which is a wholesome joke about special effects, while the professor's sharpness in observing the label means the absurdity of the curmudgeons; the neat script derides the imbeciles' eagerness to detect the hoaxes, etc..'The Devil Bat' gives its lead the chance to play an insane scientist and have his own laboratory, and there's joy in filming that. Lugosi has some exquisite moments (as when he drives, followed by Guy Usher; or, at the beginning, when, in the loneliness of his home, he thinks about his bosses, the employers whom he enriched). The scene of Guy Usher's condescension's was good, making believable Carruthers' urge to murder him.The quirk was neat, and the deduction could of dragged; even Lugosi makes fun of the lucky guess of the reporter who associated the killings with the lotion. The script teases the audience with the detectives' sharpness: they guess quickly and easily that the lotion has to do with the murders, that the wrongdoer has to be a disgruntled person working for Heath (but the same policeman who guessed that refuses to believe Carruthers could be the disgruntled man …); so that, instead of playing off the silliness and obtuseness of its characters, the script takes the opposite, more surprising path: the reporter, even the professor, the 4th victim take the cues, and so does Dr. Carruthers himself, when he leaves his hat and returns to pick it from the desk, after he made an imprudence while angry.The body count is reasonably high, and one more sympathetic to Dr. Carruthers may feel relieved that the chemist got at least part of his revenge.Suzanne Kaaren, as the Heath daughter, makes a good impression, though not necessarily by her acting.

Spikeopath Imbecile, Bombastic, Ignoramus.The Devil Bat is directed by Jean Yarbrough and written by George Bricker and John T. Neville. It stars Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Donald Kerr and Gary Usher. Straight out of Poverty Row is this PRC production that's as bonkers as it is fun. Plot sees Lugosi as a fed up cosmetic chemist who decides that the company he provides his inventions for have not done right by him financially. So in his secret laboratory at home he breeds big killer bats, bats that he rears to kill anyone wearing the scent of aftershave lotion that he has handed out to the targets of his ire. As the bodies begin to mount up and the press whip up a devil bat on the loose storm, journalists Henry Layden (O'Brien) and "One Shot McGuire" close in on the source of the town's terror.The low budget is often evident, be it props and sets that shouldn't move etc, but at just over an hour in length this gets in and does its job with a sort of carefree abandon that is to be admired. Lugosi is having fun shifting from borderline mania to crafty dastard with a sense of humour, and of course there are big scary bats that shriek before homing in for the girl. Result! The flaws are obvious throughout, not least that Lugosi ends up playing second fiddle to the journalists' blend of bravado and buffoonery, but as time fillers go, and as Lugosi's Poverty Row Horrors go, this is impossible to dislike and not have a good time with. 6/10

DarthVoorhees I don't have any pretensions of diluting my good senses to call 'The Devil Bat' a good movie because it really isn't. It is a really stupid and poorly conceived thriller which shows the general bottom of the barrel production values and directing in every shot. It stars the great Bela Lugosi in a great performance and I very much say that without any reservations or irony intended. Bela Lugosi is absolutely terrific here because he takes this ridiculous material with all the sincerity in the world. It takes a special kind of actor that is willing to treat crap like Shakespeare and unfortunately for Bela he was forced to do this a great many times. 'The Devil Bat' is a bad movie but it is a brilliant bad movie propped up by Lugosi and a plot so stupid that it actually kind of transcends it's stupidity and is enjoyable through the scope of Lugosi's performance. I was never bored watching 'The Devil Bat' and I often quite enjoyed it's campiness and that is the best compliment you can give a film like this. Of course what separates this from forgotten poverty row thrillers is Bela Lugosi, the tragic horror super star who experienced brilliant highs and agonizing lows in his career. 'The Devil Bat' is not as bad as some of the other pictures he made. I recommend this over the Ed Wood pictures though because it is a good performance and a much more watchable film that flows much smoother. I imagine people going into 'Plan 9', 'Bride of the Monster', or 'Glen or Glenda' wanted something more like 'The Devil Bat' which indulges in the fact that it stars Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is 'exploited'(take it in what connotation you want) for all he is worth. Essentially Lugosi is doing a horror film commercial for after shave and it is very fun to see him deliver on this goofy premise. Lugosi has a perfect mix between the sinister intentions of the character and a goof ball salesman. It is a hoot seeing him hawk his product with the oblivious customers because they are usually horrible actors and because Lugosi out acts them. I had a great time with his performance and I think anyone drawn to the film because they are Lugosi fans will too.There isn't really anything else to talk about here. The script is dumb, the production values are laughable, and the acting aside from Lugosi is unwatchable(I wish there was a version of the film with the non-Lugosi scenes edited out). I recommend the film to anyone who is a Lugosi fans and has that occasional wish to enjoy something they know is terrible.

LeonLouisRicci Screechy giant bat swoops down again and again to munch on wearers of a Tibetan formula after shave, invented to take revenge on those money grubbers who "swindled", by the disgruntled scientist played by the forever willing to work Bela Lugosi. This ultra-low budget programmer has one reason to exist to this day. The aforementioned Mr. Lugosi and his hordes of devoted fans. It seems to them that he can do no wrong, and maybe he doesn't, expect that he appears here and we are subjected to the rest, if we are to pay homage.The film is terrible in almost every respect. The mad lab scenes are slightly effective, and the bat itself is passable, but both are used to extreme tedium. The acting and script is "read" to little more than recitation and the whole wretched mess is not fun to watch even for "bad" movie aficionados.So, new viewers be warned, and the rest...give it a rest...and call it what it is. A plodding, pathetic movie from all involved, except...you guessed it...Bela Lugosi, but even he cannot do anything more than make it a reason to screen and that's just not enough.