The Devil Bat (1940): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1940, The Devil Bat is a horror and science fiction film directed by Jean Yarbrough, running about 68 minutes. “He's Trained His Brood of Blood-Hungry Bats to Kill on Command!” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Dr. Paul Carruthers feels bitter at being betrayed by his employers, Heath and Morton, when they became rich as a result of a product he devised. He gains revenge by electrically enlarging bats and sending them out to kill his employers' family members by instilling in the bats a hatred for a particular perfume he has discovered, which he gets his victims to apply before going outdoors. Johnny Layton, a reporter, finally figures out Carruthers is the killer and, after putting the perfume on himself, douses it on Carruthers in the hopes it will get him to give himself away. One of the two is attacked as the giant bat makes one of its screaming, swooping power dives.

Who’s in it. The Devil Bat stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. Paul Carruthers, Suzanne Kaaren as Mary Heath, Dave O'Brien as Johnny Layton and Guy Usher as Henry Morton, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.3/10, The Devil Bat has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo and Brew and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Brew and Google Play Movies. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Devil Bat page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Devil Bat tend to enjoy Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, The Shining and Alien.