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Lou Diamond Phillips, Dina Meyer, Bob Gunton, Leon, Carlos Jacott ... see more see more... , David McConnell , Marcia Dangerfield , Oscar Rowland

Beware of what goes "bump" (and "squeak" and "flap flap flap") in the night. Dr. Sheila Casper (Dina Meyer) is a respected zoologist dispatched by the government to Gallup, TX, a small community suffe... read more read more...ring from an unusual number of reported bat attacks. Casper finds this news puzzling, since bats are generally placid creatures who avoid contact with humans. The local sheriff, Emmett Kimsey (Lou Diamond Phillips), assures Casper that the reports are on the level and that something needs to be done about swarms of aggressive bats so thick they blot out the moon. Caspar and Kimsey discover that a new breed of genetically altered bats have escaped from a research facility and taken up residence in a cave near Gallup -- but the nocturnal bloodsuckers have no intention of leaving as quickly as they arrived. Bats was written by John Logan, who had two other projects hit the screen within a few months of Bats' release: Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday and Ridley Scott's Gladiator. The supporting cast includes Leon and Bob Gunton. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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22% liked it

20,373 ratings

Critics

17% liked it

42 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Louis Morneau

Release Date: October 22, 1999

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DVD Release Date: August 7, 2001

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Flixster Reviews (490)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    January 21, 2012
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Bats is a cliched, overdone genre film about deadly bats. The concept is old, tired and ultimately boring. The films plot is derivative of every other nature gone wild horror flick.Bats could have been something good, but it ultimately failed in delivering anything good to the sc... read morereen. The film in originality, not providing us with interesting characters or story line. This film could have been good, instead it took liberties from other genre films, and it just became a big cliche riddled film. The payoff of the film is weak, and overall this is a lazy effort. The acting is sloppy, and is complemented by a very poor script. Bats is an example of a film that has had the misfortune of being in a genre of horror film that really is not interesting anymore. I mean, the nature gone wild genre has covered so much ground in the last three decades. Starting with Jaws, to Grizzlyu with Piranha, Alligator and Arachnophobia and culminating with Lake Placid. There has been other killer creature films since, but what separates this film from the newer films are that these films such as Rogue used cliched ideas in a refreshing way and had a good, well constructed script that used suspense and terror effectively well to tell its story However Bats doesn't do that. Bats uses cliches with a bad script, and it doesn't work. Stick with Jaws, Grizzly and the more recent Rogue. Bats just doesn't cut it, and it suffers from being a bad B movie that is more hilariously bad than scary. As a bad film, this one works, as a horror flick, it doesn't.
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    I wanted to see "Bats" as soon as I saw the previews over a year ago and I finally got to see it awhile ago. It wasn't anything like what I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be a good horror movie with great special effects. "Bats" turned out to be the worst horror movie... read more I've seen in a long time.
    A new breed of bat that was created by a man is terrorizing a small town in Texas. The bats kill everybody they see, so it's up to a wildlife zoologist (Dina Meyer) and a sheriff (Lou Diamond Phillips) to try and get rid of the bats before it's too late.

    "Bats" might have had better success a few years ago, but with the great horror movies that have been made lately, "Bats" just can't stand up to them. Sometimes the camera in the movie just goes in circles to where you can't see anything. There's not much plot to the movie other than to get rid of the bats. Finally, "Bats" was made in 1999. It's pretty bad when a movie made in the late 90's doesn't even have good special effects. The only thing that I did like about the movie was that the bats looked pretty cool.

    Some people might like "Bats," but for me, it just wasn't what I was expecting it to be. Therefore, unless you really really want to see it, I wouldn't recommend watching it. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. Bigtime disappointment movie for me.
  • deano
    August 20, 2007
    deano
    Amazing non-stop high-flying, action-packed scream ride, so frightfully good fun.
  • webalina
    May 21, 2007
    webalina
    A cheesy horror flick that harkens back to the days of bad '60's sci-fi. Hard to believe they could make something this rotten in this day and age. A good film for groups of people to watch together... and make fun of. Too bad MST3K isn't still around. They'd have a field day wit... read moreh this.
  • mrbungle7821
    February 23, 2006
    mrbungle7821
    [font=Arial][color=darkred]It's almost reassuring to see a film like 'Bats' arrive at your multiplex. It means that in an industry fueled by big names and big effects that a cheesy B-movie can still make it through production like the legions that spooked so many naive baby boome... read morers. But let's not get ahead of ourselves now. It is, after all, a B-movie.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]'Bats' tries to be the winged mammal version of 'The Brids' except not nerely as good. The "story" is of a mad scientist who genetically creates a race of super bats. Why? Well maybe the real question you should ask yourself is - why not? Unfortunately the bats get released into a small sleepy town in Texas. The officials catch on, the populas refuses to believe, then... oh what the hell does it matter?! You'll be able to predict the rest faster than you can tie your shoelaces. Create a plot in your head to fill the void of this one. In my version of 'Bats' space aliens came down and there was an intergalactic civil war between bat-people and humanity's only source of hope in a band of four teenage girls each with amazing powers. This is what happens when you have to fend for yourself for entertainment.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]What should be the most interesting part of 'Bats' turns out to be the absolute lamest: the bats themselves. Were they created in some lab or did they just hibernate out of Fraggle Rock with a thirst for blood? They resemble small dogs with wings in all the amounts of quick-cut closeup shots to hide the fact that they didn't have the budget to film more than six bats at one time. I don't know if they're supposed to come off as frighteneing or not, but mass hysteria from muppets just doesn't seem too overwheliming to me.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]If 'Bats' were played for camp value it might be a moderately redeemable sense of dumb fun like 'Deep Blue Sea' was earlier this year. Instead the bat wranglers try playing it for scares and askewed laughs, but the scales sure don't come out even upon viewing. The flick really is laugh-out-loud bad like when one of the characters actually sells out humanity to help the bats, or the distraught and reckless teenagers getting their comupance for staying out after curfew like in so many other bad B-monster movies. This movie won't be appearing on anyone's resume list in the near future. I think even the Key Grips were ashamed to have had any hand in this. You can't help but feel 'Bats' missed it's window of oppurtunity for success around the time film went to color. The only screaming you'll be hearing anywhere in the viscinity of 'Bats' is from people just realizing they spent seven dollars on this thing.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: D[/color][/font]
  • Beefy
    December 5, 2005
    Beefy
    Perhaps my favorite bad movie.
  • husky10000years
    January 12, 2008
    husky10000years
    Good movie. Action-packed scream ride, so frightfully good fun.
  • moviefan1725
    August 15, 2009
    moviefan1725
    A great time for anyone that enjoys cheesy monster movies. It really feels like a movie that was meant to be made in the 50's or 60's, and to be enjoyed at the drive in. There's no way to take the material seriously. Genetically engineered bats escape from a government lab, infec... read moret other bats outside a small Texas town, and proceed to kill everyone in sight. Of course the government recruits one scientist who is "the best in the field" to find a solution to the problem. The movie is filled with bats that look as real as the shark in Jaws. Whether they are animatronic, or computer generated, they rarely look real. But when they swarm, it's a cool sight to see. Director Louis Morneau makes great use of the beautiful landscape, and the quaintness of a small town to give the movie a great atmosphere. The characters are all stereotypical, especially Leon's ultra hip, token black character. But the actors are solid, and keep you interested. Lou Diamond Phillips can't sell a Texas accent to save his life, but he's heroic enough as the sherriff. Dina Meyer...ah me, Dina Meyer. Not only is she one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, she's also a solid actress, and makes her character tough, and is FAR more credible as a scientist than her Starship Troopers co-star Denise Richards was as a nuclear scientist in The World Is Not Enough. Did I also mention she's has one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen? The movie though, loses a great deal of steam in the third act. When the heroes enter the central nest of the bats at the end, it draws out way too long, and begins to become boring, with a finale that doesn't quite fit with the feel of the rest of the movie. But, if you like drive-in movies, cheesy monster flicks, or need nothing more than to stare at the beautiful Dina Meyer for 90 minutes (that would be me) then this movie is for you. In fact, I'm so taken with her beauty, that I'm going to give the movie an extra half star just for that.
  • Lemure
    February 17, 2009
    Lemure
    Getting over the fact that bats are wonderful, gorgeous, unique and amazing - and therefore not scary in the slightest, we come to this clone of every "killer animal on the loose that if left will continue to breed and DESTROY THE WORLD movie" (or just the US in this case). Anywa... read morey, unlike Jaws it doesn't take itself seriously enough and unlike Eight-Legged Freaks it takes itself too seriously leaving it floundering in "too silly to be scary and too serious to be funny" territory. Chuck in a token black man for comic relief, Bob Gunton playing a bastard (I've never seen him do anything else) rubbishy rubber bats and there you have it.
  • juliantoepfer
    December 29, 2011
    juliantoepfer
    Simple formula: Rubber bats + Lou Diamond Phillips = Win. Well, so you would think... One of those movies where you can't tell if its supposed to be funny or serious.

    The bats are... horrible. I think they probably bought them at a Party City a few minutes before filming. So m... read moreany plot holes and just cheap gimmicks to go along with horrible script and worse acting (although Dina Meyer is pretty damn hot).

    Kind of a throwback to the 'nature attacks' genre of the 60's and 70's, but has none of the charm. Its in that weird area where its a B movie with high production value, and that makes it sub-par as it pertains to both serious film, and B movie film.

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Critic Reviews

Lisa Alspector
February 24, 2009
Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader

This bad-scientist movie about bats that attack humans and the humans who track them -- Texas sheriff Lou Diamond Phillips and zoologist Dina Meyer -- is played straight, though it wasn't intended to ... Full Review

Christy Lemire
February 24, 2009
Christy Lemire, Associated Press

A movie that's too unintentionally funny to be scary. Full Review

Joe Leydon
June 17, 2008
Joe Leydon, Variety

A vigorously paced and surprisingly satisfying piece of work. Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
July 21, 2005
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

It's no knockout, but it's fun and gets the job done in a nonmalicious way, which more of today's punishing filmmakers should emulate. Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
February 21, 2004
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bats has nothing to do with baseball or Bela Lugosi. Too bad, because either would be a welcome distraction from this cheesy B-flick about genetically altered man-eating bats. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Without any vampires, there's a lack of material for fans to sink their teeth into. Full Review

Lawrence Van Gelder
January 1, 2000
Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times

Masquerading as a Halloween season horror film, this noisy version of a washed-out formula is cause for fright in only one respect: the possibility that it could spawn sequels. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Typically, the movie never gets around to mentioning why the government bred these genius bats. To discourage nightlife? To enforce curfews? Full Review

Michael Dequina
November 29, 2009
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

Grade-A hunk of Ed Wood-level cheese. Full Review

Maitland McDonagh
February 24, 2009
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide

Once the little beasts start crawling into cars through the exhaust pipes with malevolent intent and dive-bombing people in convenience stores, it's hard not to think of Gremlins. Full Review

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