Chosen Survivors

i'd been going nuts for quite a few years trying to find this one and finally found it on ebay. i remember it came out about the same time as "earthquake" did, and i remember thinking what a creepy, claustrophobic feel it had to it. it starred just about all of the b-list TV stars from that time, including my favorite, Diana muldaur. a group of regular citizens are pulled from their beds in the middle of the night to find themselves shoved into a bomb-proof shelter miles beneath the surface. once they start to adapt to both the world ending and to their situation, the original residents of the cave decide to come by for a visit. filmed with effects similar to Hitchcock's "the birds", there are several vicious attacks by blood-sucking vampire bats until the survivors decide to try and escape. highly recommended, if you can find it.

"Chosen Survivors" poses quite a few ethical questions, while taking extreme liberties with the reputation of vampire bats. The film has an almost fatal failing in that it introduces a dozen characters all at once. This of course means that character development is totally inadequate. We really know nothing about those unfortunate individuals who succumb to the blood sucking winged annoyances. On the positive side, many of the futuristic sets are intriguing, there are some unexpected twists, and the use of actual as well as animated bats lends realism. The movie occasionally grinds to a halt with meaningless small talk, but overall has definite entertainment value. - MERK

One of the biggest challenges to movie makers is conveying the horror of nuclear war in post-atomic film. The reality is that shelter life isn't that glamorous if depicted realistically. The threats present aren't very dramatic and in most cases stealthy and lacking in suspense. The madness of nuclear war has to be communicated instead through contrivances, like atomic mutations or pervasive inescapable radiation like in ON THE BEACH. These things are not realistic but somehow they can often transmit the bleak and terrifying plight of the survivors.

CHOSEN SURVIVORS uses vampire bats to contrast with the serene tranquility of the expensive government shelter the characters take refuge in. No matter how safe they may think they will be, it turns out that the bats are determined to intrude in their sanitary environment and prey on them where they believed they were safe.

It's very effective for a low budget film. It is well acted and well directed and has an interesting score that complements the story. There are times you really feel claustrophobic and at the mercy of the bats who can penetrate even what they think are secure places.

The color scheme was pretty good considering it was accomplished before CGI filters existed for post-production and the special effects are pretty convincing as well. The somber blue shades over everything in the darkness combined with the lively shadows of the bats is very well done. The sequences of bats attacking is extremely well choreographed with the human actors.

This movie is a rare sci-fi gem with a bleak apocalyptic ending that is common for this genre of cinema but somehow satisfying. The movie stopped a little short of being a classic but is well worth viewing.

Chosen Survivors is directed by Sutton Roley and written by H.B. Cross. It stars Jackie Cooper, Alex Cord, Richard Jaeckel, Bradford Dillman, Barbara Babcock, Diana Muldaur and Lincoln Kilpatrick. Music is by Fred Karlin and cinematography by Gabriel Torres.

It's the eve of nuclear war and a government computer has selected a specialist group of people to live 1,758 feet underground in a nuclear proof, purpose built housing facility. The purpose is that these people can start to repopulate the Earth in five years time. However, something isn't quite right about this set-up and things take a distinctive turn for the worse when it's revealed that a colony of vampire bats have also made the facility their home.

It's far better than any plot synopsis suggests. True, it's very 70s, both in characters (clothing/delivery of dialogue/hair), and the effects used, but it also captures the zeitgeist of paranoia running at the time. Fear of nuclear war and the government hangs heavy, while the group dynamic under a stress situation makes for a tellingly oppressive mood. The whole thing has a bleakness about it, and that's before the vampire bats turn up hungry for what is apparently the only source of blood left available to them. The downbeat feel is further enforced by Karlin's music score, which often sounds like the synthesiser strains favoured by John Carpenter for some of his well revered culters. There's the expected bad turn of events with some of the characters, I mean it would be a dull film if everyone just got on all hunky dory, while there's a wicked twist that propels the narrative to another level of enjoyment for the viewer.

Competently acted by the cast, and effectively put together by Roley, Chosen Survivors is a neat horror/sci-fi hybrid. Not without some cheese and gaps in plotting for sure, but very effective and recommended on proviso you aren't looking to be cheered up! 7/10

This is a movie I've wanted to see for over 30 years now; I first read about it in horror magazines when it first came out, but it soon turned into a lost film that went completely out of circulation. It has now been made available by Fox as part of their Midnite Movies Collection, and I'm a little disappointed to say I wasn't missing all that much. It's not a "bad" genre film and it's got a good premise, but it's still rather ordinary in the way it's executed. A group of people are selected by computer, sedated, and then sent down 1,758 feet into an underground bomb shelter to see if they might sustain life in the event of a nuclear war. It was another of those perfect experiments hatched by the government, except they overlooked the fact that this project was built down within caves, so now swarms of hungry vampire bats manage to find their way into the bunker and chomp on these frantic chosen survivors. There's more talk going on than anything else, but when the bat attacks do occur, they're pretty satisfying, even if sometimes the special optical effects amount to little more than a flurry of dark splotches.

I got a kick out of seeing former Our Gang child actor Jackie Cooper as the main loudmouth of the bunch who at one point goes on a bender and becomes your basic arrogant pain in the ass character. Other '70s regulars among this cast are Richard Jaeckel (GRIZZLY) Bradford Dillman (BUG), and Lincoln Kilpatrick (THE OMEGA MAN). I thought I recognized director Sutton Roley's name from somewhere, and later I found out that's because he directed some LOST IN SPACE episodes and was primarily a TV show director. I'm not sorry I saw this, but it sure was some tepid tea. ** out of ****