I'll admit it right off the bat (no pun intended). I'm a complete devotee of this subgenre of movie -- the nature-gone-awry, killer insect/bird/bat movie. I think I've seen just about every movie the genre has to offer, from the classic, THEM through to the newer models such as Arachnophobia. Unfortunately, BATS ranks up there with the worst the genre has to offer.
This is undoubtedly a very formulaic genre, with a traditional set of constants. First, there are the creatures. The creatures, in their own way, are usually victims as well, having been turned into killing machines by some outside force, be it natural, or -- more often -- manmade. Over the years, these movie creature mutations have been blamed on atomic bombs, nuclear leaks, heinous pesticides, and genetic engineering, to mention a few. That brings us to the second part of the equation -- the mad scientist. There is usually somebody behind the mayhem -- maybe the government, the scientific community, or p ossibly, a large, money-grubbing corporation. Finally, there is the nest -- larger, scarier, more incredible (and far more difficult to eradicate) than anyone could have imagined.
BATS takes the idea of formula to a new level. Everything in this movie has been done before -- often many times. There was not a single original idea in this movie, not a single original piece of plotting, not a single worthwhile special effect. Not even the ending was original. After you see it, rent the 1970's film, The Killer Bees: Terror from the Sky (title may be inexact). You'll see what I mean.
Okay, so it was a Grade B movie. There's nothing wrong with Grade B Movies. A lower budget shouldn't mean a lower level of creativity. Everything in this movie was predictable and hokey -- from the Bats' lair to the Bats'-eye-view camera angles (which were nothing if not distracting). In fact, what particularly distracted me was the scene when Bats are attacking the town. Every bat you se e flying is small, the size of normal Bats, but when the camera focuses on a particular attack-in-progress, inevitably, the bat is huge.
The acting in the movie was terrible. My first clue should have been seeing Lou Diamond Phillips at the top of the credits. I can't look at him without hearkening back to his 1990 disaster The First Power which probably tops the list of the worst Movies I've ever seen. Dina Meyer as the zoologist was passable, but one person's acting is lost in the panoply of bad acting that made up BATS. I must say, however, that I can't blame it all on the acting. An actor can only do so much with dialogue that lacks the pacing and sound of truth.
The effects in this movie were downright laughable. The Bats themselves looked more like pug-nosed gargoyles, and the biggest mistake was the many close-up shots. When the camera panned back to show the swarm of Bats from a distance, racing across the night sky, almost blocking out the moon, it was c reepy. When the camera pulled in close to show them crawling toward hapless victims, it was pitiful. This would have been Jim Henson's nightmare.
Honestly, the one highlight in this movie was Leon, who played Jimmy, assistant to the zoologist. His comic timing broke up the tedium of this plot, and I found myself laughing out loud at his humor. This is hardly enough to make BATS a worthwhile viewing experience, I'm afraid.
If you want some good, creepy fun in this particular genre, don't give up after seeing BATS. I would recommend Kingdom of the Spiders, which is wonderfully fresh and has one of the best endings of any movie I've ever seen. Try The Swarm or Arachnophobia. If you're after something more campy, try Tremors. Tremors was a very funny movie, very campy, but creative and entertaining nevertheless.
After watching a movie like this, you should feel your skin crawl. The only reason my skin crawled after watching BATS was thinking of the time I waste d. All in all, BATS was for the birds
Lisa is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writing.
Author:: Lisa Koosis
Keywords:: Bats,Horror,science fiction,Animals,Movies,lou diamond phillips,Thriller,Video
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