Vampire Bat

Starring: Fay Wray; Lionel Atwill & Dwight Frye Director: Frank R. Strayer

A series of "vampire murders" terrorize a European village.

Excellently acted and spookily atmospheric, The Vampire Bat is so especially superior for a poverty row film that a viewer would swear it was made by a major studio of the early 1930's - anyone who has researched the movie's history knows it was indeed filmed on the Universal lot, and using big-name actors who had starred in other recent thrillers from major studios (Fay Wray, Lionel Atwell, Maude Eburne, Dwight Frye) gives it extra panache. This DVD copy did not use as good of a print as the one I have on a commercial VHS tape - some scenes appear poorly lit because of the film quality; the screen blacks out a couple of times mid-scene for a second, and some of the night scenes were too dark and hard to see.

Another turn at nefariousness by Lionel Atwill. He presents us with another superb performance in this 1932 shocker that, while losing some of its bite (heh-heh), is another good example of a low-budget film that wasn't too far from becoming a classic. All the requisite elements have been thrown into this dated, but still creepy, B movie that must have grossed out double-feature theatre audiences. Faye Wray looks great and Dwight Frye over-emotes with panache. THE VAMPIRE BAT is another historically interesting film from the '30s horror genre from Alpha Video.

Now here?s a horror movie what is a horror movie. And what a cast! Atwill is wonderfully demented, Fay Wray is as lovely as ever and Dwight Frye steals the picture! And what on earth is that thing that Atwill has given life to? The print is a little dark in places but, overall, quite watchable with a few scenes that look very good. Until someone comes out with a fully restored edition, this is probably your best bet.