After villagers start turning up dead, drained of blood, the burgermeister declares it must be a vampire. Local policeman Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) disagrees, looking for a human killer. Only Brettschneiderâs girlfriend, Ruth Bertin (Fay Wray) and the greatly respected Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) have avoided the hysteria. The mob blames feebleminded Herman (Dwight Frye), who keeps bats as pets. But all is not as it seems.
Watching The Vampire Bat is like having a few old friends, who you havenât heard from in years, over to chat. Everyone is familiar and listening to what they have to say is fun, but youâve heard it all before, and youâve got new friends that you like better. This isnât genius filmmaking, but itâs comfortable.
Advertising and title aside, this isnât really a horror film, but a who-done-it with vampire and mad doctor elements. You wonât be surprised by the âtwists,â but then how many mysteries from the â30s really shock you?
It is the cast that keeps this one interesting. Melvyn Douglas is a better lead than most poverty row pictures could afford. He doesnât do anything requiring great talent, but he displays a distinct personality and has a voice that would have worked in radio suspense shows. Horror regular Lionel Atwill (Mark of the Vampire, Son of Frankenstein, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein), playing his standard mad doctor character, teams up with Fay Wray for the second of three features they shared in under two years (Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum being the other two). Dwight Frye rounds out this iconic cast, doing his Renfield-shtick from Dracula.
If The Vampire Bat stands out at all from the crowd of similar films, it is due to its greater amount of humor, usually supplied by silly old ladies. The lighter side is played up, making this a fun romp, provided you are in the mood for mobs with torches and all the old clichés.