The Bat People (1974)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

After a doctor is bitten by a bat, he goes on a killing spree as a man-bat creature.The Bat People is a slow and sluggish film with very little thrills or excitement. The premise isn't a bad one but it's so poorly executed that you end up bored throughout the entire picture.The only redeeming factor is the decent make-up effects by a young Stan Winston. However even they are very few and far between.Most of the time you're treated to stock footage of bats and uninteresting characters.So, if you want some 70's schlock then look no further than The Bat People. It currently has a 2.3/10 on IMDb so that should indicate what you're getting into.

This bad movie tells the story of a man who's bitten by a vampire bat and eventually turns into a giant one himself. I admit that when I first heard the premise, it seemed like it would be a movie about vampires. He was bitten by a vampire bat after all. Instead, it's just a guy turning into a giant bat. You rarely see him in this form at all, although I guess because the makeup was so bad. As with most horror movies, it suffers from being way too boring. What do you know? Yet another movie with the title "The X People". Dang, I thought these died out by the 1970's.The movie ends with the woman joining her husband presumably because she became a bat too. The end is probably the worst part, as I believe those are bats crapping on the car. Was she bitten by her husband? I don't remember seeing any bite marks, but like Tom Servo said, it was probably while they were having sex. The entire movie is pointless as nothing really comes out of it as the man (bat?) and his wife live. They should have just made it a movie about killer bats. *1/2

A ten star review may be reaching a bit, but notwithstanding some of the insipid and exaggeratedly low reviews here, this film DOES have a plot, takes it time getting there, and features good acting and a satisfying conclusion. If you purchase the MGM Midnite Movies DVD edition, you'll also be in for a visual treat as the movie is given a stellar transfer which serves as an effective time capsule of 70s drive- ins staples. Add in visual effects by Stan Winston (working on his FIRST feature (he would later go on to Terminator and Jurassic Park fame), and this stands as an interesting artifact, indeed. If you appreciate B films with merit, and if you also like bats, check out The Chosen Survivors, also available from MGM Midnite Movies, and also a 1974 release, which makes a terrific companion piece to this film.

The Bat People starts as a scientist researching Bat immunology Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) & his wife Cathy (Marianne McAndrew) take a public tour of an underground cave system, like a typical woman Cathy gets into trouble & ends up at the bottom of a crevice. John follows her down & he is bitten by a Bat, eventually they are missed & rescued. Better safe than sorry John checks in with Dr. Kipling (Paul Carr) who starts him on a course of rabies antibiotics, unfortunately John as changed & periodically transforms into a half-man half-bat type creature which has the antisocial habit of murdering anyone it meets & eating rats. Sergeant Ward (Michael Pataki) likes a quiet life & all these murders are upsetting him, he sets about tracking John down & putting an end to his murderous reign...Directed by Jerry Jameson & despite it's bad reputation I rather liked The Bat People, it certainly isn't any sort of masterpiece but as monster on the loose type thing I though it was watchable if nothing else. The script by producer Lou Shaw is hard to defend, if I'm honest its a bit slow, it can get dull at times, it's silly & never explains why John turns into the Bat creature he does & when all said & done not that much happens. But I still like it, for all it's bad points I liked it. I found the story quite cool & reminded of those monster films from the 50's & 60's, everything is played with deadly seriousness which I also thought gave the proceedings a certain silliness & there were a couple of effective scenes in here. The Bat People is one of those films I can't recommend as if I think about it with my head it's total crap but there's something in my heart which made me enjoy it, I'm sure monster film fans would like it to some extent although more casual viewers may want to skip it.Director Jameson does OK & I just love the 70's atmosphere, the clothes the fashions & the way it's shot. I thought the scene when John escapes from the hospital was funny, if your trying to escape from somewhere maybe stealing an ambulance with screeching sirens & flashing lights while dressed in a night gown isn't the best idea for not attracting attention. This was Stan Winston's second film as a make-up artist & he probably did the best he could on a low budget but if John turns into a Bat creature where are his wings? He looks more like a Werewolf to be honest. The murders are tame, there's no blood & the film doesn't linger on them.Technically the film is alright, it certainly looks better than a lot of low budget horror films that have been made within the last few years, the special effects are decent & the New Mexican location shooting adds a lot to the film. The acting is alright with Pataki as the sleazy police officer standing out.The Bat People is crap if I'm completely honest, having said that I liked it despite it's faults however I think many won't. Impossible for me to recommend but at least I've put a different & honest point of view across compared to most people who slate it.