The Bat People (1974) Reviews

• Watchable but the filmmakers could had more fun with this premise.

  hu6752009-01-31

  Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) and his lovely wife Cathy (Marranne McAndrew) fell into an underground cave. When his wife was attacked by a bat, he tried to help her but he ended up getting bitten instead. Beck thought the scratch was nothing until he found himself having horrible nightmares. He slowly turned into a bat creature! Beck began attacking innocent people for blood. The only one who could talk some sense to him was his wife. Directed by Jerry Jameson (Airport '77, Raise the Titanic) made a watchable but disjointed horror film that attempts to be truly scary but fails. Moss gives a good performance and there's early make-up effects work by the late five time Oscar-Winner,Stan Winston (Jurassic Park Trilogy, Aliens, Interview with an Vampire). The DVD is a double feature with "The Beast Within" from MGM. Although i think "The Beast Within" is a much better movie in my opinion.The DVD has a good anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and a decent Dolby Stereo 2.0 Surround Sound. "The Bat People" is a truly forgotten horror film. It is probably only notable for make-up effects for fans to see Winston's early f/x work. Michael Pataki has some fun as a slightly sleazy sheriff. Badly written and produced by Lou Shaw. (** 1/2 out of *****).

• Groovy, man.... far out!

  Mike Sh.2000-07-31

  This movie may not be classic material (to put it charitably), but it does have a couple of things going for it. Not the plot, dialogue, production values, or anything else meaningless like that. But it does have a sense of time and place (a chic Colorado ski resort in the midst of the swingin' Seventies), and it does have Paul Carr as Dr. Kipling, the very archetype of the hip, swingin' Seventies dude. With the blow-dried coif (reminiscent of those old "Dry Look" ads), the bushy moustache, the deep, mellow voice and manner, and overall air of grooviness, Dr. Kipling is the ultimate in Seventies cool! Confident without being smug or arrogant, cool without being aloof, this man is a suitable role model for anyone to emulate. As for the movie itself, well, it bites.

• Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah BATMAN!!!!

  Coventry2008-02-17

  "The Bat People" is a proud resident of the IMDb Bottom 100. Every once and a while the movie suddenly vanishes from the infamous list, depending on whether there are new movies with Paris Hilton in the lead or documentaries about American Idol stars, but it always reliably returns sooner or later. And why? Because, unlike the majority of crap in that list, "The Bat People" is a legitimate bad film and it deserves to be on there regardless of any media influences or internet buzz! This nearly isn't the worst film ever made, since the basic concept definitely has a certain charm and ingenuity, but it's still indescribably difficult to sit through the whole thing. The script is incredibly boring, with absolutely unnecessary padding footage and gigantic gaps in continuity, and yet the main characters still remain total strangers throughout the entire film. Other than a sensible screenplay, the film also lacks spectacular killing sequences and the make-up effects – although courtesy of a young Stan Winston – are ludicrously inept and remain largely unseen until the end of the film. The film's title is inaccurate, as "people" refers to a number in plural whereas the story actually just revolves on one Bat Person. Much more than Bruce Wayne, the real Batman plays in this movie and he as well has a genuine Bat-cave and a Bat-mobile (a stolen ambulance)! The plot introduces a young couple on their honeymoon-weekend exploring caves. They wander off from a guided tour group and he gets bitten by a bat whilst trying to protect his wife from the animal's vicious attack. Worried that he might be infected with rabies, he undergoes an intense treatment at the local hospital, but still this doesn't prevent him from slowly transforming into a bloodthirsty bat creature. He kills random people at night and toys around with the suspicious police sergeant whilst his loving wife is still vastly convinced the awkward behavior is exclusively due to allergic reactions to the rabies treatment. Sure, honey! The script never explains why a bat would attack people and how come John always changes back into a normal human being at the dawn of a new day instead of gradually turning into a permanent state of bat-guano. So basically, "The Bat People" is a variation on the good old werewolf-theme, but obviously not a very interesting one. The concept showed a lot of potential, but somehow the sub plots center on whiny drunks and perverted Sheriffs instead of on ghastly monsters. Some of the settings and exterior filming locations look impressive, the misfit song playing during the credits is strangely catchy, there's a nice bit of gore during the climax (finally!) and main actress Marianne McAndrew is ravishing to look at (though not to listen to). This truly bad and boring film's current listing in the bottom 100 is spot number 80, and personally I hope it sticks somewhere in that region. The list simply wouldn't feel and traditional without "The Bat People".

• Attack of the Planet of the Apes Reject

  BloodTheTelepathicDog2011-05-10

  Sure, this isn't a good movie but I've seen a heckuva lot worse. The prosthetic hand Stewart Moss wears looks good but his face makeup after his transformation makes him look less like a bat and more like the ugliest extra in the PLANET OF THE APES. The "Bat Man" doesn't even have wings. This movie would have been much better had they used a monster that looked something like those creepy bat people on the Marc Singer BEASTMASTER film. This movie centers on married couple Stewart Moss and Marianne McAndrew, who are married in real life. Stewart is a scientist who plans on taking a side trip to a cave before he and the wife hit the slopes. When the old carnal desires strike a chord in Marianne, she sneaks her hubby off in the cavern for a little Neanderthal necking, but she slips down a hole and her hubby has to rescue her. In the midst of his rescue, he is bitten by a bat. The good scientist spends the rest of the film writhing about in hospital beds and motel rooms, and killing an occasional person here and there. THE STORY: $$ (The story is far too formulaic and fails to give us any sympathetic characters. Marriane McAndrew is the closest thing to a sympathetic character we have in this film but she is brash at times, referring to her husband and a doctor she hardly knows as "children" to their faces. Also, she complains to Dr. Kipling (Paul Carr) about her husband's new violent streak after his bat attack but the script fails to deliver in that regard. His "violent streak" consists of him telling his wife, in a rather laid-back fashion, to stay away from him while he suffers throes of agony in a hot tub). ACTING: $$ (Michael Pataki is the standout as the slimy Sgt. Ward who takes a great interest in the case. He is always on Stewart Moss' heels but is he more interesting in stopping a killer or bedding a distraught Miss McAndrew? Arthur Space as the drunk gives a very good performance and had me laughing. Marianne McAndrew does a fine job as the wife of a monster but Stewart Moss isn't all that convincing in his role as the main character). NUDITY: $ (Marianne McAndrew is naked under the sheets but you don't see anything from her. The sex scene is one the strangest in cinema history. Near the end of the film, Marianne is getting busy with her man when he changes into his bat form midway through the Barry White ballad).

• Terrible horror film.

  HumanoidOfFlesh2005-06-15

  After being bitten by a bat in a cave,a doctor named John Beck undergoes an accelerating transformation into a man-bat creature.His wife assures him that there's nothing wrong with him,it's all just due to rabies or the anti-rabies drugs he's taking.The local cop thinks that John is responsible for several gruesome murders."The Bat People" by Jerry Jameson is one hell of a horrible film.The script is deadly dull and there is no gore nor nudity.This pointless piece of crap is so mind-numbingly boring that you'll scratch your head in a total disbelief after suffering through it.Even the design of a man-bat creature by a young Stan Winston is completely pathetic and unmemorable.Avoid this stinker like the plague.2 out of 10.