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Blood-drained victims are being discovered in a seaside cave, sending a small town into a tizzy and believing a giant bat to be the culprit. The benevolent, well-respected and depended upon Professor Paul Kristan advises everyone to stay indoors at night but unbeknownst to the poor man, he’s actually the fiend behind the slayings. Thanks to his mama being bit by a vampire bat while she was pregnant with him (hiding in an African cave will allow that to happen), the man transforms into a bloodsucker. His loyal hunchbacked servant Zan covers for him by providing alibis and dragging the corpses of his victims to the caves. This puts a hamper on Paul’s engagement to the gorgeous Marguerite who idolizes the man but may not actually love him. This is good news for a local boy named David who has the hots for his childhood friend and is the first to suspect that a nefarious fiend is using a wild animal as a ruse to commit his heinous crimes. Paul’s foster father Dr. Anders Bizet responds to his son’s news of his betrothal and is caught up on the town drama and Paul’s reoccurring headaches which happen to coincide with the deaths. Dr. Bizet, knowing Paul’s past, is unsettled by the news of the villagers suspecting a vampire bat. Bizet also catches on to Marguerite’s hero worship of Paul and how she may be confusing her emotions and not actually be in love with the man. Paul goes to talk with her that night but transforms on his way, he attacks her maid when he arrives but runs off when her scream attracts the household staff and his fiancée. Dr. Bizet discovers Zan and a near unconscious Paul after he chased after his adopted son and they head back to Marguerite’s house. One of the servants lets them know he saw a figure run off into the night and now everyone believes there’s a human behind the unpleasantness. Seems like something superstitious townsfolk could easily blame on a disfigured man… poor Zan. It all ends with a “heroic” suicide followed by another suicide which isn’t all that “heroic”. It’s a creaky old time with a monster that requires minor facial contortions and very little else but I have fond memories of staying up late and watching this on PBS after Wild Chicago, so you can consider the rose-tinted glasses sitting snuggly on my stupid face.
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