jacobjohntaylor1 This is very awful. Do not see it. The story line is awful. The ending is awful. This movie is crap. I hates this movie. I got a 2.2 which is not a very bad ratting. But this is such a stinky movie that 2.2 is overrating it. I give it 1. If you what to get scared see The Exorcist. The Exorcist II is also very scary. The Exorcist III is also very scary. But this is not scary. This is just stinky pooh pooh. With pee on top. This is very very stinky. Exorcist The beginning is a good movie to see if you what to get scared. But this is pooh pooh. Damnation is also very scary. Jaws is also very scary. This about a man who gets bitten by a mutant bat. He turns into giant bat. This could been a good movie. But awful story and an awful ending made share that is it stank. Do not see this movie.

bensonmum2 After being bitten by a bat, people near Dr John Beck begin dying in weird and horrible ways. Dr Beck believes he may be going through some sort of weird bat-like transformation and may be responsible for the murders. The local police sergeant is convinced he has something to do with the deaths. Dr Beck's wife is just confused, but believes her husband can't be responsible. What's going on?It looks like I'm a bigger fan of It Lives By Night than most of the other IMDb users. It's undoubtedly got its problems, but I find it fairly effective. I enjoy real life husband and wife Stewart Moss and Marianne McAndrew. As you might expect, they're believable together. I was especially impressed with Moss. He does a good job of showing the fear and panic of a person in his situation. Michael Pataki as Sgt Ward is also good. He's annoyingly dogged in his pursuit of Beck. While there are plenty of scenes of fluff or filler, there still a feeling of unease about most of the movie that creates an effective atmosphere. The special effects are, while not the greatest, certainly memorable. I love the scene where Beck's hand changes from human to something more bat-like. And, finally, I really like the ending. I'm not going to give it away, but it's not what I was expecting. Not only do I like It Lives By Night on its own, but it makes for a terrific episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. MST3K does a great job of highlighting the movies weaknesses. For example, if Dr Beck is an expert on caves, why is he even on a cave tour led by a minimum wage park ranger? Very funny stuff!

gavin6942 After being bitten by a bat in a cave, a doctor (Stewart Moss) undergoes an accelerating transformation into a man-bat creature, which ruins his vacation and causes considerable distress for his wife (Marianne McAndrew, Moss' real-life spouse).So, yeah, there is a lot of unnecessary fluff, such as scene of skiing and sentimental music playing. But why the hate? We still have a cool transformation scene, not unlike a werewolf film... only into a much more awesome animal. Did the creators of this film read Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) and get inspired by Man-Bat? Maybe...Best of all, this was the first film for makeup legend Stan Winston. Say what you will about this film, but the effects are cool and Winston went on to some of the greatest projects in film history.

BaronBl00d Yes indeedy folks, The Bat People is one bad film and has rightfully earned its reputation though I have seen far worse and many not nearly as watchable as this film. Some bad films are so hard to sit through. I didn't have that much problem with this - probably because the film's problems, the acting, and the general ineptitude from editing to special effects had me laughing. A doctor and his wife are out researching bats I think(though that really is never very clear) when they go to a cave rather than the location of their second honeymoon and the guy is bitten by a bat after chasing his wife down a hole in the cave. She kicks the bat away and this doctor makes no attempt to get it though he knows he will need some kind of rabies treatment. Next, we see the doctor and his wife skiing(where you can have such an expansive desert and snow-capped mountains for skiing without traveling by plane alludes me at the moment). His wife and he are in a jacuzzi when he begins going through some fit and hurts his hand I think. She convinces him to go to a doctor and eventually he gets the rabies treatment. That is when all hell breaks loose for that was no ordinary bat(though it certainly appeared to be) that bit him but one rather whose bite slowly turns him into a bat man(not the superhero but rather a man with a hairy rubber hand, a bit of blood round his eyes in close-ups, and, in the climatic scene, a pathetic mask. Any similarities between a bat and the mask and make-up in general is purely coincidental. Well, this guy in an obvious fake hand and bloody-eyed close-up soon starts to "terrorize" and "menace" the night nurses, the trailer park, the motel, and let's not forget the home of some drunken man with a broken hand(for a touching scene where the doctor - not in bat mode- talks philosophy with the drunk and mends his hand prior to killing him off stage. Whilst all this is going on, a local sheriff looking like poor man;s McCloud with jacket, hat and all is hot on the trial of bat droppings and making moves on the missing doctor's wife in one truly bizarre scene. McCloud meets Bat Man in cave showdown that is anti-climatic and then returns with the wife to the cave by himself for some inexplicable reason and is torn to pieces by an army of flying bats in the darkness until he takes his shotgun to his head and ends his misery. The wife walks off into the darkness to find her husband where they can be bat man and bat girl together in the caves(I forgot to mention that previously hubby came back to the hotel and made love with his wife thus turning her into a bat creature herself(?)). Credits roll and one of the most ludicrous song titles echos against the dark background of Cathy walking to her husband. Wow! That storyline is pretty tiresome and surprises me that anyone thought it could fill a movie. Add to that the legion problems with continuity, the incredibly poor special effects, and the abysmal acting and you have the essence of this bat guano. The acting, well, I don't know if anyone is remotely good. The guy playing Bat Man is Stewart Moss - the real life husband of his screen wife Marianne McAndrew. He gives an obviously frenetic and thoroughly unbelievable performance. His wife is a classic beauty and lovely to look at - certainly for nothing else though she is the most competent thespian involved(for what that is worth). And let's not forget Michael Pataki, a journeyman character actor who recently left us in April of 2010 as mini-McCloud or McCloud Lite if you like. He is awful from beginning to end. Nobody in the film makes you care about them or anything. So lets recap: Bad movie on all levels but has moments not meant to be funny but are funny like when one laughs at someone accidentally falling down the stairs.