Movie Review: The Devil Bat (1940)

The Devil Bat (1940) directed by Jean Yarborough

Bela Lugosi plays Dr. Carruthers, a kindly town physician in Heathville. He also concocts perfumes and aftershaves for Heath-Morton Cosmetics in town. The first cream he designed made the company number one in its industry but Carruthers took a cash payout rather than risking investing in the company. Now Martin Heath and Henry Morton are millionaires while Carruthers continues his experimentation at his small, independent lab. He's not just working on cosmetics. He's started a new project, making a bat grow to an enormous size through electrical stimulation. He trained the bat to hate a new experimental shaving lotion. Carruthers offers a lotion sample to Heath's son, who winds up dead the next morning. The coroner thinks it's some animal attack. Big city reporters show up to help the local police investigate. When Heath's second son dies in the same way, the bat is spotted but the investigators can't put together the clues to find the criminal, though they do nickname it "The Devil Bat." Carruthers's revenge scheme seems fool proof. But this is a horror movie from the 1940s, so maybe not.

The movie starts with Lugosi scheming, so the audience knows what's going on. He does a good job being suave and helpful without incriminating himself. His lab is what you'd expect for a 1940s mad scientist horror film--the Frankenstein electrical equipment, secret doors all over, and his collection of bats. The flying bat effects are very dated, to the point of distraction. Otherwise, the film is a typical example of B-movie horror--an interesting if a bit outlandish premise, some dodgy special effects, a lot of stock characters. The formula is enjoyable to me.

Mildly recommended--it's fun to see Lugosi in action even in a lesser film.