Attack of the Bat Monsters

I saw this film as a work in progress at the 1999 Austin Film Festival in Austin, TX. At that time, even though a work in progress, I rated the this film in the top 3. If memory serves I saw about 36 films at that festival. With the exception of "Attack of the Bat Monster", and "Princess Mononoke," I can not remember any other film I saw at the festival. I highly recommend this film to any fan of comedy or '50's Sci Fi movies.

"Roger Corman, American International Pictures, Paul Blaisdell, Floyd Crosby, Charles B. Griffith, Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Bronson Canyon...."

If any of these mean anything to you, either singly or in association, you'll consider this film miraculous and heaven-sent. Even if you know nothing about them , you'll find this an extremely witty, insightful, and, above all, reverent homage to 1950's independent monster movie making.

Genre aficionados will be in a state of gleeful disbelief at the amount of cinematic lore screenwriter/director Greene has so craftily woven into this nifty story. However, as mentioned earlier, subject knowledge is not a prerequisite for enjoyment.

All aspects of Attack of the Bat Monsters are first-rate. The cinematography is crisp, the editing seamless (also by Greene), and the locations are evocative. The acting is uniformly fine, with standout performances by Michael Dalmon and Bill Wise. Above all, though, it's the great script and astute direction that make this film.

Do yourself a favor and go out and find Attack of the Bat Monsters. Steal it if necessary. I saw it at the Midnight Marquee Classic Filmfest in Alexandria, VA, back in 2000, and the audience went nuts over it. Certainly the best film I've ever seen about independent film making, and the first to pay tribute to Bronson Canyon (near the Hollywood sign and Griffith Park), the site of literally hundreds of productions since the silent era. And the ultimate irony is that this brilliant tribute to filmmaking on Hollywood's fringe was not even shot in California---it was shot in Texas.

I saw "Attack of the Bat Monsters" at a "Monsterfest" convention (yes, I am that geeky) in Washington, D.C. a few years ago. After having spent the day in the exhibit hall viewing "Wasp Woman" posters, models for sale of the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Bucket of Blood" 8x10 glossies, it felt particularly perfect to then watch Kelly Greene's "Bat Monster". It was apparent that Mr. Greene, the director and writer, also had the same love as I of B movies from the 1950's. His film filled in some of the blanks as far as how these films were made. The films' characters and Greene's writing brilliantly portrayed the frenzied writer, director and actors of those films and the quick turnaround time and measly budgets allotted to them. The dialogue between characters is witty and has a rhythm to the patter that is edgy. This makes the switch between the movie and the movie that the main characters are shooting within the movie even funnier - clever dialogue at counterpoint with the forced, stumbling lines that makes part of B movies so damned lovable. Greene did an excellent job on this film and I look forward to seeing his next project.

I heartily recommend this movie, which won Best Narrative Film at Hollywood's Dances With Films indie film festival in the year 2000. Set in southern California in 1959, ATTACK OF THE BAT MONSTERS follows

the exhausted but resourceful Chuck Grayson (Michael Dalmon) as he scrambles

to meet the challenge thrown down from on high by his boss, the penny-pinching producer-director Francis Gordon (Fred Ballard). That challenge? -- To put

together and shoot an entire "creature feature" in a scant three days, using the grouchy, exhausted cast and crew who have just finished filming "Monster From the Mineshaft." Why just three days? Because MFTM wrapped three days early and Gordon, a

selfish, demanding character patterned after the notorious real-life low-budget indie filmmaker Roger Corman, intends to milk his equipment, talent and permits at the rock quarry for every last ounce of movie making. Chuck's biggest difficulties consist of coming up with a title, a script, a monster and an affordable star (i.e., washed-up and cheap) to boost the marquee value of the movie. For the script, Chuck recruits a hop-head beatnik writer, played by Robert Bassetti, to write as they shoot. To make the monster, he coaxes a

mad-scientist-like sociopath portrayed by Bill Wise. For his "name" actor, Chuck reels in the boozy, seedy Larry "The Cat Creature" Meeker, Jr. (Douglas Taylor). You get two movies for the price of one here, for as ATTACK OF THE BAT

MONSTERS gets filmed, you get to see clips from the final black-and-white

product, which in style and content (down to the thriller music by Tim Bushong) is a hilarious pastiche of all those drive-in movies of yesteryear that crammed

together science-fiction, outlandish monsters and (for the European market) some bare-breasted titillation. ATTACK OF THE BAT MONSTERS offers numerous comic sequences that build

to a rollicking climax, and the entire cast is fun to watch. Robert Graham, as the aged Shakespearian actor reduced to playing the wise old scientist, is both funny and touching. Ryan Wickerham, as Chuck's macho, fun-loving best friend and

hunkish leading man, is amusing throughout, and Casie Waller, as Gordon's

burnt-out "scream queen" girlfriend, shines in several scenes, especially the one where she teaches an extra the finer points of screaming for film. The tension between Fred Ballard's Gordon and Michael Dalmon's Chuck Grayson provides a

couple of genuine moments of pathos. In fact, Ballard and Dalmon are in a sense the two straight men for the wacky assemblage of misfits they're herding. Shot on a frayed-shoestring of a budget in and around Austin, Texas, the film does a fine job of creating the period and locale. Nicely lensed in Super-16mm by Tom Hennig. The Bat Monster herself is laugh-out loud funny and is the creation of Joe Castro, who has also displayed his talents in such genre films as

HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (produced by the real Roger Corman), and

BLOODFEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT.

Kelly Green's first feature is a thinly-disguised account of the making of a Roger Corman three-day quicky back in the 50s. Fans of the life and legend of Corman, and of Z-movies in general, will not only have a rollicking time - they'll probably have heard some of the tales that went into the making of this appropriately low-budget answer to Tim Burton's Ed Wood. Those who aren't fans will simply enjoy the ingenuity and wit of this tribute to a style of filmmaking that produced classics like The Day the World Ended and Attack of the Crab Monsters, the REAL quicky about telepathic man-eating giant crabs whose title is lovingly evoked here. Funniest single gag: the one about the B-girls and the duct tape. Funniest running gag: a prior opus, The Snake Woman, produced by the same company, the very mention of which makes everyone in the picture turn white with fear and shame - something really horrible must have happened on that one. If there's any justice in the world, someone will give Greene the money to film a prequel about the making of The Snake Woman so we can find out just what it was. Anyone have 18 bucks?