rdoyle29 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).

Leofwine_draca This is a derivative and quite frankly dreary old horror flick that owes much of its plot and inspiration to Dracula. There's the same kind of plot, with a lot of mysterious deaths in a remote village, blood loss and all. Except here there are no actors like Bela Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan to enjoy, only Lionel Atwill who puts in a rather impassive performance. There's also a lack of focus to the story (there's a rather large lull and then a sudden burst of plot in the last twenty minutes) and also a noticeable lack of action. No music either seems to drag the pacing of this film down to snail-speed, so this one is definitely for fans of the genre only, people who know what they're letting themselves in for.The trouble with this film is the characters; none of them really do much and most of the roles are quite boring and lacking in intrigue. Lionel Atwill - a much underrated horror star of the period, mixing classics like MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and enjoyable low budget gems like MURDERS IN THE ZOO - has a great, menacing screen presence but is given no material to work with. If only the director had given him the opportunity to act up a little more and put some meat into his part. Similarly, famed screamer Fay Wray is almost unnoticeable in her serviceable role, her inclusion seemingly just to have a female face around. She is in the background for most of the time and is only put in danger once, at the end. If I remember correctly she doesn't even get the opportunity to scream! Melvyn Douglas is the bland policeman hero, so that leaves only Dwight Frye to put some life into the film. Frye plays a madman, a virtual reprisal of his Renfield role from Dracula, and is by far the most enjoyable thing in this film.Some atmosphere is built up as this film proceeds, but it's wasted in a finale which reveals that the supernatural is not to blame for the vampiric deaths. To make matters worse, there's even a "cheat" at the end which allows our heroes to escape with their lives intact, let's just say that it's a plot point that jumps suddenly out of nowhere with no warning. It's like the scriptwriters couldn't think of a way to finish the film so just made the first thing up that came into their heads instead. Overall, THE VAMPIRE BAT is an effectively brooding and atmospheric little B-movie, marred by stilted dialogue, a lack of pacing, and a story that goes nowhere.

Mikel3 Last night we watched 'The Vampire Bat' on Amazon Prime. It's a 64 minute 1933 film featuring Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill and Dwight Frye. This was another of those wonderful 1930s horror films I enjoy so much...there is so much magic in these old B/W films I can't get enough of them. The story was a mystery with an interesting twist on what was happening. Is it a vampire committing the murders or a man ? All we know is there are strange marks on the victim's necks and all their blood has been drained out. We have to wait to find out why and how ? Vampire or man either way the viewer will not be disappointed by the weird finale. IMO, It's not as good as two other horror films with Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray from the same time period 'Doctor X' and 'Mystery of the Wax Museum', still it's fun and well worth watching for sure. About my only complaint is Amazon had a pretty mediocre copy, lots of scratches in the print and the sound quality was hardly understandable at times. I hope someday someone does a full restoration on this film if they haven't already done so.

dougdoepke Apparent vampire attacks arouse villagers, causing local doctor to come to the rescue-- or does he.The movie comes across like a combination Dracula and Frankenstein, except we never see the monster. Heavy low-key lighting lends eerie effect, but movie has its creepiest moments with the hunched-over Herman (Frye) whose demented IQ appears capable of darn near anything. Watching him creep around the edges, mumbling some infernal thought makes the usually villainous Atwill seem positively benign. In fact, Atwill hardly changes expression the whole time making us wonder just what his deadpan scientist is really up to. But what guy really cares when we've got the gorgeous Fay Wray to ogle, just a year or two before that big hairy critter kidnapped her to the top of New York. Anyhow, it's a decent enough horror flick that manages a few chills, without being anything special, along with a rather tepid climax that doesn't help. Nonetheless, the very last scene still has me wondering and chuckling-- Epsom salts! Really!