Bats (1999)

Amateur movie with Big budget

Absolutely amazing

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

After revisiting this 1990s update of the classic "nature strikes back" genre of the 1970s, this viewer can say that he has warmed up to it a bit. It's of absolutely no real distinction, but adequate directing and acceptable acting manage to overcome a VERY routine script. An unending multitude of killer bats (that have been genetically engineered, naturally) are unleashed on a sleepy Texas burg. Among our heroes are a laid back sheriff (Lou Diamond Phillips), a bat expert (Dina Meyer), and her assistant (Leon).The script by John Logan is stupid and clichéd, and unfortunately treats the assistant character as a comedy relief stereotype. It's also kind of hard to feel sorry for the many townspeople in the movies' big set piece when they prove too dumb to get the Hell out of Dodge. The execution does manage to make this reasonably entertaining, with a fair bit of intense action and some moderate suspense. The effects, unfortunately, are mostly pretty poor. The puppets are not the best work that KNB has ever done, and the digital FX are purely laughable. At the very least, there's some pleasing widescreen photography and scenic locations. Some horror fans may also be pleased with the fairly high body count.Phillips is likable in the hero role; he's at least more convincing here as a cop than he was in "The First Power". The real standout is the lovely Meyer: not only is she excellent eye candy, but her character is very smart, very strong, and very capable. Leon is wasted in his role. That brings us to the matter of Bob Gunton, a superb veteran character actor who has one of the most embarrassing roles of his career. Cast as the requisite mad scientist, you'll likely be left shaking your head at the flimsiness of his motivation.NOT an altogether bad movie, but also far from being a good one. Fortunately, it's relatively short.Five out of 10.

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.

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.

this is a strange little movie.i mean it's very low budget and mostly poorly acted,perhaps on purpose.i'd swear it was done tongue in cheek yet at the same time it seems to take itself seriously.it has some pretty cringe worthy dialogue to say the least,and the story is quite silly,in my mind.at the same time though,it is fairly fun,and some of the characters are interesting.it's no masterpiece.in fact far from it.but i did find it a passably entertaining diversion.if you keep you expectation level really low for this movie,you might get some enjoyment out of it.it wasted around 85 minutes or so(not counting the end credits.it's not memorable,and once it's over,you'll forget all about it.for me,Bats is a 4.5/10