The Devil Bat

Name: The Devil Bat
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Crime
Released: 1940
Duration: 1 h 8 min
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Guy Usher, Yolande Donlan

1940 Horror Science Fiction 68 minutes Directed by Jean Yarbrough

About The Devil Bat

Dr. Paul Carruthers, chemist for Heath-Morton Cosmetics, believes the owners cheated him out of a partnership. He enlarges ordinary bats and trains them to attack anyone wearing a pungent aftershave he has made. He hands the lotion to his enemies as a test product. The bats kill the owners' two sons and a partner. Chicago Register reporter Johnny Layton and photographer "One-Shot" McGuire work the murders. Layton pours the aftershave on Carruthers. The bat kills its trainer.

Cast & crew

More about The Devil Bat

Jean Yarbrough directed PRC's first horror film. John Thomas Neville wrote the screenplay from an original story by George Bricker. Jack Gallagher produced it. Arthur Martinelli photographed it. Holbrook N. Todd edited. David Chudnow was musical director. A premiere was held on 11 November 1940. Theatrical release was 13 December 1940. It runs 68 minutes. Bela Lugosi plays Carruthers. Dave O'Brien plays Layton. Donald Kerr plays McGuire. It was reissued in 1945 on a double bill with Man Made Monster.

Themes

A chemist who sold his stake too soon
An aftershave that calls a bat
A reporter who wears the bait
Paul Carruthers
Bela Lugosi
aftershave
giant bat
Johnny Layton
Heath-Morton
PRC

Making

Yarbrough stages the revenge as a cosmetics test: the victims put the lotion on themselves. The last beat is Layton turning the same bottle on the chemist.

Reviews

The Los Angeles Times, on the 1945 double bill with Man Made Monster, described the two pictures as "two of the scariest features on the market."

Look

Arthur Martinelli photographed the laboratory, the night attacks, and the garden where Layton douses Carruthers.

Music

David Chudnow was musical director.

Preservation

Prints survive. The film was re-released in 1945 with Man Made Monster.

Notes

The owners' defense is that Carruthers took a buyout early and gave up his stake.
Suzanne Kaaren, Guy Usher, Yolande Donlan, Arthur Q. Bryan, and John Davidson are in the cast.
The Los Angeles Times, covering the 1945 reissue with Man Made Monster, called the pair "two of the scariest features on the market.
Layton and McGuire are dive-bombed; Layton kills that bat before Carruthers grows another.
A print is on the Internet Archive and on Wikimedia Commons.

Scenes

Carruthers offers the aftershave as a free test and sends the bat after whoever wears it.
Layton dumps the lotion on Carruthers, and the bat kills him.

Also available

Internet Archive (Devil_Bat_movie)
Wikimedia Commons (The Devil Bat (1940) by Jean Yarbrough.webm)