|
Rating:  -
Legend Films presents "DEVIL BAT" (13 December 1940) (68 mins) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- now in COLOR and Glorious Black and White --- All too often, in his career, Bela Lugosi was expected to carry a film all by himself with little or no help from other actors, the director, the script or special effects --- The Devil Bat (1940) is such a film --- The sets are cheap, the script is hokey and the "devil bat" itself is laughably lame (a screeching bird-like creature -- as fake as they come) --- And yet as he always does, Bela makes the movie entertaining --- He plays one of his many mad scientists -- this one a (believe it or not) perfume maker who was monetarily wronged by his partners, now millionaires --- These ungrateful boobs rub this in a little too much and so Lugosi creates a giant bat (as perfume makers are so good at doing) that will strike at anyone wearing a certain scent --- Will the mad doctor end up wearing his own scent and be killed by the devil bat -- And will he get his revenge on several of these boring unknown actors who deserve to die --- As expected, Lugosi makes the character interesting, complex and even sympathetic -- and yet also fearsome as he tells each of his victims, "good-bye" after they try on his new fragrance --- This movie has some of the most hackneyed character acting you have ever seen -- and yet Bela never stops giving it all he's got to make this film a success -- which is more than some of the production crew deserves!
Still, for the Bela Lugosi fan, this film is pleasurable as you watch what one great and talented actor can do in one bad movie --- One is left wondering how a Brad Pitt or Will Smith would fare in such a weak vehicle --- But Bela -- ever the artist -- rises above it and gives a performance that can be enjoyed in spite of its trappings.
Under the production staff of:
Jean Yarbrough - Director
Jack Gallagher - Producer
Susan Olney - Producer
George Bricker - Screen Story
John T. Neville - Screenwriter
Arthur Martineli - Cinematographer
David Chudnow - Musical Direction/Supervision
Holbrook Todd - Editor
Paul Palmentola - Art Director
Guy V. Thayer, Jr. - Associate Producer
Barry Sandrew - Executive Producer
Farrell Redd - Sound/Sound Designer
Melville de Lay - Production Manager
Jane Huzienga - Production Director
David D. Martin - Technical Director
Story line and plot, Dr. Paul Carruthers (Bela Lugosi) feels bitter at being betrayed by his employers, Mary Heath (Suzanne Kaaren) and Henry Morton (Guy Usher), when they became rich as a result of a product he devised --- He gains revenge by electrically enlarging bats and sending them out to kill his employers' family members by instilling in the bats a hatred for a particular perfume he has discovered, which he gets his victims to apply before going outdoors --- Johnny Layton, a reporter, finally figures out Carruthers is the killer and, after putting the perfume on himself, douses it on Carruthers in the hopes it will get him to give himself away --- One of the two is attacked as the giant bat makes one of its screaming, swooping power dives --- Bela Lugosi once again takes us into his world of film and makes the most out of what he's has to work with.
the cast includes:
Bela Lugosi ... Dr. Paul Carruthers
Suzanne Kaaren ... Mary Heath
Dave O'Brien ... Johnny Layton
Guy Usher ... Henry Morton
Yolande Donlan ... 'Frenchy' (as Yolande Mallott)
Donald Kerr ... 'One-Shot' McGuire
Edmund Mortimer ... Martin Heath (as Edward Mortimer)
Gene O'Donnell ... Donald 'Don' Morton
Alan Baldwin ... Thomas 'Tommy' Heath
John Ellis ... Roy Heath
Arthur Q. Bryan ... Joe McGinty
Hal Price ... Chief Wilkins
John Davidson ... Prof. Percival Garland Raines
Billy Griffith ... Coroner (scenes deleted)
Wally Rairden ... Walter King
BIOS
1. Bela Lugosi
Date of Birth: 20 October 1882 - Lugos, Austria-Hungary. [now Lugoj, Romania]
Date of Death:16 August 1956 - Los Angeles, California,
SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Legend films trailers
In 2006, the complete print was restored and colorized by Legend Films, using the latest technology --- Although the Legend Films release was advertised under its reissue title, both the color and black and white prints featured the original title and opening credits --- Legend Films can restore, colorize and release many of the classic earliest black and white films --- a patented coloring and remastering process makes each film picture perfect plus more vivd than ever --- no one can resist collecting every title that Legend Films releases.
Hats off and thanks to Barry B. Sandrew Ph.D. (Founder, COO & CTO) and his Legend Films Staff --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage era of the '20s, '30s & '40s --- order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Legend Films where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.
Total Time: 68 mins on DVD ~ Legend Films. ~ (10/21/2008)
Rating: -
Long before Bela Lugosi's career was destroyed by the wondrously incompetent Ed Wood, the actor previewed things to come with his performance in another B-movie classic, The Devil Bat. Notable today for being so campy you should only watch it from a tent, The Devil Bat tells us the grim tale of a bitter scientist who seeks revenge on his enemies by training killer bats to strike those using a unique shaving cream. Truly, the heat and soul of a good-bad movie is an immersive and believable plot...
Now a part of Legend Film's Cult & Horror Classics Collection, The Devil Bat's contribution to the cinematic canon is being preserved for future generations in fully digital DVD form. And, as with all classic Legend releases, the DVD contains two versions of the film: a newly colorized version and the original black and white version. You're free to select which you'd rather watch, but if you haven't yet seen everyone's favorite movie monster in full color, I highly recommend you do so. At least in my case, color connects the audience more closely to the events on-screen, and honestly makes it difficult to determine that the film is nearly seventy years old. Plus, for fans of Lugosi, it adds a certain human element to his performance that is otherwise absent in a bland grayscale.
So pitch your tent and "camp" out with me!
Rating: -
The Devil Bat is a great Bela outing. Of course its no DRACULA or MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE but its hard not to get a kick out of this grade Z P.R.C opus about a MAD DOCTOR who develops a breed of giant bat he attracts to his enemies with a special after-shave he advises users to rub"on the tender part of your neck." Loads of cheap fun,with cardboard sets and pathetic special effects;Bela seems to be having a ball and so should you! For those of you who love remakes and sequels(???)see The Flying Serpent and Devil Bat's Daughter
Rating: -
Commentators at this site have already done a good job singling out most of the memorable lines of this Gothic horror "classic." Never failing to amuse far beyond its utterer's, though perhaps not its screenwriter's, intentions are such unforgettable Lugosi gems as "Bombastic ignoramus!," "Rub it on the tender part of your neck," "Splendid! You shall be even greater than your unfortunate predecessor!" (intoned with Hungarian accent and full solemnity to Devil Bat # 2), and most of all, with reference to his latest concoction, a lethal aftershave lotion, "This strange oriental fragrance I came across among the Lamas during my journeys in Tibet."
This low budget film, I'm suggesting, might well have been an intentional satiric compendium of the Gothic Movement and the Elizabethan tropes studied in college by a slyly subversive screenwriter. First of all, at its center is a revenge-seeking creative artist of sorts (Lugosi) arranging the murders, by an enlarged bat he's devised, of certain folks in the local power structure, here a wicked industrial corporation which has exploited his "priceless" invention, a greaseless cold cream, for its own greedy ends. Trying to explain these mysterious, proliferating murders is a know-it-all science professor from the local university who dismisses the theory that they have been caused by an enormous bat since such creatures are "not indigenous to the area." The film thus attacks Enlightenment scientific values, entertainingly reminding us that "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in [the professor's] philosophy," a favorite position of Gothic horror writers and poets of the Romantic period. More exclusively Elizabethan, the film has a comic subplot, involving newspaper reporters and a fake bat of their own, which amusingly parallels the "murderous" action of the main. In its structure, two incongruous stories for the price of one, this riotously funny film, whether intentionally or not, winds up paying a 20th Century homage of sorts to a "splendid predecessor" of its own, Thomas Middleton's "The Changeling."
Rating:  -
Even though Bela's movies are "before my time," I can't help but appreciate his roles in these low budget flicks of yesteryear. I love the premise of this movie and can see a modern variation on this theme of giant bats that "sever the jugular" of their victims.
As a warning to all, do yourselves a favor and only buy the one which states that the movie was released by the Bela Lugosi Estate since this version uses the original film elements to present a nice, crisp picture. Bela Lugosi Jr. offers running commentary during the film as one of the Extras. He looks well preserved for his age if you get my drift.
Anyway, a fun movie to watch. Don't take it too seriously. After all, it is a 1940s B-Grade horror movie. Just sit back and enjoy the show. And don't forget the popcorn for crying out loud!
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Most Popular TV collectibles
|
|
Home
Articles
Images
Forum
Search
Shopping
TV Trivia
Watch TV
Wallpaper
