Attack of the Bat Monsters: Lost after filming in 1999, but now fully restored, Attack of the Bat Monsters finally makes it to audiences.
Attack of the Bat Monsters review by Kat Hughes.
Attack of the Bat Monsters review
Remember the b-movies of the 1950’s? And the old-school Hammer horror era of film? Once upon a time they were the toast of Hollywood, but now they’ve become a forgotten relic. Well, that was until director Kelly Greene dreamt to life Attack of the Bat Monsters. Screening at Glasgow Film Festival as part of the Horror Channel Frightfest programme, the movie whisks the viewer back to a more earnest period of cinema.
Filmed back in 1999, this film almost didn’t make the light of day. After filming, the movie went AWOL, but thanks to restorer Mark Rance (whose previous work includes Tobe Hooper’s Eggshells), audiences can now enjoy Kelly Greene’s nostalgic jaunt.
Film director Francis Gordon (Fred Ballard) is a movie-making machine. Desperate for a hit, and to blot out the memory of his biggest failure, he is determined to make the perfect monster movie. Having finished production on his latest studio film ahead of schedule he decides to dive head-first into a new project and sets about creating a new movie from scratch in just three days. With a rival film crew due to descend imminently, a script to write, and the small matter of trying to appeal to a European audience (by including nudity), Francis may just have bitten off more than he can chew.
Attack of the Bat Monsters review
Director Kelly Greene has clearly studied his subject matter very carefully and the result is a seamless tribute rather than a cheap knock-off. Despite being made in the late nineties, Attack of the Bat Monsters feels very authentic to the period in which the story is set. So much so that one could very easily believe that it was screening at the festival as part of a retrospective strand.
There’s a great deal of humour to be found within the film in the Carry On movie vein. It’s a style of comedy that has been missing in recent years and is a nice nostalgic throwback. The monster make-up effects are similarly nostalgic and genuine to the time. Expect to see lots of men in suits. As good as CGI is these days, it’s always nice to be transported back to the practical effects era.
Camp, kitsch and hilariously fun, Attack of the Bat Monsters revives a defunct genre. Wearing its heart on its sleeve, this is a fantastic recreation of films that many of us grew up with. Laugh out loud funny (for all the right reasons) in several places, Attack of the Bat Monsters will leave you with a massive grin on your face.
Attack of the Bat Monsters review by Kat Hughes, March 2018.
Attack of the Bat Monsters was reviewed at the 2018 Horror Channel Frightfest event which formed part of the 2018 Glasgow Film Festival.
