The Bat People (1974)

A lot of fun.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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.

While this may not be the greatest B-film out there - it's certainly better than I guessed it would be. I found this one interesting, it's a pretty cool film.This really is your classic werewolf story - kinda like The Wolf Man but replacing wolves with bats. This becomes the story of The Bat Man. It's sorta Wolf Man meets Dracula merged together in one film in a roundabout way. So this film intrigued me.Naturally our character, Dr. John Beck, is told it's "all in his head" - he's not really or literally transforming. And there is a police sergeant (Sgt. Ward) that is suspicious of him for flat out murderer - medication or not he's a murderer. And our Bat Man goes on the run. There is a nice story to between Bat Man (Dr. Beck) and his wife Cathy.If you like the Wolf Man type of films and Dracula/Bats then give this film a chance. It's a B-film but a pretty good story. BTW I think this film is underrated. 8/10

Underwhelming horror movie unfortunately just doesn't have a whole lot of "oomph" going for it. Now, if you're like this viewer and are a hopeless addict of B level genre movies, you may derive some entertainment out of it. But it's definitely not very memorable overall, even if one takes it on a "so bad it's good" basis.Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) and wife Cathy (Marianne McAndrew) make the stupid, fateful decision to wander off on their own while exploring caves with a tour group, and he's soon bitten by a bat. This leads to a standard enough plot wherein John starts to suffer violent seizures and succumbing to homicidal impulses, while his distraught wife stands by, unwilling or unable to believe something weird is going on.The movie serves as an early credit for makeup effects legend Stan Winston (here billed as 'Stanley'), but aside from one cool hand-turns-into-bat-wing sequence, it's clear his best work was ahead of him. We're made to use our imaginations as the monster stuff mostly happens off screen, until near the end. Then we finally see a bat head, which will more likely induce chuckles than anything else.The direction by Jerry Jameson, a journeyman type whose credits were mostly in TV, is basically competent, the music by Artie Kane decent enough (with the inclusion of the overwrought theme song that was actually fairly common among '70s genre efforts). The many shots of real bats may do the trick for any viewer with an aversion to these animals. The better scenes tend to take place towards the end, especially as the bats swarm on one very unfortunate victim. Gore lovers may be somewhat disappointed, at least until this moment occurs.The leads, Moss (whose looks and manner are reminiscent of Bradford Dillman) and McAndrew (an attractive lady who also appeared in Russ Meyers' "The Seven Minutes") are okay; they actually were married in real life as well. Michael Pataki delivers a standout performance as a persistent cop who's also a lecherous creep. Veteran actor Arthur Space does a nice job as a drunken, philosophizing hobo, in another of the movies' better scenes.The main problem is making the effort to care very much about the characters or this tragic story as it plays out. Cult horror aficionados may want to give this one a try, and it's watchable enough, at least for this viewer. It just isn't as much fun as it could & should have been.Five out of 10.

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.