Izabela (Katarzyna Walter). Not Ingrid Pitt, but I ain't complaining.
In
a 1980's Polish city, beautiful blonde day-walikng vampire Izabela
(Katarzyna Walter) is nagged by her aunt and the ghost of her
grandfather, both of whom want her to find a man and settle down, thus
putting an end to her perceived empty life. When not feeding local bats
at night, Izabela hunts obnoxious men who harass her in various ways,
even resorting to disguise while cruising discotechs. She's quite
content with her lifestyle until a handsome man comes to her aunt's
curio shop and she falls in love at first sight. The man is Professor
Rudlof Jung (Marek
Barbasiewicz), who operates an expensive psychiatric facility in a
chateau, so Izabela checks in as a patient, being up front her vampirism
(which no one believes) and expressing a desire to be cured of her
condition. Hoping to bewitch him, Izabela basically throws herself at
Jung, but he's too much of a professional to mess around with a patient,
especially one he considers delusional, but ass the narrative
progresses and the bodies pile up, the psychiatrist must face the facts,
no matter how paranormal they are. In the end, love conquers all,
though vampirism is apparently transmissible via genetics...
I
LIKE BATS is a well-crafted little comedy-shocker that wears its
mid-1980's flavor on its sleeve and serves as welcome relief from the
era's glut of slasher bloodbaths. The gore in minimal — at best you get a
bit of what Hammer called "Kensington gore" — though there is
occasional full-frontal female nudity that clashes with the overall
tone/feel of the film, but I chalk that up to the film being the product
of foreign sensibilities. That said, maybe it's just me, but I found
the whole thing rather tepid and predictable, with Walter's gorgeous
undead suckface distractingly resembling Blodie's Deborah Harry. There's
plenty of Euroslease atmosphere to be had, bringing to mind 1971's
CAGED VIRGINS, though that film was infinitely more in-your-face sleazy.
For me, the movie's dreamlike atmosphere is compounded by its leisurely
(some would say "dull") pace, and when it was over, all I was left with
was a pretty vampire, a love story I did not care about, mediocre
comedy, no scares, and a silly "shock" ending. It's not terrible, but I
would recommend it solely for the most diehard of vampire enthusiasts.
Poster from the Polish theatrical release.
Poster from the Polish theatrical release.
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