The Vampire Bat (1933)

Directed by Frank R. Strayer. Starring Lionel Atwill, Melvyn Douglas, Fay Wray, Maude Eburne, Dwight Frye, George E. Stone, Robert Frazer, Rita Carlisle, Lionel Belmore.

Weak tale of a possible vampire wreaking havoc in a Germanic village, draining its victims of their blood, but inspector Douglas is unconvinced; after all, there is a mad scientist (Atwill) in the area, and, well, let’s face it—it’s usually the mad scientists who are up to no good. Feeble atmosphere generated by Ira Morgan’s insipidly-lit photography; unexceptional script from Edward T. Lowe Jr. pilfers from the likes of Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, contains dialogue as dreary as the trappings. The cast seems impressive at a glance (especially for such a low-rent horror offering from Majestic Pictures, one of the “Poverty Row” studios), but no one’s operating near the top of their game; Atwill is a dud doctor, but at least Frye is amusing while hamming it up as a slow-witted weirdo who loves those “soft like cat” bats! (Still, he was a better ham as Renfield in the original Dracula with Béla Lugosi.) Minor and immediately forgettable, but it shouldn’t completely turn off fans of old dark house chillers.

40/100