Bats: Human Harvest (2007)

I've seen movies that are much worse than Bats: Human Harvest. There are so many to choose from. At least half of them have the word "Amityville" in the title. So going by that low bar, Bats: Human Harvest isn't really that bad at all.

It's bad though. Very bad. Worst of all, it doesn't have anywhere near enough batty action to warrant being a sequel to Bats. And as for the "human harvest" part, that's REALLY overstating any kind of carnage you might expect the movie to deliver.

A bunch of army types run around in some woods and look to shoot some people. There are bats in the immediate vicinity. These bats cause some issues, but only in enough scenes to try and warrant the movie having the word "bats" in the title. There's also a bad scientist (Dr. Benton Walsh, played by Tomas Arana), and a woman who may or may not be helping the perceived good guys (Katya, played by Pollyanna McIntosh).

I'm not familiar with director Jamie Dixon, who has a filmography that shows his main role to be in the world of visual effects, and there's nothing here that will make me ever want to see either his first film or anything else he may end up helming. It's hard to give him all of the blame though, particularly when the script by Chris Denk and Brett Merryman is so weak. Even for this kind of venture, it's bad. No part of this script works to engage viewers, from the slipshod plotting to the weak characterisations, which is my way of forewarning you that I'll not be going into detail about ANY of the thin characters thrown around in this mess.

Arana isn't bad as the scientist who has created some dangerous bats, and the rest of the cast includes David Chokachi, Michael Jace, Martin Papazian, and Melissa De Sousa, but the only one standing out, for both the right and wrong reasons, is McIntosh. She's her usual striking self, she's allowed to utter her dialogue in an amusingly clumsy accent, and she at least makes most of her scenes seem fun, which is more than anyone else manages. Sadly, she won't be a big enough draw for many people, but I have been a fan of her work for many years, so that gets the film a bonus point.

This is a schedule-filler, nothing more and nothing less, but even a schedule-filler doesn't have to be this bad. If you're not going to include many scenes with actual bats then let the cast onscreen have some decent action, and if you're not going to let the cast onscreen have some decent action then throw in more scenes with actual bats. This does neither, making it hard to consider as an option for even the most easily entertained of viewers (like myself).

3/10