Horror Classic 20 of 50: THE VAMPIRE BAT

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The Vampire Bat is yet another film from a "poverty row" studio -- Majestic Pictures, this time. It features Fay Wray, which is cool, because I don't think I've ever seen Fay Wray in anything besides King Kong, in which she spent about half the film screaming. How much screaming does she do in The Vampire Bat? Let's find out.

Synopsis
Our characters live in a village that's facing a major threat. It's not a new Wal-Mart, it's the fact that people keep getting killed, mysteriously, their corpses drained of blood and bearing two marks on the neck.

Could it be a VAMPIRE BAT? The title of the film would certainly seem to make that a likely possibility, and it's the theory held by most of the men of the town, including the bürgermeister. What is a bürgermeister, anyway? I think I'd like to be one, because I'd like to have that word on my business card, but I should probably find out what they do before I go to bürgermeistering school. Other townspeople include Karl, Karl's girlfriend Rita (Fay Wray!), Rita's aunt Gussie, and Dr. von Niemann.

So everyone thinks the killer is a vampire bat except for Karl, our hero. But the townspeople are pretty sure that local weirdo Hermann is, in fact, the vampire, and should be held responsible for the murder. Hermann is a little slow, a little crazy, and keeps bats as pets. "Hermann like bats. Bats nice to Hermann. They not bite," he says, though that's not an exact quote.

When local old lady Rita is killed in the same way as the previous victims, an angry mob chases Hermann, and he ends up leaping to his death in a cave. Just for good measure, the mob stakes him through the heart and cuts his head off.

So that's it, right? Hermann was a vampire and he was killing those people and that's the end, right? Nope, there's more. After all, they have a whopping 61 minutes to fill here. Another murder happens after Hermann is killed, and this time the victim is Dr. Von Niemann's maid, and the act is committed right there in the doctor's house. Whoops.

It's Rita who accidentally discovers the truth: Dr. Von Niemann is the one behind the murders, but he hasn't been committing them... he's been mind-controlling his assistant to do his dirty work for him. He's draining people of their blood using his crazy machines, and he claims his experiments are worth the small sacrifice of a few human lives. Will Rita be his next victim, or will Karl be able to save her?

Is It Scary?
It's actually a bit suspenseful at times.

Lessons I Learned
  • Don't blame everything on the town weirdo.
  • Hypochondria makes for great comic relief.
My Favorite Line
I forgot to write down who said it, but I think it was Karl, when everyone was trying to figure out what could be causing the murders: "I must confess I'm like a tree... stumped."

Body Count
Nine, all told.

Comments
•Fay Wray was a blonde in King Kong. Here she was a brunette. Isn't that fascinating?

•This one was notably better than most of the other "poverty row" drivel, largely because it doesn't take itself too seriously. When I mentioned hypochondria earlier I was referring to Aunt Gussie, who becomes convinced that she has a mysterious disease, so she reads all the doctor's medical books and starts spouting off medical jargon without knowing what it means. It's amusing.

•So, the film has humor, but you know what it doesn't have? A vampire bat. I guess that means it qualifies to receive my "misleading title" tag, but it's more misdirection than false advertising in this case. I honestly expected that one of the characters would be a vampire, so it was a genuine surprise when it turned out that wasn't the case.

•Although this was better than the average low-budget, 61-minute, 1930s horror movie, there was still a lot of padding. This movie would be perfect for anyone who hates action but loves scenes of people talking and talking and talking about vampires.

•Poor Hermann. He was guilty only of being a freak with bad grammar, but he fell victim to the mob.

Letter grade for The Vampire Bat: C+

Next film in the 50-movie set: The Ape. Maybe there'll be an ape in it, maybe there won't... anything's possible!

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