Vampires are sucking the blood out of unlucky inhabitants in the little Mittel-Europa town of Klineschloss, leaving the bodies to be discovered and reviving old superstitions in peasants, townees and city officials. Are the vampires killer bats . . . or human beasts? Modern-thinking police inspector Melvyn Douglas looks for a logical explanation, supported by research scientist Lionel Atwill & his assistant Fay Wray who’s also Douglas’s fiancé. Everyone else thinks it’s something supernatural. In content a typical Poverty Row horror pic, in execution, this Majestic Pictures production is quite a bit better than you expect, starting with that superior cast (George E. Stone & Dwight Frye also show up in tasty turns) and more than decent production values. Douglas is actually working on some of the same Universal sets he trod in the previous year’s OLD DARK HOUSE. Director Frank Strayer falls back now and then to lining up his cast as if he were filming a read-thru, but he’s just as likely to work up a real visual game plan using clever compositions in depth while maintaining a rollicking pace, obscuring his tight budget with dynamic camera moves and shock cuts. The last reel works up a real buzz even if some of the mysteries never do get properly explained. (Hypnotic transmission, anyone?) But a lot in here compares well with the quality horror stuff major studios were putting out at the time. Fans of the genre (and of wonderful Lionel Atwill) will want to dig in.
LINK: Lots of Public Domain prints in varying quality, even a Blu-Ray from Film Detective. But try this excellent youtube stream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ8BqGrMW4U
DOUBLE-BILL: Wray & Atwill were something of a horror team at the time having just made a pair of 2-strip TechniColor pics @ Warners for Michael Curtiz: DOCTOR X/’32 and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM/’33.
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