Sadly Over-hyped

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Released to TV in 2007, "Bats: Human Harvest" chronicles events after info is uncovered in an Alqueda camp in Iraq on the location of an important weapons specialist, American Dr. Walsh (Tomas Arana). It turns out the doctor has found an alternative funding source and sets up a new research facility deep in the mysterious Belzan forest in Chechnya, Russia, where he is developing weapons and selling them to Chechnyan rebels. A Delta team is sent on a covert mission to retrieve the doctor and his technology before the Russians find him and his lab. What the team soon discovers is that the doctor's latest weapon is a flock of large carnivorous bats that have been genetically altered to desire human flesh. The Delta team includes characters played by David Chokachi, Michael Jace and Melissa De Sousa with help by a Russian biyatch played by Pollyanna McIntosh.This is a sequel-in-name-only to 1999's "Bats," which was a conventional nature-runs-amok flick about government-funded mutated bats that escape and harass the citizens of a West Texas town. You have to give credit to "Bats: Human Harvest" for trying something different. Practically the entire movie takes place in or near the supposedly cursed Russian forest with the various militaristic groups fighting each other and the mutated bats. So there's a lot of action, albeit in a comic booky manner a la "Rambo: First Blood Part II." Speaking of the bats, they're more menacing here and there are some close-ups, but they're still a relatively weak "monster." Thankfully, the movie is well made for what it is, a made-for-TV creature feature, and there are plenty of stunning visuals in the forest, the bats, etc. And the soundtrack rocks. Unfortunately, the babe factor is almost zero. Don't get me wrong, De Sousa is an exotic curvy beauty, but she's clothed in military fatigues the entire flick. As for McIntosh, she's definitely an interesting character, but she lacks sex appeal (for me, anyway). Lastly, whereas there's a lot of action and cool visuals the story generally fails to pull the viewer into the events. That said, I DID care when a certain character buys the farm. The film runs 87 minutes and was shot in Sofia, Bulgaria.GRADE: C

Bats: Human Harvest is not a good or great movie, but I can think of far worse ways to waste my time. I did like the setting, not quite exotic but atmospheric enough, the photography is not too slipshod and the editing and music were decent. The effects and acting were uneven but by no means across-the-board-distractingly-bad. Some of the effects do look artificial, but the bats are ferocious enough. In terms of acting, there are some who do put effort into their roles, but also others who look as though they are just reading lines. The real problems though were with the characters, story and especially the script. The characters are stereotypical with not much development going on. The story is not exactly dull, but it is never exactly exciting either, and holds few surprises too. The script is the worst offender, often cheesy and stilted than not. All in all, one of the movies that falls into the some good/some bad category. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I have yet to watch the first entry in this series, however, fortunately, I was still able to follow the complex and intricate plot, with all its unexpected twists and turns, and I applaud them for the utter originality of the concepts herein. In case there is any confusion, let me leave no doubt as to the fact that everything I've just said is coated in pure, carefully nurtured sarcasm, the kind that flourishes and grows exponentially when exposed to crap like this flick. A clear sign that this is unimpressive is that it was directed by a visual effects creator, whose only other credit in that field is a Henry Rooker film that wasn't well received. The acting is average at best, and I defy anyone to not find... Scottish computer-woman(come on, seriously, what is with that last name?)'s Russian accent laughable and/or irritating. There is an attempt or two at stylization in this, and they are reasonable. The action isn't terrible. Cinematography and editing are fine. The music is cool enough. Language is infrequent, if even that. Violence is fairly bloody. I recommend this solely to fans of B-movies, and I will say that you can do worse than this. 1/10

On a routine mission in Iraq a group of Delta soldiers recover a computer hard drive from an Alqueda training camp detailing the location of weapons specialist Dr Walsh. After witnessing the termination of his top secret weapons development program Dr Walsh finds an alternative funding source and sets up a new research facility deep in the notorious Belzan forest in Chechnya where he is developing weapons and selling them to Chechnyan rebels.The team of Deltas is sent on a black ops mission to retrieve the doctor and his technology before the Russians find him and his lab.What the Delta team soon discover is that the doctors latest weapons is a flock of large carnivorous bats that have been genetically altered to develop a taste for human flesh. I found this movie to be much better than what I was expecting.There is lots of action and lots of blood. Its more or less what you would expect from a creature feature. The acting isn't great but its passable. I have certainly seen worse.Overall its an enjoyable movie for what it is. A good popcorn movie.