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Though not a horror film in the traditional sense, this creepy little film delivers the goods. It seems a vampire is loose in a small German town draining its victims of their blood. Police Inspector Karl Brettschneider, Melvyn Douglas in one of his early roles, is skeptical believing a crazed killer not a vampire is running amok. The only one who believes him is Ruth Bertin (Faye Wray) the inspector's girlfriend and lab assistant to Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) who though apparently an eminent scientist goes along with the vampire theory. The townspeople suspect the weirdo Herman Gleib, played with his usual frenzy by Dwight Frye who seems to be having a lot of fun with his role. The film contains quite a bit of humor which helps relieve some of the intensity involved with all the murders being committed. One funny part has Gussie Schnappmann (Maude Eburne), Ruth Bertin's aunt, thinking weird Herman has turned not into a bat but into a dog. Maude Eburne and Dwight Frye make a good comedy team.

This budget movie brings in elements from "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" with Dr. Niemann using the power of suggestion to make a somnambulist carry out his orders, from "Frankenstein" by using the human blood to help create life in the laboratory, and "Dracula" since the murders are believed by everyone except the inspector and his girl to be the work of a bloodsucker. Thses elements are mixed well by director Frank R. Strayer with a little comedy thrown in for good measure. The concoction works. The restored version I viewed used tinting to increase the spooky atmosphere. So try to see the this version if possible.

These old time films in black and white hold my interest and especially great actors like Lionel Atwell, (Dr. Otto Von Niemann) along with Fay Wray, (Ruth Bertin) and Melvyn Douglas, (Karl Brellschneider). The local town people are experiences strange deaths in their town where the people all have their blood drained from their bodies and there are two small puncture wounds on their necks. Rumors's start to spread that they are caused by bats and some people think it is a vampire which is attacking all the people. Karl is the local policeman in the area and he sets out to try and solve just what is going on and he seeks the help from a local town doctor named Dr. Otto Von Niemann who thinks it could possibly be a local man who seems to love bats and keeps them as pets and he also keeps them in his home and in his coat. This is a great classic film with some comedy mixed in with all this blood sucking.

There have been a rash of killings in a German village. The victims have all been found drained of their blood. The villagers believe a local weirdo named Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye), who has an unnatural affinity for vampire bats, is responsible. However, as the story progresses, it looks like a scientist engaged in disturbing experiments might really be the culprit.

This is a good little vampire/mad scientist mash-up horror film from the early '30s. Helped by a cast of greats, including Frye, Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Melvyn Douglas. Made by Poverty Row studio Majestic, it looks pretty good since they were able to use leftover Universal sets. Majestic rushed the film into production in order to release it before Mystery of the Wax Museum, Warner Bros' big hit starring Atwill & Wray.

"The Vampire Bat" starts out fabulously, with eerie images of large bats fluttering through the dark night and a very atmospheric portrayal of a petrified little town with its superstitious inhabitants under the spell of a serial killer who seemly drains all the blood out of his/her victims' bodies. The opening sequences of this film (the first 15 minutes or so) is pure vintage horror, with a suspenseful introduction to the story (extended speeches with a detailed description of the killer's modus operandi) and a great use of set pieces and interiors that already proved their effectiveness earlier (the same scenery was used in Universal classics, like "The Old Dark House" for example). Very regrettable, however, is that the story quickly becomes tedious and predictable and the only element left to admire near the end is the sublime acting by a multi-talented cast. In the remote town of Kleinschloss (very cool name, by the way), they keep on finding bodies with not a single drop of blood left in them. The scared and superstitious villagers are convinced that there's a vampire in their midst (it wouldn't be the first time, according to the history books) and the prime suspect is the village-idiot, Hermann, who shows a bizarre affection towards bats. The only straight-thinking authority figure is inspector Karl Brettschneider, but even he can't come up with a rational explanation for the murders. If you're somewhat familiar with the roles and careers of eminent horror actors in the 30's, you know who the real culprit is right away and – even if you're not – it's not hard to guess, since the clues are numberless. "The Vampire Bat" isn't a very efficient whodunit mystery, but it definitely remains a must for fans of classic horror films since it brings together names like Fay Wray (immortal for her role in "King Kong"), Lionel Atwill ("Mystery of the Wax Museum"), Melvyn Douglas (Polanski's "The Tenant") and Dwight Fry. This latter is my personal favorite cast member here, mainly because he's a very underrated actor who always stood in the shadows of more important horror veterans. His performance of Herman the nut is truly terrific.

I saw this for the first time recently. While this film hasnt aged well n it aint no classic but it shud be definitely viewed by fellas who love mystery films with elements of somnambulism, hypnotism, scientist, bats, vampires, etc.

The producers succeeded in making this film almost as good as any Universal Pictures horror film is because they leased the castoffs, the sets left over from Frankenstein and the The Old Dark House. They even succeeded in hiring actor Dwight Frye (Dwight Frye played Renfield in Dracula and as Fritz in Frankenstein and as a reporter in The Invisible Man). In this movie he gave the same act similar to Dracula, of that a lunatic.

Fellas from a small village start dying under mysterious circumstances n the local doc conclude that the deaths r all the same, blood loss, with two punctures in the neck caused by needle-sharp teeth. The villagers suspect of vampires, but the local cop remains skeptical. Fear of the vampire and suspicion of a local lunatic who is fond of bats quickly spread around the town and people start fearing him.

Dwight Frye steals the show in this one as a foolish young man(who seems to be mentally handicapped) who gets himself blamed for vampire-like murders especially after he reveals his love for bats which he likes to stroke and give to unsuspecting friends as 'gifts'!. Besides all of that, there's an entertaining mystery tale involving the above mentioned murders. Underrated.

This was made by a minor ,Poverty Row studio but it stands up well alongside other more lavish Universal productions from around the same time and has a pretty decent cast that provides a touch of quality in the acting department. The title is a misnomer as the evil that bedevils the remote Central European town turns out to be human in origin although the inhabitants of the town firmly believe that the exsanguinated bodies turning up all over the place are the work of vampires .They hound a simple minded young man ,Herman ,( movingly played by Dwight Frye ) to his death claiming he is the culprit while the real villain is unmasked shortly after his death. Neat performances from Lionel Attwill as the town doctor ,Melvyn Douglas as the sceptical local policeman and the aforementioned Mr Frye compensate for a wan and colourless Fay Wray as the love interest and the tedious comic relief of Maude Elune as a bossy old maiden Aunt prone to fits of the vapours .

Its ingredients will be familair to lovers of the vintage horror picture and we get many of the scenes that were a staple of the genre--superstitious villagers wielding torches ,a crazed man of science and the debate between science and folklore but it is expertly welded together and never oustays its welcome

THE VAMPIRE BAT (Majestic, 1933), directed by Frank Strayer, reunites Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, the leading players of DOCTOR X (First National, 1932), in another odd mix of mystery and horror, minus the two-strip Technicolor that has made both their DOCTOR X and THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) a class by itself. With a title capitalizing on the success of "Dracula" (Universal, 1931) starring Bela Lugosi, THE VAMPIRE BAT which doesn't actually deal with vampires, has acquired the source of its "Dracula" co-star, Dwight Frye, in a similar portrayal of insane spider eating character, Mr. Renfield, with that as Herman Glieb, a village half-wit who not only plays with bats but makes pets out of them, thus making others to believe he to be the living image of the vampire theory.

Set in small German village of Kleinschloss, the story, opening in true horror form, starts off with the howling of wolves at a distance and the visual view of bats hanging upside down on trees as Kringen (George E. Stone) walks alone in the dead of night holding a lantern to suddenly hear a woman's scream from one of the nearby buildings. With this being the sixth murder to take place with all the female victims found as bloodless corpses in their beds, the latest being Martha Muller (Rita Carlisle), Karl Breetschneider (Melvyn Douglas), police inspector, sets out to solve these murders. Although a sensible man, he finds the villagers overreacting, connecting the demented Herman Glieb (Dwight Frye) as the blood-sucking killer due to his association with vampire bats. Karl's in love with Ruth Bertin (Fay Wray), who, along with Emil Borst (Robert Frazer) work as laboratory assistants for diabolical scientist, Doctor Otto Von Niemann (Lionel Atwill), who insists all the women have been victims of a vampire. Convinced Herman to be the culprit, the villagers decide to take matters into their own hands by hunting and trapping him into an isolated cave many miles from town where he plunges to his death. To make certain he'll no longer be a threat to them, the villagers locate his body and plunge a stake through his heart. They are soon proved wrong of their theory when these ghastly murders continue to occur.

While THE VAMPIRE BAT doesn't have the macabre style of Universal's own "Dracula" or "Frankenstein", it can be credited for its fine reproduction of its creepy atmosphere, chilling scenes, along with a pursuit of the killer by an angry mob with lighted torches quite commonly found in many "Frankenstein" sequels, yet, with all that, THE VAMPIRE BAT is at times disappointing due to its slow pacing, lack of background music, low budget production and intrusive comedy relief provided by character actress Maude Eburne as Aunt Gussie Schnappmann. One scene for amusement purposes  has her fainting at the sight of Herman's bat he takes out from his pocket, only to awaken after-wards with a great dane licking her face, leading her to believe the dog to be Herman, and running for her life.

As much as the movie was distributed by a lesser known poverty row studio of Majestic, THE VAMPIRE BAT has turned out to be its best known product solely due to its frequent resurrections on television dating back to the 1950s, and strong marquee names of Atwill, Wray and Douglas. Douglas, still early in his film career, turns out to be surprise casting as both resourceful hero and love interest, an assignment usually given to lesser capable actors, commonly David Manners, for example. Lionel Atwill is ideally cast as the professor while Fay Wray, immortalized by her legendary performance in KING KONG (RKO, 1933), makes a satisfactory female lead. As much as Wray is noted for her screams in fright films such as this, she does fall victim to the killer, but doesn't belt out any shrieks. What's even more ironic is finding THE VAMPIRE BAT set in a German village right down to Burgomaster (Lionel Bellmore) and townspeople assuming German sounding names, yet none of them attempt speaking with German accents giving this more of an American flavor than authentically European. 

Having been available on VHS since the dawn of home video and part of a 45 minute featurette in public television's weekly series of "Matinee at the Bijou" in the early 1980s, and later onto DVD decades later, most VAMPIRE BAT copies that circulated on numerous cable channels over the years (namely the no longer existing Tempo or Channel) with poor picture or audio transfers. A much more crisp black and white/sepia tone print has become available on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: October 14, 2005). Considering THE VAMPIRE BAT's short 62 minutes, is a perfect example of how a poor quality film can rise above its expectations. (**)

"The Vampire Bat" is one of those underrated horror films of the early 1930's that seems to impress more with each viewing. I won't go into the details of the plot, as that has been covered multiple times in other reviews, and it's not the story that makes the film shine.

There are three things that make "The Vampire Bat" stand out from the other poverty row films - the cast, the direction, and the comedy.

The Cast - Lionel Atwill, Melvyn Douglas, and Fay Wray get the heavy lifting in the film, and all are excellent. Atwill is perfect for this type of part, as he demonstrated many times. Douglas is sufficiently perplexed as the investigator, and Fay Wray is just gorgeous in distress. The other players add sufficiently, especially Dwight Frye channeling a dimmer version of Renfield from Dracula.

The Direction - Frank Strayer does an admirable job in shooting the film, with creepiness abundant and lots of camera movement. Some shots are just so outstanding (such as the opening scene), that they almost seem out of place in a cheap horror movie. Strayer provides loads of atmosphere and never loses the audience. An excellent job.

The Comedy - As with most horror films of this time, comedy relief was thrown in to lighten the mood of the audience, and in most films, the comedy was misplaced and terribly unfunny. However, in "The Vampire Bat" the comedy, mostly provided by Maude Eburne as Aunt Gussie, is spot on and still funny today. This helps to keep the film watchable.

The Downsides - There is really only a couple of downsides to the film. The first is the editing, which is clumsy and hurried. It sometimes spoils the excellent direction. Cuts are often not matched, and this can distract. Obviously, this was not a big budget film, so the sets and overall production values are not high, but this is mostly glossed over by the efficiency and care shown by the director, but there are a few scenes where the seams showed too much, like the cave scene, parts of which look like it was filmed in a closet.

Overall, "The Vampire Bat" is certainly worth a look for the great direction, a mad Lionel Atwill, and the always lovely Fay Wray.

In the small village of Kleinshloss, the locals are scared with a serial killer that is draining the blood of his victims, and the Burgomaster Gustave Schoen (Lionel Belmore) is convinced that a vampire is responsible for the deaths. The skeptical police inspector Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) is reluctant to accept the existence of vampires, but the local doctor Otto Von Newman (Lionel Atwill) shows literature about cases of vampirism inclusive in Amazon. When the apple street vendor Martha Mueller (Rita Carlisle) is murdered, the prime suspect becomes the slow Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye), a man with a mind of child that loves bats. The group of vigilantes chases Herman, while Dr. Von Newman's housemaid Georgiana (Stella Adams) is attacked by the killer.

"The Vampire Bat" is an entertaining low-budget horror movie from the 30's that is visibly inspired in the success of Universal "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" in 1931. There are many analogies in the stories, like the living growing tissue or the innocence of Herman or the raged crowd. The characters are not well developed, and I did not understand the relationship of Ruth Bertin and her annoying hypochondriac aunt Gussie Schnappmann with Dr. Otto Von Newman, or how the doctor hypnotizes or controls his assistant Emile. It is great to see Fay Wray acting in the same year of "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and "King Kong". My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Morcego Vampiro" ("The Vampire Bat")

Years ago, I found a "bargain bin" copy of this film for a buck or two. In so many ways, this is quite fitting, as when it was made back in 1933, it was truly a cheaply made film by the "poverty row" studio, Majestic. However, while the film is rather derivative, it is STILL well worth watching and provides a few surprises.

The story is very, very familiar, as in some Germanic town, the people are upset because of some recent deaths that appear to be the work of vampires! Adding to this familiarity is Dwight Frye. He played Renfield in Dracula, and here he is very, very similar--though he plays a much more harmless weirdo. In this case, he's obsessed with his pet bats and people begin to blame him for the deaths. The film does a good job of providing some "red herrings" (i.e., false leads) and while it doesn't take a genius to figure out Frye may not be responsible, the WHO and WHY are intriguing and make it VERY different from the average horror film. In addition, while the production had little money to speak of, it still had some good actors of the day--Lionel Atwill and Melvin Douglas--and it also used Universal Studios sets at night (when they were done filming for the day). As a result, the film looks pretty good overall, though I also thought that, as usual, Fay Wray was terrible--thought it didn't noticeably detract from the film. I have seen her in more movies than most people on IMDb and I have come to notice that her characters have no depth--she always seems to be cast as the "screaming lady" and provides little new in each film.

Overall, for fans of old horror films, this is excellent and worth seeing. For people who are NOT fans of the genre, it's probably pretty skip-able.

This movie starts out with a premise that works. There are people dying, drained of their blood. There is this middle European connection to times past when vampires were believed in and actually seemed to exist. They knew all the rules, head cut off, silver bullet, stake through the heart. Everyone is in a tizzy because no one can seem to figure this out. They lock their door, close their windows, do all the right things, but the killing goes on. Crosses and other anti vampire paraphernalia don't seem to work. That's because there's more to it than meets the eye. As long as it was truly a vampire story, it worked. When other elements enter in, it starts to fall apart, if one does the least bit of thinking. Since seeing Dracula, I've enjoyed watching any appearance of Dwight Frye. He is the consummate scene stealer. The poor guy here comes and goes among the gentry, with bats in his pockets, staring with those sunken eyes. Considering people are terrified of bats and suspect him already, these are not the wisest of moves.

The whole premise for this set of events is never made totally clear. The blood of the victims is needed and so old Lionel Atwill springs into action. There seemed to be a few of the distinguished actors whose careers seemed to bank on the horror genre. He plays his part well. He also has his assistant. Who is this guy and why is he willing to work so hard (of course there's a secret). The film has its moments and it's not bad for this type of film, but it could have rivaled some of the better ones by banking a little more on the supernatural.

And the Oscar for the most under-rated classic horror actor goes to - Dwight Frye. Seriously his name should be stated with the same awe as Karloff, Lugosi, and Price, and this movie proves it. His character Herman was one of the 2 reasons I can give to watch this movie. Dwight gave this somewhat more than slightly disturbed misfit a lovable yet creepy demeanor that led you hoping for a larger role the entire movie.

The other reason is the comic relief of M. Eburne. Being in the medical profession myself I have to give kudos to the expert performance of a self-pity prone hypochondriac. Though other "medical mistakes" did give a brief chuckle especially when the good doctor samples his fellow physicians medication... "Well continue giving it to her" Unfortunately these 2 outstanding performances could not keep me awake through 3 attempts of sitting through this unbearably slow movie. The plot is predictable with only few minor twists. The filming while pulling off a legitimate spooky atmosphere was more productive at making me yawn - yes you can use too much shadow.

My recommendation - watch this once to see Frye and Eburne - but only when wide awake and with lots of caffeine.

In the same year that she was Ann Darrow in the clutches of King King, Fay Wray made this little gem where vampires were traveling through the village killing people. She really appears to be quite good and worth looking further into her 117 film catalog.

Of course, multiple Oscar-winner Melvyn Douglas (Hud, Being There) was having none of this until he could find no other explanation for several murders.

A local dimwit was suspected and when there was another death after the townspeople drove him to death, Douglas knew there was another explanation.

Just like the butler always does it, there is always a mad scientist (Lionel Atwill) about doing crazy experiments if you just look hard enough.

Another gem found among the Bs.

Mysterious murders in a European village seem the result of THE VAMPIRE BAT horde plaguing the terrified community.

This surprisingly effective little thriller was created by Majestic Pictures, one of Hollywood's Poverty Row studios. The sparse production values and rough editing actually add to its eerie atmosphere and lend it an almost expressionistic quality. Overall, it leaves the viewer the feeling of being caught up in a bad dream, which is appropriate for a thriller of this sort.

Even though the eventual explanation for the hideous crimes is quite ludicrous and is not given proper plot development, the film can boast of a good cast. Grave Lionel Atwill gives another one of his typically fine performances, this time as a doctor doing scientific research in an old castle. Beautiful Fay Wray plays his assistant in a role which requires her to do little more than look lovely & alarmed. Dour Melvyn Douglas appears as the perplexed police inspector who also happens to be, conveniently, Miss Wray's boyfriend.

Maude Eburne, who could be extremely funny given the right situation, steals most of her scenes as Miss Wray's hypochondriac aunt. Elderly Lionel Belmore plays the village's terrified burgermeister. And little Dwight Frye, who will always be remembered for his weird roles in the FRANKENSTEIN and Dracula films, here is most effective as a bat-loving lunatic.

People in a small village called Kleinschloss are falling victim to something lurking in the night. Is it a vampire? How about giant bloodsucking vampire bats? Or is it the work of a serial killer? The common theme with victims is that they're being attacked in the night when no one else is around and all blood has been removed from their bodies. Skeptical/smarmy police detective Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas, fresh off his success in THE OLD DARK HOUSE) is on the case and has a hard time believing anything supernatural is afoot. The superstitious town folk, as well as the town Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen (Lionel Belmore), believe otherwise, and eventually go on a man hunt looking to pin the blame on frantic village half-wit Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye, "Renfield" from 1931's Dracula). And what roles do Karl's lab assistant girlfriend Ruth (original Scream Queen Fay Wray of KING KONG fame) and her employer, stern scientist Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill, who'd just tackled the title role in DOCTOR X), play in the proceedings?

Although the storyline is now so overly familiar that the film lacks much in the way of surprise, the visual presentation isn't too bad and the film delivers a decent amount of bleak b/w horror atmosphere, which is partially offset by comic relief. There are some nice sets (a cave, a lab...) and a couple well-used slow zooms (both in and out) that are effective. However, the best thing about the film, and what keeps it watchable all these years later, is the cast. Horror buffs are certainly no stranger to the cultured shadiness of Atwill (who seemed to take every single role professionally), the beauty of Wray or the bug-eyed neuroses projected so wonderfully by underrated supporting player Frye. In fact, sixth-billed Frye is the performer most people will walk away remembering because his impassioned, tragic and enthusiastic outcast portrayal is in such stark contrast to the other competent, yet straight-laced, performers. Another standout here is Maude Eburne, who offers up a delightful performance as Wray's hypochondriac Aunt Gussie.

Though well shy of being a genre classic, this is still worth watching for fans of classic horror. Also mention should be made that there are two versions of the film in circulation. One clocks in at around 90 minutes, while the other runs only 59.

'The Vampire Bat' is definitely of interest, being one of the early genre-setting horror films of the 1930's, but taken in isolation everything is a bit too creaky for any genuine praise.

The film is set in a European village sometime in the 19th Century, where a series of murders are being attributed to vampirism by the suspicious locals. There is a very similar feel to James Whale's 'Frankenstein' and this is compounded by the introduction of Lionel Atwill's Dr Niemann character, complete with his misguided ideas for scientific advancement.

The vampire theme is arbitrary and only used as a red-herring by having suspicion fall on bat-loving village simpleton Herman (Dwight Frye), thus providing the excuse for a torch-wielding mob to go on the rampage - as if they needed one.

This is one of a trio of early horror films in which Lional Atwill and Fay Wray co-starred (also 'Doctor X' and 'The Mystery of the Wax Museum') and like their other collaborations the film suffers from ill-advised comic relief and a tendency to stray from horror to mainstream thriller elements. Taken in context though, 'The Vampire Bat' is still weak and derivative.

All we are left with is a poor-quality Frankenstein imitation, with the vampire elements purely a device to hoodwink Dracula fans. But for the title the film would struggle to even be considered as a horror and it is worth noting that director Frank Strayer was doing the 'Blondie' films a few years later.