If co-directors Scott Jeffrey and Rebecca Matthews ever read this review then they may go through a bit of a rollercoaster ride as I discuss their movie. Because Bats is bad, I cannot dance around that fact, but it is bad in ways that put it ahead of many other low-budget British horror movies released in the last decade or so. I wasn’t going to review it, not wanting to dump on a film that at least tried to do something a bit different, but then I decided that it was only fair to show how much difference it can make to watch something that feels as if those making it were actually making some effort, as opposed to something like Deinfluencer (which I highlighted as a stinker last week).
Things start with some young folk having sexy times in an abandoned house. It isn’t long until they are endangered by a big bat type creature, which is a mutated, humanoid, monster that had been living in the upper areas of the house for some time. The mutation was probably caused by a nearby nuclear plant meltdown, ironic with the house being based in Nosferatu Village (not a joke, that is the name of the place). We then join some other people, a family processing a number of big changes in their lives, as they head to that same house, which is actually their family home.
There are so many decisions made here that seem odd, yet also understandable. The film is apparently set in the mid-1980s, something that isn’t really used in the plot, but perhaps allows the film-makers to be able to avoid things like mobile phones and other useful modern gadgets. It’s also meant to star a bunch of Americans, I think, but the accents veer around in all different directions. I assume this is to help make the movie a bit easier to market, in theory, but all it does is have Americans wonder why their accents are being mangled while Brits wonder, well, why accents are being mangled.
Scott Jeffrey wrote the script, alongside his co-directing duties, and that’s also a mess, as you might have guessed already. But it’s a mess that at least comes close to having some more interesting moments here and there. The film-makers ultimately fumble the execution of the material, but it’s admirable to see them try adding weight to what could have been just a standard, cheap ‘n’ lazy, monster movie.
While I wouldn’t always think to namecheck the makeup department, Stephanie Harrison (assisted by Charlotte Wright and Jamie McGee) does well in trying to bring the vision of the directors to the screen. The main creature might have been more effective if kept in the shadows, but fair play to everyone involved for deciding to show off their work instead. And there’s a surprisingly decent gore gag that shows the painful effects of being the target of the bat’s “vocal weaponry”.
As for the cast, I am not going to list everyone here. Most of them failed to impress me, and I am not writing this to just sling some insults their way, but Megan Purvis is a big plus for the film, and does a great job in the lead role, accent notwithstanding. I have seen Purvis in one or two other movies, and it was her name heading up the cast list here that made me consider this for my viewing schedule this week. People need to start making better use of her talent, because she’s been much better than most of the movies she has starred in over the past few years.
Is Bats good? No. Is it at least schlocky fun? Also no. It’s not necessarily trying to be though, and that is why I ultimately feel more positive about it than I would about any of the hundreds of cheap cash-ins that would have taken this title and gone for the easier options. While it doesn’t really work, Bats tries to be a solid horror with some psychological drama, and commentary on grief and what it takes to move past that. Once the weaker supporting characters are out of the picture, leaving the film to focus mainly on Purvis and a large bat stalking her, it improves immensely. Not enough to be considered a good film, but enough to be considered as something not actually that bad.
4/10
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