The Bat People stars Stewart Moss and Marianne McAndrew. Interesting tidbit--these two were married for four years before the making of this movie. They play Cathy and John Beck who will have their marriage tested by. . .bats.
The film
begins with Dr. John having a nightmare about swarms of bats. Kinda strange considering it is his occupation
to study bats. Seems like they would be
old hat after a while. Premonition or
bad directing, you decide. Anyway, the
next day the two go on a picnic only to be startled by a bat resting on their picnic
basket in the middle of the day. Cathy
is repulsed by it so John throws a rock scaring off the poor sleep-deprived dear. John says that he wants to head to
the caves to study bats for his job but Cathy reminds him that they have a
still overdue honeymoon that they need to take. So to compromise they decide to have sex in the cave. Romantic?
Well no worries, disgusted individuals, because they are interrupted by
a bat which bites John and kills the mood.
The next day in the car John asks, “I wonder
what we look like to a bat.” His wife
remarks that she doesn’t care and that she only cares about John. John remarks that he cares about her “and
bats.” They then go on and decide to go skiing.
John starts freaking out on the lift, scaring everyone there. A few minutes later he is back to normal
completely oblivious to what has just happened to him. They
ski and have a good time like normal until they decide to go to a hot-tub. John has a bat-spasm once again leading to
Cathy calling the doctor. Doctor Kipling
(who has one awesome mustache) tells them that they have to be wary of rabies
but that since it has a one to five month incubation period symptoms should not
be appearing yet if he is infected.
While hospitalized over night John becomes bloodthirsty and kills a night-shift nurse while having his hand transform into a battish appendage to the point that his wedding ring slips off at the scene of the crime. Most hospital employees think it was simply an accident that killed the nurse. The doctor is convinced that John is innocent but is feeling misplaced guilt over the incident. Cathy is eager to get John sent home but John understands that he is turning into a bloodthirsty creature and insists on staying. It is too late for staying, though, and so he checks into a motel.
While hospitalized over night John becomes bloodthirsty and kills a night-shift nurse while having his hand transform into a battish appendage to the point that his wedding ring slips off at the scene of the crime. Most hospital employees think it was simply an accident that killed the nurse. The doctor is convinced that John is innocent but is feeling misplaced guilt over the incident. Cathy is eager to get John sent home but John understands that he is turning into a bloodthirsty creature and insists on staying. It is too late for staying, though, and so he checks into a motel.
To John’s
dismay, a man named Sergeant Ward, who found his hospital bracelet next to the nurse's body, has begun to look into any possible
connection he could have had to the death.
One night John goes to bed only to wake up screaming at the memory of killing a girl. Cathy convinces him that it was all a dream until the Sergeant knocks at the door and reports finding a bloody bandage that belonged to the murderer of a young girl. He asks if it is John’s. While going into the hospital again for another round of rabies preventative shots he has another bat-seizure. After that he steals an ambulance and goes on a joyride. Now I can get it if you turn into some sort of werebat that drinks blood but why would it compel you to steal a vehicle with flashing lights and loud sirens? Not only is it too stupid to be done by a normal person, but too smart to be done by a bat, which would struggle with handling heavy machinery. How conscious is he during these bat-episodes? After a long and tedious chase scene Beck drives Ward’s car off the road and takes shelter in an abandoned barn.
One night John goes to bed only to wake up screaming at the memory of killing a girl. Cathy convinces him that it was all a dream until the Sergeant knocks at the door and reports finding a bloody bandage that belonged to the murderer of a young girl. He asks if it is John’s. While going into the hospital again for another round of rabies preventative shots he has another bat-seizure. After that he steals an ambulance and goes on a joyride. Now I can get it if you turn into some sort of werebat that drinks blood but why would it compel you to steal a vehicle with flashing lights and loud sirens? Not only is it too stupid to be done by a normal person, but too smart to be done by a bat, which would struggle with handling heavy machinery. How conscious is he during these bat-episodes? After a long and tedious chase scene Beck drives Ward’s car off the road and takes shelter in an abandoned barn.
I will miss you philosopher-tramp!
Cathy is still convinced even now John is merely confused while drugged on medicine and completely innocent. John, not completely over his past human life, pays his wife a visit in the middle of the night where they have sex. This is a hilarious scene where Cathy looks up during the act to see the bat-face of her husband. The bat make-up effects are amazingly bad which should make it all the more surprising when I tell you they were handled by Stan Winston who would later go on to win three Oscars for the film Jurassic Park!
Anyway, Cathy wakes up to find John is gone and calls the police to tell them that she shot her husband. Ward knowing this is a crock doesn’t even investigate further before he heads to the caves to look for John. He confronts the human John and knocks him around (without reading him his Miranda rights) which leads to John turning into a
My final score is 3.5 out of 5. Three being average that means this film entertained me above the average amount. It wasn’t the snooze-fest that everywhere claims it to be considering I watched it at midnight and never had an urge to conk-off. One of my friends had to use every measure under beating me with a sledgehammer to wake me up after The Matrix Revolutions. May explain why I have a few bats in my belfry.