| It is my considered opinion that shaving lotion is severely under-utilized as a murder weapon in mystery films. Fortunately, the late, great Bela Lugosi did his best to rectify this imbalance in the baffling poverty-row thriller The Devil Bat (1941).
A low-budget gem from the "delightfully stupid" segment of Lugosi’s career, The Devil Bat casts the suave Dracula star as "Dr. Carruthers," a well-respected scientist specializing in the fields of cosmetics (?) and electronically-induced bat mutation (??). Despite his popularity, ol’ Doc Carruthers is a genuine mad scientist when nobody’s watching, and has cooked up a truly inspired/harebrained revenge scheme the likes of which mortal man has never witnessed. By juicing ordinary bats with electricity, Carruthers has created a subspecies of giant superbats that resemble unwieldy papier-mâché props dangling from visible wires. He’s also perfected a shaving lotion with a unique scent that enrages the mutant bats, causing them to attack whoever happens to be wearing the stuff. I’m sure you can predict what’s coming next – everyone who ever crossed the doc is going to wind up a pleasant-smelling, bat-ravaged corpse.
The scene in which Carruthers gives the deadly shaving lotion to his first victim Roy (John Ellis) manages to be suspenseful and ridiculous at the same time. The two are clearly old friends, and Roy is completely oblivious to any possibility that the good doctor might actually wish him harm. Lugosi really allows himself to revel in the excitement of the moment, barely keeping his enthusiasm in check as he hands over the vial of lotion to his former friend. Roy gives the formula a cautious sniff; "Pretty strong, isn’t it?" he asks. "No, no!" tuts Carruthers, "The scent evaporates a short time after you’ve used it. Try a few drops. Now, rub it here, on the tender part of your neck! Soothing, isn’t it?" Lugosi’s eyes sparkle with triumph and glee. "Goodnight, doctor" says Roy, preparing to depart. Carruthers allows himself a deliciously evil smile before replying "Goodbye, Roy!"
Man, that Bela Lugosi can sure make evil look fun. Allow yourself an evil chuckle – you know you want to. Bwa. Ha. Ha!
Cologne that enrages mutant bats might seem like a pretty outré murder weapon to you or me, but Lugosi specialized in weird murders like this. In the cliffhanger S.O.S. Coast Guard (1937), he played "Boroff," a mad scientist who invented a gas that could disintegrate solid matter. At one point he melts a mountain with it. An entire mountain. The only substance that could withstand the gas was glass, so he could carry little glass globes of the stuff around with him, in case he needed to evaporate a tank battalion or something. I’m amazed that the good guys didn’t just give up and make him ruler of the world. In fact, things get so hectic in S.O.S. Coast Guard that perpetually cheerful hero Ralph Byrd actually stops smiling a couple of times!
Of course, nothing compares to the bizarre arsenal Lugosi had in The Phantom Creeps (1939). As mad scientist Dr. Alex Zorka, Lugosi plots to take over the world, and he has the high-tech gizmos to do it with ease. One of his weapons in this quest is a remote-controlled robot that hides behind a sliding panel in his drawing room. This mechanical monstrosity sports a bald head and a just-smelled-a-dead-fish frown, making it a particularly memorable killer robot in a period in which killer robots tended to be a bit nondescript. (Modern viewers will recognize this guy as the robot from Rob Zombie’s "Dragula" music video.) In addition to the frowny robot, Zorka has a belt that makes him invisible, and a whole bunch of robot spiders that automatically home in on their targets and explode in a puff of sleep gas! |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.