Vampire Bats (2005)

How sad is this?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I'm a huge fan of creature features, even the dodgy ones in which CGI monsters run amok and tear overacting cast members to pieces. Hell, I got a kick out of ATTACK OF THE SABRETOOTH and AZTEC REX, which is saying something. But VAMPIRE BATS, a sort-of modern-day version of NIGHTWING, turns out to be a deathly dull and completely senseless addition to the genre.Originally shown on Halloween in 2005, this is a short TV movie which nevertheless feels like it goes on for ages. The entire production is padded with dull SCOOBY DOO-style scenes of the characters creeping around and investigating a series of mysterious murders. It's all routine and predictable as you'd expect. Oddly, this is a sequel, a follow up to LOCUSTS which also starred Lucy Lawless.Needless to say that the acting is extremely bad, even from Lawless who would later go on to enjoy a mini career renaissance with her great role in the gory TV show SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND. The special effects are a mix of silly CGI bat swarms and some slightly more convincing rubber models. One of the worst things about it is that there's no gore to speak of, no decent attack scenes a la THE BIRDS, just mindless, mind-numbing plotting with no wit, style or imagination. Give it a miss.

I personally wouldn't go as far to say that Vampire Bats is a great movie. However I don't think it is a terrible movie either, I have seen far worse. There is a predictable story that is not particularly scary that felt half nature gone amok and half of a derivative Scooby Doo episode, a cheesy and overly-talky script that is full of ludicrous scientific motivations, clichéd characters and the final scene was unnecessary, feeling tacked on. However, it doesn't look too bad a movie, the locations are great and the editing is much better than the slipshod quality I was expecting. The music is decent, adding a bit of atmosphere, and there are a couple of scenes that did make me jump if never really terrifying me. The vampire bats are reasonable, they are used more effectively than other creatures in other movies with similar if not completely identical ideas, and while not realistic they are less hokey in design than I thought. The acting is uneven, with Lucy Lawless who is actually good the best of the lot. Dylan Neal is a non-entity sadly and Brett Butler comes very close to overdoing it. All in all, not a good movie but there are far worse movies out there. 5/10 Bethany Cox

The dialogue of the college-aged characters towards the beginning of this made for TV film captured my attention. The group, which tended towards the Gothic or nerd type of college stereotype, spoke like real people. The pacing and editing was above par for a TV movie, and the fact that Lucy Lawless does not age continues to confound me. I Tivoed this movie, and because of the Sunday time-shifts from the afternoon NFL games, I missed the last 15 minutes of the film. I hope to catch it the next time it is run. Ideally, I will not have to wait until next Halloween.This movie, with a little more money and the proper advertising, could have been an acceptable movie theatre offering. OK, maybe another A/B list lead to counter Lucy Lawless would be necessary, but the basics of an intelligent, somewhat thought-provoking movie are firmly in place with Vampire Bats.

Found this film very entertaining and horrifying with a real close up to a bats face and horrible teeth and angry looks. These bats had a devil looking way of dealing with humans and animals. It took quite a while before some of the local people and mostly college students discovered the fact that bats had taken on an aggressive attitude to loud, wild music and were mostly turned on to red hot blood flowing humans. Lucy Lawless,(Maddy Rierdon), gave an outstanding performance and showed off her great body form. There was lots of wild parties and plenty of young gals and guys getting really spaced out. One girl started foaming at the mouth in class and caused a great deal of gasps in the classroom. Great film and lots of fun to watch, especially the Vampire Bats!