Thursday 26 April 2007

The Vampire Bat (1933)

The Vampire Bat is one of those movies that you really need to be in the right mood for. If you’re feeling reasonably tolerant, it’s an OK way to fill in an hour or so. Made in 1933, it’s an obvious attempt to jump on the Dracula bandwagon. It has mysterious deaths in a German village, a mentally disturbed young man with an obsession with bats, and a mad scientist (so it’s really trying to jump on the Frankenstein bandwagon as well). The mad scientist seems to have diabolical mind control powers, which is always fun. It has a surprisingly strong cast – Melvyn Diouglas, Lionel Atwill, Dwight Frye (as a sort of Son of Renfield) and Fay Wray (who really isn’t given enough to do). It’s biggest problem is that it just doesn’t have much energy to it. It also lacks (despite the capable cast) a strong charismatic figure for the audience to focus on.

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