The Bat People (1974)

Blissfully happy middle-aged couple troop off for their work cum delayed honeymoon trip to the exotic locales of some Salt Caves before heading off for the ski slopes.  Husband Johnny is a rising medical scientist who works specifically on finding natural cures for viruses to help the immune system and thus examines all sorts of animals and plants in the course of his studies.

After an opening sequence featuring some bats squeaking loudly in close up there is a languid romantic song “Take Me Away….” Accompanying the titles before we are introduced to the loving couple.  Johnny has recurring dreams about being attacked by bats. Soon enough the couple trudge off for their trip and all is going well when all of a sudden Johnny hears a strange drone like sound that seems to be drawing closer and he has a momentary lapse of control but then manages to calm himself.  A fruit bat flies out of nowhere and lands up on their blanket.  Johnny is fascinated but Beth is disgusted and hastens a quick trip to the salt mines.  As they follow a group of tourists being shown through the Salt Mines Beth starts to have some naughty thoughts and beckons her husband to detach himself from the group and join her for a little hanky-panky right in the middle of the mines!

While they find a secluded spot, Beth loses her footing and goes tumbling down a hole ending up in a pit with a bunch of flesh eating mites.  They are again attacked by bats but make it out of the pit just in time to receive much needed medical care. 

The first sign of trouble is when Johnny reacts with extraordinary violence to the rabies vaccine and also flies off the handle with his wife on more than one occasion only to completely forget anything he said or did moments later.  Then one night he suffers another of his seizures but this time his hands starts to transform into something resembling the black, leathery skin of a bat!  He lapses into his rage-like state and murders the resident nurse but then conveniently forgets all his actions just moments later as his skin and appearance slowly return to normal.

The sleazy local sheriff has his suspicions but is more concerned about scoring with Beth whom he serenades in the most distastefully obvious way.  Meanwhile Johnny starts to doubt himself as the murderous impulses start to return whenever night falls and there is a string of unexplained deaths in the community that all point in his direction.

Meanwhile Beth has to fight off the lecherous Sheriff while trying to find help for her husband who appears to be falling further and further into a quagmire and turning more and more into a fruit bat-like beast with each passing day.

Johnny escapes from care and runs amok on an horrific killing spree over which he has no control.  Finally, oddly magnetized to the salt caves where the bats originally sprung from, he lurches back to the mines where he finds some solace and later, his wife Beth, having fought off the advances of the Sheriff also staggers to the mines to fulfil her destiny as a dutiful and virtuous wife and joins her husband to spend the rest of her days as a one of the Bat People.

The off-beat sort of ending fails to create any impact when it arrives because the film has thus far been so incredibly dreary and mind-numbing that any audience would have ceased to be least bothered about what happens to any of the main characters during the course of the movie.  There is absolutely nothing to sustain interest and sadly there is not even enough humour even unintentional to save this from the tedium it wallows in.  After the first quarter of an hour the film plateaus horribly and meanders painfully, plodding on to its complete running time at an infernal pace.  It has none of the charm, nor sense of fun nor clunky effects to sustain it and soon enough it just fritters out into an exercise in mind-dulling ennui.  This film was released in 1974 and unsurprisingly bombed the first day of release.  This kind of transformation creature feature was the thing back in the 50’s and most of those were zany and hugely entertaining but his tepid piece of torpor is simply a fairly taxing test of endurance.  The Bat People should really have been a hoot but sadly ends up as a horribly uninvolving and uniquely dull experience.The Bat People begins promisingly enough with a blissfully happy middle-aged couple heading off on what is part work trip, part delayed honeymoon adventure to the exotic setting of some mysterious salt caves before continuing onward to the ski slopes. Husband Johnny happens to be an up-and-coming medical scientist whose work focuses on natural cures for viruses and strengthening the immune system, leading him to study all manner of plants and animals in the course of his research.

After an opening sequence filled with loud close-ups of squeaking bats, the film drifts into a languid romantic title song — “Take Me Away…” — before introducing us properly to the affectionate couple. Johnny, however, is plagued by recurring nightmares involving vicious bat attacks.

Soon enough, the pair embark upon their trip, and everything appears perfectly pleasant until Johnny suddenly hears a strange droning sound growing steadily louder. He momentarily loses control of himself before calming down again. Shortly afterwards, a fruit bat flies out of nowhere and lands directly on their picnic blanket. Johnny is fascinated by the creature, while Beth reacts with utter disgust and quickly urges him onward toward the salt mines.

As they follow a guided tourist group through the caves, Beth suddenly becomes rather amorous and persuades Johnny to sneak away from the others for a little impromptu hanky-panky deep within the mines themselves.

Unfortunately, things take a nasty turn when Beth loses her footing and tumbles down a shaft into a pit crawling with flesh-eating mites. The couple are then attacked by bats but manage to escape in time to receive desperately needed medical attention.

The first indication that something is badly wrong arrives when Johnny reacts violently to a rabies vaccine and begins suffering alarming mood swings, lashing out furiously at Beth before moments later forgetting everything he said or did.

Then comes the inevitable transformation.

One evening, Johnny experiences another seizure, but this time his hands begin mutating into black, leathery appendages resembling bat skin. Falling into a savage rage, he murders the resident nurse before once again conveniently forgetting the entire episode as his appearance gradually returns to normal.

The sleazy local sheriff quickly grows suspicious, though he seems considerably more interested in seducing Beth than solving murders, pursuing her with all the subtlety of a drunken rhinoceros.

Meanwhile, Johnny increasingly begins to suspect himself as unexplained killings start piling up around the community. Each night pushes him further into madness and closer toward becoming a grotesque fruit bat-like creature.

Beth, meanwhile, must fend off the revolting sheriff while desperately trying to save her husband, who appears to be spiralling deeper and deeper into some horrific biological quagmire.

Eventually Johnny escapes confinement altogether and embarks upon a murderous rampage completely beyond his control. Oddly drawn back toward the salt caves where the nightmare originally began, he staggers into the mines seeking refuge. Beth, having successfully fought off the sheriff’s advances, eventually follows him there to fulfil her destiny as the loyal and virtuous wife by joining Johnny for eternity amongst the Bat People themselves.

Unfortunately, the film’s strange and rather offbeat ending generates virtually no impact whatsoever because by this stage the audience has likely stopped caring entirely about the fate of any of the characters.

The fundamental problem with The Bat People is not simply that it is bad — many bad horror films are enormously entertaining — but that it is crushingly, catastrophically dull.

After a reasonably intriguing opening fifteen minutes, the film simply plateaus and begins meandering aimlessly at an agonising pace toward its conclusion. There is virtually nothing to sustain interest along the way. Worse still, the film lacks even enough unintentional humour to redeem itself as camp entertainment.

There are no particularly memorable effects, no enjoyable absurdity, no atmosphere, and very little energy. Instead, the movie slowly dissolves into an exercise in mind-numbing ennui.

Released in 1974, the film unsurprisingly bombed upon release. Transformation creature features had largely been the domain of the 1950s, and even the cheaper examples from that era often possessed a zany charm and infectious sense of fun.

The Bat People, sadly, possesses none of those qualities.

What should have been a gloriously silly little creature-feature romp instead becomes a uniquely dreary endurance test.

A film about people turning into giant bats really ought to have been an absolute hoot.

Instead, The Bat People somehow manages the remarkable feat of being both ridiculous and terminally uninvolving at exactly the same time.