Scentzilla!

While we here in the States wait to get creeped out of our skin by Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, one fragrance-themed horror flick to consider for Halloween rental is 1940’s The Devil Bat. The Devil Bat stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. Carruthers, a rather congenial seeming sociopath, who devises an aftershave that attracts and triggers bats…

He is thought of as the kind and friendly (it’s always the quiet ones, after all) doctor by the village locals, but he just happens to be a hobby chemist and perfumer in his spare time. A cosmetic firm even sells Dr. Carruthers’ scented products. Yet only the firm’s owners get stinking rich off his work, because Carruthers unwisely accepted a lump sum payment for his “greaseless” shaving lotion formula rather than investing into the firm. He secretly seethes with rage that these men have become wealthy off his work while he thanklessly remains but their employee and a humble village doctor.

Obviously, he must concoct an improbable revenge plan. So Carruthers creates an evil aftershave, then Pavlovs his bunch of bats into killing anyone who wears the aftershave. “Youuu haaaaate… this… strange…. ori-EN-tal fragrance.”

However, these bats have been mutated to become “big and strong” in his secret lab. By zapping them with a perfectly silly looking electrolysis contraption, he tranforms them into gargantuan-sized assassins. The contraption appears to be constructed out of wire clothes hangers, a rejected-design Eames lamp, and an oversized wok (never let it be said that b-movie scientists don’t make the most out of parabolic dishes in their crazy schemes.) Like many mad scientists of the era, he also uses the latest in mad scientist technology: From pointless plastic tubing and paper mache Tesla coils, to variously-sized cathode ray tubes that put on a groovy light show when plotting evil in the labratory, he’s equipped. I guess when you’re a DIY evil genius, you have to make due with what’s implausibly available. Frankly, his whole lab looks like one big fire hazard. But he does wear goggles - remember, safety first! Or second. Possibly third. It’s really kind of an optional rule in the mad lab, isn’t it?

He soon gives his intended victims a try at his aftershave. One complains, “Pretty strong, isn’t it?”, so the doctor soothes him and instructs him to “rub it on the tender part of your neck,” while gesturing where the jugular veins are located. Hee. On cue, the bats commence an attack on the aftershave wearers. Much wild gesticulation of arms and loud screaming ensues. Double hee.

The Devil Bat is not so much scary as it is campy, but hey, some nights you want to watch a good movie, and some nights you simply want to watch a movie.

For a fun review of The Devil Bat, please check out part V of the Self-Styled Siren’s Perfume at the Movies series. The previous posts in the series are just as fun: part I, part II, part III, part IV.

I believe The Devil Bat is in the public domain. Unfortunately, a copy has yet to be uploaded to the generally awesome www.archive.org, which collects works with expired copyrights.