Being a devoted Mysty (follower of the MST3K TV series), I've seen my share of truly bizarre movies. THE BAT PEOPLE (AKA: IT LIVES BY NIGHT) is easily one of the most... um, interesting. Let me just tell you: Johnny (Stewart Moss) and Cathy (Marianne McAndrew) are newlyweds on a belated honeymoon. While exploring a cave, Johnny's bitten by a bat. From there, things get strange. Occasionally, he has these weird visions and goes into a convulsive trance. In the dreams, he sees flocks of bats. When people start turning up dead, Sheriff Ward (Michael Pataki) begins to suspect that Johnny is behind it. Yeah, Johnny is a bat person. Though the make-up actually makes him look more like an extra from PLANET OF THE APES. Then his wife... oh nevermind. The ending is a little confusing. Though, when you actually stop to think about it, you might get creeped out. Let's just say (spoiler alert) the bat virus could be a VD. Story-wise, this is one of the most original ideas I've seen. The problem, however, is that the film lacks oomph. The kills either need to be more elaborate or the tension needs to be ratcheted up. The actors give their roles 110% and it doesn't hurt that both leads were married to each other at the time. My personal favorite, though, is Michael Pataki. I first noticed him years back when he appeared in SIDEHACKERS (AKA: FIVE THE HARD WAY). He's deftly shown a willingness to play creepy characters. And he totally disappears into each role. In BAT PEOPLE, his Sheriff Ward is an interesting blend of professional duty, personal vengeance, and lechery (especially toward Cathy). His fate is tragic, even though you might be cheering for it. Like or leave it, the film has got something going for it. SQUEAK! *FLAP! FLAP! FLAP!*

*Spoiler/plot- The Bat People, 1974. A scientist and his wife are enjoying a delayed honeymoon when he is bitten by a bat while hike in the desert. Afterwards, he begins to experience strange seizures and terrifying nightmares. He then become the prime suspect in a recent series of grisly murders many that duplicate his own dreams. With the body count mounting, he is soon the focus of the police manhunt and he becomes less and less human and more of a wild bat.*Special Stars- Stewart Moss, Marianne McAndrew, Paul Carr, Michael Pataki.*Theme- Modern science can only do some much.*Trivia/location/goofs- The couple in the film were really married in life. First film for special make-up artist Stan Winston. Identical cave tour footage is used on two successive days of the plot.*Emotion- Unfortunately this film does not deliver or give entertainment to the viewer. This film's over-done premise is just an updated them of the 'werewolf' story. Everything in the film plot is boring until the odd ending when the wife of the infected man goes off to join him in his misery rabies holding bat cave.

I didn't think I'd ever find a worse bat movie than "bats" with Lou Diamond Phillips but this is even more tedious. Dr Boring falls down a hole with Mrs Boring, after a tussle with a fruit bat he begins to have flashbacks to some stock footage you've already seen.A doctor tries to cure him of his painfully wooden acting with some injections but they don't work. In the course of Dr Borings transformation into a guy with a cheap monkey mask on the viewer is treated to the slowest car chase since OJ Simpson and a chat with a philosophical tramp. The ending's not bad though it's pretty obvious what's going to happen.

The Bat People starts as a scientist researching Bat immunology Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) & his wife Cathy (Marianne McAndrew) take a public tour of an underground cave system, like a typical woman Cathy gets into trouble & ends up at the bottom of a crevice. John follows her down & he is bitten by a Bat, eventually they are missed & rescued. Better safe than sorry John checks in with Dr. Kipling (Paul Carr) who starts him on a course of rabies antibiotics, unfortunately John as changed & periodically transforms into a half-man half-bat type creature which has the antisocial habit of murdering anyone it meets & eating rats. Sergeant Ward (Michael Pataki) likes a quiet life & all these murders are upsetting him, he sets about tracking John down & putting an end to his murderous reign...Directed by Jerry Jameson & despite it's bad reputation I rather liked The Bat People, it certainly isn't any sort of masterpiece but as monster on the loose type thing I though it was watchable if nothing else. The script by producer Lou Shaw is hard to defend, if I'm honest its a bit slow, it can get dull at times, it's silly & never explains why John turns into the Bat creature he does & when all said & done not that much happens. But I still like it, for all it's bad points I liked it. I found the story quite cool & reminded of those monster films from the 50's & 60's, everything is played with deadly seriousness which I also thought gave the proceedings a certain silliness & there were a couple of effective scenes in here. The Bat People is one of those films I can't recommend as if I think about it with my head it's total crap but there's something in my heart which made me enjoy it, I'm sure monster film fans would like it to some extent although more casual viewers may want to skip it.Director Jameson does OK & I just love the 70's atmosphere, the clothes the fashions & the way it's shot. I thought the scene when John escapes from the hospital was funny, if your trying to escape from somewhere maybe stealing an ambulance with screeching sirens & flashing lights while dressed in a night gown isn't the best idea for not attracting attention. This was Stan Winston's second film as a make-up artist & he probably did the best he could on a low budget but if John turns into a Bat creature where are his wings? He looks more like a Werewolf to be honest. The murders are tame, there's no blood & the film doesn't linger on them.Technically the film is alright, it certainly looks better than a lot of low budget horror films that have been made within the last few years, the special effects are decent & the New Mexican location shooting adds a lot to the film. The acting is alright with Pataki as the sleazy police officer standing out.The Bat People is crap if I'm completely honest, having said that I liked it despite it's faults however I think many won't. Impossible for me to recommend but at least I've put a different & honest point of view across compared to most people who slate it.