14 December 2024
The Bat People (1974)
94 min.
Directed by Jerry Jameson.
With Stewart Moss, Marianne McAndrew, Michael Pataki, Paul Carr, Arthur Space.
Dr. John Beck (Moss) and his wife Cathy (McAndrew) are on a vacation in the American southwest, celebrating a second honeymoon of sorts. The two take a guided tour of an ancient mountain cave, where John is accidently bitten by a stray vampire bat.

Unsure whether the offending bat was rabid or not, John visits a nearby physician and begins a rabies vaccination treatment. Little does John know, rabies should be last on his list of worries.

You see, by the light of the silvery full moon, John soon begins transforming into a huge homicidal man-bat! He can't stop the metamorphoses, just as he can't bring back to life the helpless locals he kills in this gruesome bat state.

The town sheriff (Pataki) is hot on John's trail - not to mention hot to trot for Cathy, too - so John better find a solution to his problems...and quick.

Shot in southern New Mexico, this 1974 drive-in horror boasts some beautiful snowy vistas and picturesque desert landscapes. But that's not enough to save it from being overly sleepy, and poorly paced.

McAndrew and Pataki tend to grate on the nerves, while lead bat dude Moss doesn't register either way. On the plus side: the Stan Winston special FX are lively; but they come too late and too few to make much difference.

Also known as It Lives by Night.

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