While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

A ten star review may be reaching a bit, but notwithstanding some of the insipid and exaggeratedly low reviews here, this film DOES have a plot, takes it time getting there, and features good acting and a satisfying conclusion. If you purchase the MGM Midnite Movies DVD edition, you'll also be in for a visual treat as the movie is given a stellar transfer which serves as an effective time capsule of 70s drive- ins staples. Add in visual effects by Stan Winston (working on his FIRST feature (he would later go on to Terminator and Jurassic Park fame), and this stands as an interesting artifact, indeed. If you appreciate B films with merit, and if you also like bats, check out The Chosen Survivors, also available from MGM Midnite Movies, and also a 1974 release, which makes a terrific companion piece to this film.

*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.

Sure, this isn't a good movie but I've seen a heckuva lot worse. The prosthetic hand Stewart Moss wears looks good but his face makeup after his transformation makes him look less like a bat and more like the ugliest extra in the PLANET OF THE APES. The "Bat Man" doesn't even have wings. This movie would have been much better had they used a monster that looked something like those creepy bat people on the Marc Singer BEASTMASTER film.This movie centers on married couple Stewart Moss and Marianne McAndrew, who are married in real life. Stewart is a scientist who plans on taking a side trip to a cave before he and the wife hit the slopes. When the old carnal desires strike a chord in Marianne, she sneaks her hubby off in the cavern for a little Neanderthal necking, but she slips down a hole and her hubby has to rescue her. In the midst of his rescue, he is bitten by a bat. The good scientist spends the rest of the film writhing about in hospital beds and motel rooms, and killing an occasional person here and there.THE STORY: $$ (The story is far too formulaic and fails to give us any sympathetic characters. Marriane McAndrew is the closest thing to a sympathetic character we have in this film but she is brash at times, referring to her husband and a doctor she hardly knows as "children" to their faces. Also, she complains to Dr. Kipling (Paul Carr) about her husband's new violent streak after his bat attack but the script fails to deliver in that regard. His "violent streak" consists of him telling his wife, in a rather laid-back fashion, to stay away from him while he suffers throes of agony in a hot tub).ACTING: $$ (Michael Pataki is the standout as the slimy Sgt. Ward who takes a great interest in the case. He is always on Stewart Moss' heels but is he more interesting in stopping a killer or bedding a distraught Miss McAndrew? Arthur Space as the drunk gives a very good performance and had me laughing. Marianne McAndrew does a fine job as the wife of a monster but Stewart Moss isn't all that convincing in his role as the main character).NUDITY: $ (Marianne McAndrew is naked under the sheets but you don't see anything from her. The sex scene is one the strangest in cinema history. Near the end of the film, Marianne is getting busy with her man when he changes into his bat form midway through the Barry White ballad).

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.