the vampire bat be set in the small german village of klineschloss where gustave schoen ( lionel belmore ) the burgermeister be hold a meeting with inspector karl brettschneider ( melvyn douglas ) from the local constabulary about all the recent murder and six victim have be discover in as many week all drain of blood and bear the same two puncture wound on their neck . brettschneider doesn not have a single clue but the superstitious elder of the village believe the death to be the work of a vampire . brettschneider isn not convince but the scared villager keep tell tale of see a large bat and meanwhile the late victim martha mueller ( rita carlyle ) have be find . brettschneider come under increase pressure to solve the murder but can he really believe that a giant vampire bat be responsible and if it be how he go to stop it . direct by frank r. strayer the vampire bat be a cheapie from majestic picture to cash in on the success of it two star atwill and wray and their success in the previous year doctor x ( 1932 ) and be more of a murder mystery rather than a horror a the exploitative and entice title may have lead you to believe and quite frankly it rather dull . the script by edward t. lowe jr. take itself rather seriously and set up the basic story that something be kill local villager and that something could possibly be a vampire and then for most of it duration the film focus on brettschneider and his incompetent investigation which be and not to put too fine a point on it and bore . the vampire bat also have a bit of an identity crisis a it doesn not quite know what it want to be and the title would suggest a horror film while the majority of it could easily be describe a a thriller with the final few minute descend into silly sci fi . there be no vampire bat and the attempt to fool you be pathetic and all the character be broad stereotype and you can tell the villain of the piece straight away and a a whole there be nothing particularly exciting or entertain about the vampire bat . i know it old but that not an excuse a cinema have move on a lot since 1933 and a bland and flat and dull and boring and misleading film such a the vampire bat just doesn not cut it these day and just look at the original king kong ( 1933 ) release the same year and how brilliantly that still hold up today . i do not like it and i doubt many modern film goer would either and it as simple and straight forward a that . director strayer doesn not do anything special but this be a case in point where i can cut the film some slack because of it age and a a whole it pretty much point and shoot and hope for the best stuff . there isn not much in the way of atmosphere or scare although some of the set which be already exist one take from the old dark house ( 1932 ) and universal european set on their back lot be nice and add a certain ambiance to thing . technically the vampire bat can not compare to anything even remotely modern and for the age of it it alright i suppose but again i draw your attention back to the original king kong . speaking of king kong it star fay wray have a role in this a do horror icon lionel atwill and i will be kind and say the acting be ok. the vampire bat will i imagine fool a lot of people into think that it a horror film about vampire bat when in fact it isn not and personally i think the whole thing be a bit of a bore . it short and it tell it story reasonably enough but i must admit i be not a fan .