This lifeless throwback to the B movies of yesteryear, is complete with over-the-top acting, bad dialogue, nature gone bad and a mad scientist. A group of genetically altered bats wreak havoc on a small, sleepy, unsuspecting Texas town.

Bats has a fairly big name cast including; Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba), Dina Meyers (Starship Troopers), Leon (Cliffhanger) and Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption). It's hard to say what compelled these actors to be a part of this boring mess.

The special effects even lack the charm of what makes those early Japanese monster movies work so well. Half the time the bats are digital, and the rest of the time they're lousy looking puppets.

Ultimately, Bats tries to take the terror of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and the joyful, if dark spirit of Joe Dante's Gremlins. It fails miserably on both levels.