Woodyanders
The tranquility of a sleepy small Texas town gets ripped asunder by a swarm of lethal genetically enhanced bats created by mad scientist Dr. Alexander McCabe (neatly played with sinister aplomb by Bob Gunton). It's up to earnest Sheriff Emmett Kimsey (a solid and likable performance by Lou Diamond Phillips), spunky zoologist Dr. Sheila Casper (a perky and appealing portrayal by Dina Meyer), and Casper's cowardly assistant Jimmy Sands (an amusing turn by Leon) to figure out a way to stop the ferocious buggers before it's too late.Director Louis Morneau and screenwriter John Logan bring a winningly lean'n'lean Grade B sensibility to the familiar, yet still effective and entertaining premise: The compact story zips along at a constant brisk pace, there's no pretense to speak of, the savage bat attack set pieces are staged with flair (a major sequence with the bats attacking the center of town rates as a real rip-roaring doozy), and things are even topped with a satisfying smattering of gore. The puppets and CGI effects used for the bats are pretty gnarly. George Moorodian's slick widescreen cinematography provides a nice glossy look. Graeme Revell's spirited shuddery score hits the stirring spot. Granted, this sure ain't no groundbreaking work of exceptional cinematic art, but if accepted on its own admittedly modest terms this movie overall sizes up as a really fun little flick.
varghesejunior
Watched this simply out of curiosity and turned out to be really good.A bat research experiment goes haywire, producing killer bats that terrorize a town in Arizona, and it's upto a local sheriff,and 2 scientists to find and eliminate all of them before they can eliminate more human lives.Its a short film, but really well shot, with good cinematography, action and thrills from start to end. The special effects are not as good as they are nowadays but nevertheless quite realistic. There is also no vulgarity which makes it suited for kids too.I wish there was a sequel.
Leofwine_draca
Twenty years after Hollywood made NIGHTWING they decided to tackle the subject of killer bats once again with results that turn out to be less than inspired.It's not that BATS is a particularly bad film; it isn't. It ticks all of the boxes and runs through the scenarios with a modicum of energy and drive. The problem is, as with most Hollywood films made recently, a series lack of originality or indeed intelligence. BATS turns out to be cheesy and predictable in equal measures, delivering up its threat of genetically-modified bats without much in the way of passion or intrigue.The plot follows the likes of THE BIRDS and other classics fairly closely. Moments between the set-pieces are dull, while the bat attacks are spoiled by some average CGI effects work (Hitchcock's superimposed birds are still superior to the creatures here). In close up, the rubbery menaces are about as realistic as the bats in Hammer's SCARS OF Dracula; not Greg Nicotero's finest moment, that's for sure.Cast-wise, it's pretty lacklustre. Lou Diamond Phillips goes through the motions and STARSHIP TROOPERS' Dina Meyer displays a singular lack of presence. Leon's character reveals everything that's wrong with Hollywood's reliance on the clichéd "funny black guy" in otherwise straight films. All in all a largely forgettable movie that disappeared as quickly as it arrived; go back to Hitchcock for a decent winged-menace movie.
Seb
My favourite bit of this movie was when the sheriff (Lou Diamond Philips) and Casper the friendly bat expert have a romantic interlude in this farcical bat yarn."Red sky tonight" the sheriff observes in this tender moment "my momma always said red sky means someone's gonna die." The laughs just keep coming in this wonky horror flick. The bat on a pole chasing them down a corridor is great but it's not just the shoddy special effects that amuse you because the scriptwriter clearly knows nothing at all about bats and wasn't prepared to skim a book about them before writing this rubbish. I especially liked the bat experts outrage that the scientist had engineered bats to eat meat as though we were talking about cows or something. Most bats are predators, I don't know what the film makers think insects are made out of, flying cheese sauce or something I suppose.The bat-vision scenes are dreadful, if you've made a substandard film the last thing you want to do is annoy the audience even more with ridiculous warped views that don't tie in with what's happening on screen.None of the characters are credible, there's no tension and the bat attacks themselves are unintentionally funny. If you like bad movies you're sure to wring some pleasure from this movie, if not then I would give it a miss.
AD
