I Like Bats (1985) Poster

(1985)

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5/10
Hardly a horror movie
unclehugo8 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
While watching this, one gets the impression that the director's intention was not to produce a vampire movie. Lubie Nietoperze seems to be a kind of artistic parable of the relationship between man and woman, utilizing some elements of the vampire genre. It is true that viewed as a horror flick, this would probably infuriate most fans of vampire movies. There is no blood, we don't get to see the fangs of the central character until near the end of the movie and there are no scares (at least there are some bats in the movie). But if you approach I like Bats without the anticipation of blood, shiny fangs and wooden stakes hammered in the hearts of hideous bloodsuckers, it can be rewarding. There is a colorful set of secondary characters in the movie, some of them pretty bizarre. The heroine's aunt has a predilection for the esoteric and in one scene, she levitates (at least it appeared to me as levitation, but the VHS I viewed was in a bad shape). A bald headed man, who has hots for the female vampire and is repeatedly refused by her, attempts to murder her out of desperation, unsuccessfully. He gets his just reward later. There is also a sexual deviate who jumps the heroine in the park but falls prey to her charms and is drained of blood. A bald headed, wig wearing joker selling novelty toys pays a visit to the heroine's aunt occasionally and makes one hell of a din. The main character herself has some interesting hobbies- she dresses as a hooker at night and searches for her new victims in joints populated with transvestites. When she falls in love with a psychiatrist named Jung (!), and she passes through the gates of a private sanitarium for the mentally unstable in order to get rid of her strange affliction, she encounters another herd of weirdos and is subjected to hypnosis and gamma-rays. All the shrinks of the world cannot help her, until she and Doctor Jung manage to make out. All of a sudden, the curse is broken and the heroine can see her reflection in the mirror.... One thing is for sure, Lubie Nietoperze is not a horror movie by any stretch of imagination.
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2/10
Absolutely awful.
HumanoidOfFlesh31 October 2001
"I Like Bats" is about a beautiful Polish woman,who is a vampire.She would like to become a human,so she seeks help from a psychiatrist.There is no doubt that Polish horror movies are incredibly rare,but this vampire laugh-fest is truly awful.Extremely boring,badly acted and stupid it features the most laughable depiction of vampires ever put to film.If you want a piece of good Polish horror check out "Wilczyca"(1983)or "Widziadlo"(1983).Avoid this steaming pile of crap like the plague-you'll thank me later.2 out of 10 and that's being generous.Recommended only if you need a perfect cure for insomnia or if you are desperate to see all the horror movies ever made.
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7/10
a different kind of vampire film!
ajji-224 January 2007
Initially I thought this would be a horror film, and indeed there are some creepy, atmospheric scenes to suggest so. but this is in fact more of a drama, with liberal doses of romance and even some (black) comedy. The staples of vampire films are almost completely missing, or underplayed. I was pleasantly surprised by the change of pace and the off-beat approach. The story isn't always convincing, but it keeps up the interest. Also, the production values are excellent (quite obvious, despite the bad print I was watching). If you don't go in expecting a horror film, you will probably enjoy it. That is, if you can find this rare title...
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9/10
One of the most unique and brillilant Vampire films.
abansheenamedted2 May 2021
Great and very unique Vampire film. Not graphic or explicit but from the school that focuses on presenting theme and original rendering of an old classic allegory. Very original. Recommended for those who are familiar with classic Vampire characters (like Isabella, the lead here). This is indeed a horror story, its themes that may take some effort, literacy, or familiarity with the Vampire subgenre, but the very final scene will confirm this fact for those who watch it to the end. It comes from an era of film, on the latter timescale for its genre, where a few Vampire films, like Martin (1977, Romero) for more famous example, strove to be more original, contemporary and imbued with larger scope of meaning and themes, in addition to weaving in story.

The settings: a small Polish city, forests, castle and beach. One Vampiress and her bats. One castle sanitorium and a clinical doctor who buys Izabel's batwinged tea cups one day...

I would go so far to say this is both a slower burn at first but brilliant, it shines in the conclusion where all is revealed.
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