The ‘90s often get a bad rap with horror fans. After the numerous successful slashers and creature effects films of the ’80s, the ‘90s offered a different variety of horror fare. Though there were plenty of hits, hidden gems, and misunderstood classics, the ‘90s usually don’t get the kind of love that other decades get when it comes to horror. It’s time to change that.
Released in 1999, Bats is the kind of movie almost everyone is going to scoff at as soon as they hear the title. Immediately, images of cruddy SYFY premiere movies and direct-to-video schlock fills their brains. It’s understandable. A movie about a swarm of genetically mutated killer bats starring Lou Diamond Phillips sounds exactly like the kind of lazy, slapped together creature feature that drowned video stores in the late ‘90s and throughout the ‘00s. There is no reason why someone shouldn’t take a cursory look at Bats and think it’s as equally disposable and poorly constructed as oh-so-many bargain bin bad movies.
Here’s the thing: Bats knows this is what you think of it. And it says, “Hell, let’s be the best version of that we can be.” And damn does it succeed.
The script by John Logan – his theatrical feature film debut – doesn’t have an original bone in its body and decides to run with that knowledge. By embracing every cliché of its sub-genre, Bats is free to revel in the simple pleasures of itself. The story hits the ground running and never really stops. Does that mean you’re going to have time to build complex characters out of Sheriff Emmett Kimsey or Dr. Sheila Casper? No, but that’s why you cast genre stalwarts like Lou Diamond Phillips and Dina Meyer to infuse those characters with charm and tenacity.
Plus, there’s Bob Gunton as the evil scientist, Dr. Alexander McCabe. Most viewers will recognize Gunton from The Shawshank Redemption, so you know this is a thespian with real acting chops. Given the chance to play a Saturday morning cartoon villain, Gunton lets loose in what has to be one of the most point-blank explanations for a mad scientist’s experiments. It’s comically simplistic but Logan’s script is acutely aware of that. So, when Gunton gets an opportunity to play evil, he plays it with a capital E.
What’s surprising to me is that Bats has been mostly forgotten by the majority of horror fandoms including effects lovers. When the bats aren’t being brought to life by unfortunate CG animation, they are practical monsters created by KNB EFX, the legendary special effects company. The practical bats are always a joy when they show up and they show up a lot. You’ll get plenty of shots where a bat puppet is crawling towards an unsuspecting victim – one of those moments involves a wonderfully creepy image of a bat in a baby’s crib – or even extreme close-ups on the bats’ grimacing faces. Director Louis Morneau is not shy about showing off the work KNB did with these creatures and it’s all a blast.
And there are even a few moments where the CG bats are put to creative use. The first is when our heroes capture one of the infected bats and implant a tracking device underneath its skin. As soon as they let it loose into the air, two other bats come and slice it in half. How can you not like that? But, the best CG bat moment comes during the film’s climax. As Emmett and Sheila try to escape from the bat’s lair, they look up and see a sea of sleeping bats on the cave ceiling. And all at once, every bat opens its eyes and the darkness is illuminated with their creepy stares. It’s a moment that must read perfectly on the page.
And that’s the real reason to check out Bats: John Logan’s script. It shows that being bare-bones doesn’t mean you have to lack in creativity or fun. Sometimes, it’s okay for a B-movie to lean into every bit of its B-movieness without a sense of irony or self-aware satire. Bats is exactly that: a proud piece of drive-in doofiness that rolls with the punches and is just here to make you smile. For some films, that’s the only goal they need to achieve. Bats will put a smile on your face. And who couldn’t use one of those right now?
