"All Heathville loved Paul Carruthers, their kindly village doctor. No-one suspected that in his home laboratory on a hillside overlooking the magnificent estate of Martin Heath, the doctor found time to conduct certain private experiments – weird, terrifying experiments…."
Forward to THE DEVIL BAT.
For those who have watched PRC's 1940 horror/mystery, THE DEVIL BAT, who can forget the ostensibly - and repeatedly characterized by critics as "kindly" - Dr. Carruthers (played by Bela Lugosi) who reveals himself to be an insane, homicidal manic by film's end? This nifty little thriller happens to be one of my earliest memories of watching late-night monster movies on TV. As corny as it looked, when that big hunk of wire and papier mache was released into the night from Dr. Carruthers' mad lab, seeking the blood of the one who was unfortunate enough to try an after shave that contained a "devil bat homing device" in its scent, well, it was scary, darn it!
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| THE DEVIL BAT one-sheet theatrical poster. |
The film has been labeled as a "horror comedy" by some, but personally I wouldn't call it one. While there is an ongoing schtick by a couple of bumbling reporters, the horror elements are not played for laughs at all, despite the pitiful titular creature's attempts to be terrifying. Even the tough-as-nails Tom Weaver has commented that THE DEVIL BAT is one of the best movies ever to come off the well-worn sidewalks of Poverty Row.
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| THE DEVIL BAT half-sheet theatrical poster. |
Founded in 1939, Producer's Releasing Corporation (PRC) has become infamous as one of the low-budget production companies situated in what is known as the aforementioned "Poverty Row". It has been reported that PRC never spent over $100,000 on a movie (except for maybe one), and who would argue with that after watching a few of them? Results varied from lousy to pretty good. THE DEVIL BAT is historically significant to Monsterologists for PRC recognizing the self-imposed moratorium on horror films in the late 1930's by the off-Poverty Row studios such as Universal, and doing their best to capitalize on it by re-infusing the genre with their albeit meager fare.
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| Close-up of the Devil Bat. |
Released on December 13th 1940, THE DEVIL BAT was PRC's first horror production. Bela Lugosi signed on for a ride, since he was in need of any kind of work by then. That the PRC executive team of Brooklyn-born brothers Sigmund Neufeld and Sam Newfield were fellow Hungarians might also have influenced the deal. Even after his command performance as Ygor in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, Lugosi found himself cast adrift by his benefactors at Universal. On his way to drug addiction and near-obscurity, he had nothing left in the tank except for a few more noteworthy appearances such as Ygor again in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, Armand Tesla in MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, and a few brief moments as the cursed gypsy who put the bite on Lon Chaney, Jr. in THE WOLF MAN.
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| The newspaper headline trope used in many horror films. |
The experiment must have failed, because PRC didn't make another monster movie until 1942's THE MAD MONSTER. The company stumbled along until 1947, when it evolved into Eagle-Lion Films in 1950, and then again into United Artists in 1955.
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| Italian folio theatrical poster. |
Nonetheless, we are left with a legacy of monster movies both quaint and curious, and with sometimes even a diamond in the rough here and there that, in the sunlight, could be called a minor horror film classic.
FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #50 (July 1968):
PHOTOS:
LOBBY CARDS:
THE DEVIL BAT MISC. NEWS AND REVIEWS:
THE DEVIL BAT Trailer:
THE DEVIL BAT highlight reel:
Joe Dante on THE DEVIL BAT:
Are you ready to watch the whole movie now? THE DEVIL BAT (PRC, 1940, 68 min.):
DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER (PRC, 1946, 67 min.) full movie:
In 1946, PRC resurrected the over-sized rodent (in name only) and turned it into a sequel. While they filmed several film series, I believe this might be the only true sequel PRC ever produced. Titled DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER, it tells of Nina Carruthers (played by Miss America 1941, Rosemary La Planche), the daughter of "the kindly" Dr. Carruthers, who gets in the middle of a plot to frame her for the murder of another man's wife. A couple of close shaves, but no after shave or giant bat in this one.
The director was Frank Wisbar who also directed the 1940 no-budget B-horror movie STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (also starring Rosemary La Planche). The script was co-authored by Griffin Jay who also wrote THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940), THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1942), CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943), THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943), THE MUMMY'S GHOST (1944) and CRY OF THE WEREWOLF (1944). Makeup was by Bud Westmore, not long before he squeezed Jack Pierce out of his job at Universal.
PHOTOS:
ROSEMARY LA PLANCHE:
The Devil Bat was one of those movies that seemed to be in every cheap horror movie collection. I probably own it a half dozen times at least. Lugosi's name carried weight when VHS and later DVD formats hit the shelves. It's a very enjoyable movie with a great slender watch time. It doesn't overstay its welcome.
ReplyDeleteThat bat flying across the sky scared the devil out of me when I was a kid. I don't think they could have drawn out the story any longer than it was.
ReplyDelete