The Vampire Bat

1933
Passed
1h 5m

IMDb RATING

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Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray in The Vampire Bat (1933)

When corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, vampirism is suspected to be responsible.When corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, vampirism is suspected to be responsible.When corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, vampirism is suspected to be responsible.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

3.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos31

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Top cast18

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Lionel Atwill

Dr. Otto von Niemann

Fay Wray

Ruth Bertin

Melvyn Douglas

Karl Brettschneider

Maude Eburne

Aunt Gussie Schnappmann

George E. Stone

Kringen

Dwight Frye

Herman Gleib

Robert Frazer

Emil Borst

Rita Carlyle

Martha Mueller
(as Rita Carlisle)

Lionel Belmore

Bürgermeister Gustave Schoen

William V. Mong

Sauer

Stella Adams

Georgiana

Harrison Greene

Weingarten

Ted Billings

Townsman
(uncredited)

Fern Emmett

Gertrude
(uncredited)

William Humphrey

Dr. Haupt
(uncredited)

Paul Panzer

Townsman
(uncredited)

Carl Stockdale

Schmidt - Morgue Keeper
(uncredited)

Paul Weigel

Dr. Holdstadt
(uncredited)

Director
- Frank R. Strayer
Writer
- Edward T. Lowe Jr.
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
To keep production costs down, low-budget studio Majestic Pictures filmed at night on Universal's European village set, which was used for Frankenstein (1931). The interior of Lionel Atwill's house is the set from The Old Dark House (1932).

Goofs
[Spanish dubbed version] In the original version, when Herman encounters Aunt Gussie, he hides behind a bush and does a "meow" which draws Aunt Gussie to the bushes looking for the cat. In the Spanish dubbed version, they neglected to put in the "meow" so there is no motivation for Aunt Gussie to go to the bushes.

Quotes
Karl Brettschneider: I don't mind admitting that I'm up a tree. Stumped!

Alternate versions
When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'A' rating. All cuts were waived in 1993 when the film was granted a 'PG' certificate for home video.

Connections
Edited into Haunted Hollywood: The Vampire Bat (2016)

Soundtracks
Stealthy Footsteps
(uncredited)
Music by Charles Dunworth
[main title music]

User reviews89

Review

Featured review

5/10

One of the earliest low budget mystery thriller.

I saw this for the first time recently. While this film hasnt aged well n it aint no classic but it shud be definitely viewed by fellas who love mystery films with elements of somnambulism, hypnotism, scientist, bats, vampires, etc.

The producers succeeded in making this film almost as good as any Universal Pictures horror film is because they leased the castoffs, the sets left over from Frankenstein and the The Old Dark House. They even succeeded in hiring actor Dwight Frye (Dwight Frye played Renfield in Dracula and as Fritz in Frankenstein and as a reporter in The Invisible Man). In this movie he gave the same act similar to Dracula, of that a lunatic.

Fellas from a small village start dying under mysterious circumstances n the local doc conclude that the deaths r all the same, blood loss, with two punctures in the neck caused by needle-sharp teeth. The villagers suspect of vampires, but the local cop remains skeptical. Fear of the vampire and suspicion of a local lunatic who is fond of bats quickly spread around the town and people start fearing him.