Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Vampire Bat (1933)

An interesting variation on the vampire horror theme. People begin to die in a village in mysterious circumstances, their bodies drained of blood. As there are bats also hanging around the village suspicion is that a vampire is at work...

Dr von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) is the one who suspects (and obviously seems a bit suspicious himself) vampires though the police in the form of Karl (Melvyn Thomas) is sceptical. The villages err on the side of superstition and when the village idiot (Dwight Frye) is found to have a fondness of bats it doesn't end well for him...

The film isn't bad though not that original, it incorporates elements of other horror stories (vampires, mad scientists, mysterious murders), but blends them together well. The low budget means everything is a bit sparse but this adds to the atmosphere.