ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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There's strange doin's on All Sci-Fi today!

First of all, A Corpse Vanishes — which is always upsetting for the bereaved at the funeral. When I worked as a baggage handler for Eastern Air Lines years ago, I accidentally put a coffin on the wrong plane, so the deceased missed his own funeral! : No joke.

Next, we have The Devil Bat flying around — as if devils and bats aren't bad enough separately, somebody had to combine the two!

And finally, the Devil Bat somehow has a Daughter, which is sort of a triple-whammy, 'cause you know she's going to be a nasty person, so you've got everything bad about a devil, a bat, and a bitch — all rolled int one!

Enter at your own risks, guys! This can't possibly turn our well.
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The Corpse Vanishes (1943)



Mad doctor Bela Lugosi maintains his eighty-year-old wife's youthful appearance with injections derived from kidnapped girls. The macabre couple sleeps in coffins.

Luana Walters is Lugosi's wife, Minerva Urecal is his elderly assistant, Frank Morgan is the old lady's moronic son, and Angelo Rossito is a dwarf.

This is a Monogram production — which does not mean it's bad, just that it's modestly produced and frequently ridiculed. Directed by Wallace Fox from a screenplay by Harvey Gates.
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The Devil Bat (1941)

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[Also released as: "The Killer Bat"]

Mad scientist Bela Lugosi devises a diabolically clever way to murder people.

First he creates a monstrous bat-creature which can home in on the scent of a special chemical. Then he mixes the chemical with a seemingly harmless cologne -- which he offers as gifts to his intended victims.

This low-budget PRC studios production is a poor Universal horror copy, but if the viewer is prepared for the film's short-comings, it's enjoyable. The cast includes Dave O'Brien and Suzanne Kaaren. Directed by Jean Yarborough. And don't miss the sequel, which takes some outrageous liberties with the plot of the original.
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Devil Bat's Daughter (1946)

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A slightly misleading title: she's not the Devil Bat's daughter, she's the offspring of the mad scientist who created it.

Bela Lugosi, star of 1941's "The Devil Bat", sent out his flying horror on missions of murder until he became the victim of his own creation. In this sequel, Lugosi's daughter (Rosemary La Planche, Miss America of 1941) is afraid she's either losing her mind or being possessed by the spirit of her late father, so she seeks professional help from psychiatrist Eddie Kane.

Unfortunately, Kane isn't trying to cure Rosemary, he's trying to drive her crazy. And, wonder of wonders, it turns out that her father wasn't a villain after all -- he was framed by the real murderer of all those victims slain by the Devil Bat.

This brazen contradiction of the first film can at least be applauded for its nerve, if not its logic, but director Frank Wisbar fails to pump much suspense into the PRC studios horror film.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)