Why so much hype?

Sadly Over-hyped

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

...And so does this film, which never quite transcends its shortcomings despite a very solid performance by Lionel Atwill as the outwardly gracious but secretly diabolical Dr. von Niemann. It's one of the best performances of the underrated Atwill's career, in fact, but that's not enough to distinguish "The Vampire Bat" from the usual Poverty Row fare. (In addition to Atwill you get Fay Wray and Melvyn Douglas, Dwight Frye doing his Renfield schtick and the noisy, tiresome antics of Maude Eburne as Aunt Gussie.) These productions always looked and sounded like what they were: low-rent. I recall that the writers of the old VHS review guides considered this film one of the rare triumphs from Hollywood's lesser-tier studios, but objectively speaking it's just not that good. See it if you're a 1930s/'40s horror completist.

After several mysterious deaths around town, a town doctor and detective disprove the old town legend about vampires as the rising death toll suggests that vampire bats are the real culprit they band together to bring it to justice.This here wasn't all that bad and did have some good moments. One of the better features is that this here did get some rather atmospheric scenes at times, most notably the opening where a witness observes a figure leaving the scene of a crime on the rooftops from below though the trees. The combination of the setting and the scene taking place at night is a great combination and that there's other outside factors contributing to this one makes it all the better. The later confrontations inside the cave are quite fun which give off an air of suspense and creepiness, which is aided nicely by the sight of burning pitchforks and dogs barking off in the distance as well as features a lot of nice action since it's tagged off chasing scenes. Though these are presented as the follow-up scenes of many of these encounters, there's still plenty of energy here giving them some extra incentive to go alongside the rather fine mystery which is quite nicely layered with the attacks rousing the same local hysteria and mounting fear that's handedly played well with their dismissals and continued search leading them into fine territory with the action in the final half. These here are what make the film enjoyable though this here does have a few discernible flaws with it. One of the main ones is that this one doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be, as this one toys with vampires and killer vampire bats at several points, yet doesn't seem comfortable with either one as the villain. Despite strong evidence for both as the main target, they're automatically dismissed right when it makes sense at the time in the perfect opportunity given. The last flaw is that it doesn't really do much in the middle of the film. This is mostly relegated to talking about the situation on-hand and doesn't spend any time on the real heart of the story. That can make it seem like a drag, which isn't needed on a film this short. As well as the confusion over what happens in the finale, these here are what hold this one down.Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence.

"Karl Brettschneider" (Melyvn Douglas) lives in the small village of Klineschloss and is investigating 6 strange deaths that have happened in as many weeks. The peculiar thing about them is that each person was totally drained of blood and had two small "bite marks" on their neck which has led the villagers to believe that these deaths are due to a vampire. Likewise, the fact that huge bats have been seen around town and a local man by the name of "Herman Gleib" just happens to collect bats as pets have convinced them that he is the vampire. But Karl isn't so sure about any of it. Yet as the deaths continue even he becomes more in tune with the idea. At any rate, rather than detail the rest of the movie and possibly spoil it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that for an older film of this nature it was at the very least watchable. I especially liked the addition of Fay Wray (as Karl's girlfriend "Ruth Bertin") whose presence at the very least added some nice scenery to the picture. In any case, as I stated earlier this film was certainly watchable and I rate it as about average.

German people in a German village in Germany (or Austria maybe) are turning up dead in their beds, with two puncture marks on their neck. The local big wigs are beginning to think that a vampire is stalking the town, but the local policeman thinks that's a load of superstitious crap. His case is not help by all the actual vampire bats in the area, and someone spotting a guy clambering about the roofs. Suspicion falls upon village idiot Hermann, who wanders about town at night, fondles bats, and generally doesn't do himself any favours. Thrown into the mix are the local doctor and his servant Emil, who start off by dismissing the vampire theory and then believing it, plus his lovely assistant (who's girlfriend with the cop) and her Aunt, who is a hypochondriac to say the least. The cop's main problem, besides the murders, is that the locals are gearing up to lynching Hermann, so he better move fast. It takes a while to get going, this one, but picks up roughly around the halfway mark. It's easy to spot who's really doing the murders, but that doesn't detract from enjoying the film. There's plenty of humour in here too, from the Aunt to Hermann himself, and mostly everything is wrapped up neatly at the end, although unless I missed it the presence of the bats isn't explained. As with most of these old films, this one is quite short and you shouldn't begrudge it too much, even if you don't like it.