 Majestic Pictures had lower overheads than the larger studios, which were struggling at the time during the Great Depression.Part of the reason that "The Vampire Bat" looked almost as good as any Universal Pictures horror film is because Majestic leased James Whale's castoffs, the “German Village” backlot sets left over from "Frankenstein" (1931) and the interior sets from his film "The Old Dark House" (1932), plus some location shooting at Bronson Caves.Completing the illusion that this was a film from a much bigger studio, Majestic hired actor Dwight Frye to populate scenes with Wray and Atwill.