Dreadfully Boring

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Bats. Scary, huh? Well, not really. That's why the makers of this (imaginatively titled) film have made these ones bigger, stronger and smarter. So... now they're very scary! Well, actually no - they still look like rubber monsters, only bigger ones.The main trouble with Bats is that it tries to be serious. Seriously... a film about intelligent bats shouldn't be done with a straight face. If you ever watched Eight Legged Freaks and saw how they handled a plague of giant spiders, then that was probably how the film-makers should have done with Bats. As it is, they try to be genuinely horrific... and it doesn't work.Saying that, Bats isn't the worst film ever. The acting is surprisingly competent, which is credit to the actors who do a good job with the material provided.Bats isn't a bad film, it's just nothing particularly out of the ordinary. It's full of clichés and the bats have this strange habit of letting major characters get a good head start before trying to eat them (as opposed to the meaningless stream of extras who get munched straight away).If you can really be bothered to watch another 'monster-munching' movie, then you could do worse. It's just you could also do a hell of a lot better.

Released to USA theaters during Halloween in 1999, "Bats" is a nature-runs-amok flick about government-funded mutated bats that have escaped and are harassing the citizens of a West Texas town. The Sheriff (Lou Diamond Phillips) teams-up with a bat expert (Dina Meyer) and her amusing sidekick (Leon) to save the town and, actually, all of North America. Bob Gunton plays the semi-mad scientists who created the genetically-engineered diabolical creatures.This is a solid creatures-on-the-loose movie with a quality cast and a lot of thrills, but it never rises above run-of-the-mill for a few reasons: For one, there's no interesting subtext. This is a film about mutated bats threatening a town and the people who try to vanquish them; that's it. While there's nothing wrong with such an approach, it can only be successful IF the creatures are interesting enough, like 1972's excellent "Gargoyles," but I personally don't find bats that interesting. Don't get me wrong, the filmmakers did their best to make the creatures as malevolent, hideous and formidable as possible, but they're still bats. Another negative is that there's no female eye candy beyond the alluring main protagonist, Dina Meyer, and they don't do anything with her besides showcasing her stunning face. I'm not suggesting nudity or anything pornographic here -- not at all -- but professional filmmakers are able to take advantage of the female resources at their disposal and this film doesn't do that."Bats" strikes me as a decent TV creature feature -- decent, not great or even really good -- and I find it hard to believe that it was a theatrical release.The film runs 91 minutes and was shot in Utah.GRADE: C+

This movie is a wonderful specimen of near perfect cinematographic work. When looking up the word 'art', 'Bats' should be at the top of your list. This flick stands alone as unquestionable proof that acting is unnecessary to create celluloid magic. Each veteran star embraces their individual characterizations unprofessionally and with the puerility of a neophyte. The lack of script and direction dramatically adds to the aforementioned unimaginative schema, creating a meretricious masterpiece equally appreciated by both the comatose and fatuous. This inanimate roller coaster of a movie has little action or suspense. Sadly these qualities are devoured by the grating ennui. If one enjoys reasons to take naps, 'Bats' is for you. It is also well worth the time it takes to gouge one's eyes out or perform other self-mutilations – but that is not my cup of tea. If you recommend this to a friend and they will hate you.

I was very surprised to see such a poor rating for this.Without sounding too clichéd it won't win any awards and was pretty forgettable stuff but it was an entertaining horror/drama for 90mins. There was even some interesting information on the nature and habitat of bats! I thought some of the scenes where the bats enveloped the vehicles and attacked the people were well done considering this was pre-CGI.The plot was a little convoluted and its a shame sometimes when movies like this try and take themselves too seriously but it had enough action to keep up the interest and for any DIna Meyer fans, she looked very fine in this!