The Devil Bat is a watchable, utterly silly B movie with Bela Lugosi in fine form as Dr. Paul Carruthers, who must be the only guy in the world who can create new aftershave lotions, cold creams, and electrically enlarged bats! Our good Doctor, of course, feels cheated by the business partners he sold out to before the cold cream made them rich, so naturally he creates an aftershave that bats despise, causing them to attack anyone who's wearing it. A bit like Hai Karate, I suppose.
There's great fun to be had from Bela's parting shots to his would-be victims, "I don't think you'll ever use anything else" and "GOODBYE" in that sinister Hungarian cadence of his.
And yep, the film has the stereo-typical annoying reporter working on the case and an even more annoying sidekick who rigs up a fake bat photograph for his newspaper, a proto-Eddie Brock, Spider-Man fans? The film becomes very boring whenever Lugosi is off-screen but luckily he has a substantial role so there's plenty to keep you watching. He obviously plays the part tongue firmly in cheek but enjoys himself.
The central rooms of Carruthers' home were only filmed on a single set, redressed to fool the viewers. At one point Bela gets behind a window in the door to look into a lab during an experiment, and he looks into the same set he's standing in! It's quite well disguised, though, even if the wall bricks look painted! Its obviously a cheap production, but who cares? Worth watching for Bela alone. Now, where did I put my Brute Splash-on?
There's great fun to be had from Bela's parting shots to his would-be victims, "I don't think you'll ever use anything else" and "GOODBYE" in that sinister Hungarian cadence of his.
And yep, the film has the stereo-typical annoying reporter working on the case and an even more annoying sidekick who rigs up a fake bat photograph for his newspaper, a proto-Eddie Brock, Spider-Man fans? The film becomes very boring whenever Lugosi is off-screen but luckily he has a substantial role so there's plenty to keep you watching. He obviously plays the part tongue firmly in cheek but enjoys himself.
The central rooms of Carruthers' home were only filmed on a single set, redressed to fool the viewers. At one point Bela gets behind a window in the door to look into a lab during an experiment, and he looks into the same set he's standing in! It's quite well disguised, though, even if the wall bricks look painted! Its obviously a cheap production, but who cares? Worth watching for Bela alone. Now, where did I put my Brute Splash-on?