People in a small town are being murdered in their sleep, drained completely of blood. The living are getting worried some thinking vampires are the answer. The alternative is just as frightening, giant bats. The people live in terror and point fingers at a strange simpleton, Herman. Frightened villagers demand his head, but Karl, the level-headed investigator, won’t have any such talk. He’s not going to stake anybody through the heart without some solid proof. When the villain begins playing a cat and mouse game with the unsuspecting Karl only his girlfriend, Ruth, stands by him refusing to give into the hysteria sweeping the rest of the countryside.

I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of The Vampire Bat. In most movies like this the vampire is a given and the investigator is a fool for not listening to the people with more “open” minds. This go around, though, the investigator, like any good one would, simply wants enough evidence to name a suspect. He’s not beyond considering vampirism which is one of my favorite things about the Karl character. Yes, at first he is staunchly opposed to the possibility of a vampire, but as evidence mounts he struggles with accepting that as the explanation. This struggle has an excellent payoff.

Another thing I like about this is that the investigator, Karl, is the center of the story rather than being the person holding back those who “really” know what is going on around here. The bulk of the movie follows the investigation with enough evidence balanced with ambiguity so that the viewer can take either Karl or the villagers’ side of the argument. The downfall though, is that as the mystery unfolds some of the elements are poorly explained and serve to create more confusion rather than clarity. The final confrontation is unbelievable (in a bad way) and feels rushed. It’s almost as if they realize they had run out of time or money and just wrapped up production in the quickest way possible without narrative consideration.

While I like several of the characters I’m not too fond of Dwight Frye’s Herman. I think it is more his grammar than anything else. I just think the “Me do! Me do!” kind of speak pushes the characterization over the edge of believability when he is already so odd just with his movements and habits. I think he would have been stronger if they had kept his speech simple without being so extremely incorrect.

The movie is not a comedy, not at all, yet it has some delightfully funny comedic moments. I laughed out loud more than once. Most of it comes from Ruth’s hypochondriac aunt who claims the vampire rumor to be rubbish but can’t help but swoon when it’s mentioned in her presence. Sometimes the comedic characters in these old black-and-white horror movies can bug me (like the funny old lady in Bride of Frankenstein, one of the few weak elements in that movie), but this time it works well.