THE DEVIL BAT (1940) – Episode 202 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Ah, my friend. Our theory of glandular stimulation through electrical impulses was correct. A few days ago, you were as small as your companion, and now look at you!” Glandular stimulation? Is that a thing you can get? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they all go sans-after-shave while investigating The Devil Bat (1940), starring Bela Lugosi!

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 202 – The Devil Bat (1940)

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ANNOUNCEMENT
Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL
Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era!
Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website.
Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.
https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

Synopsis: A mad scientist develops an aftershave lotion that causes his gigantic bats to kill anyone who wears it.

• Director: Jean Yarbrough (credited as Jean Yarborough)
• Writers: John T. Neville (credited as John Thomas Neville); George Bricker (original story by)
• Selected Cast:
  • Bela Lugosi as Dr. Paul Carruthers
  • Suzanne Kaaren as Mary Heath
  • Dave O’Brien as Johnny Layton
  • Guy Usher as Henry Morton
  • Yolande Donlan as Maxine (credited as Yolande Mallott)
  • Donald Kerr as ‘One-Shot’ McGuire
  • Edmund Mortimer as Martin Heath (credited as Edward Mortimer)
  • Gene O’Donnell as Don Morton
  • Alan Baldwin as Tommy Heath
  • John Ellis as Roy Heath
  • Arthur Q. Bryan as Joe McGinty
  • Hal Price as Chief Wilkins
  • John Davidson as Prof. Raines
  • Wally Rairden as Walter King (credited as Wally Rairdon)

This episode, the Grue Crew go to the movies to see The Devil Bat (1940), their fifth journey to Poverty Row. This time, Bela Lugosi is the attraction as a mad scientist with an impressive range of knowledge and expertise, simultaneously developing a method for creating extra-large bats and an experimental after-shave lotion that acts as an attractant for his giant bats. And remember, he’s mad, so shenanigans ensue. The Devil Bat was mentioned twice in episode 200, Grue Crew Favorites, once as one of Bill’s favorites, and once as a 1940s movie Jeff wanted to cover. So, here it is. The Grue Crew has a blast with this fun, forties flick!

At the time of this writing, The Devil Bat (1940) is available to stream almost everywhere: Classic Sci-Fi Movie Channel, Classic Horror Movie Channel, Wicked Horror TV, Hoopla, Kanopy, JustWatch, Pluto TV, Screambox, MGM+, and Flix Fling. It is also available on physical media as a standard Blu-ray-formatted disc from the Kino Classic imprint of Kino Lorber.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Bill – is The Giant Behemoth (1959): radioactive waste, an awakened prehistoric monster that can project electric shocks and radioactive beams and is headed for London, and a title with a redundant adjective! What else is there? Stop-motion animation under the oversight of Willis O’Brien! Yay!

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To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”