Rating summary

Movie		0.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		0.5

Bat Pussy Blu-ray Movie Review

This may be the first NSFW review in Blu-ray.com history.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 24, 2017

Maybe the fact that porn has been relegated largely to the wild and wooly environment of the internet is a good thing, at least if one thinks very long and/or hard about people actually paying to get into a theater to see something like Bat Pussy, folks who would then be sitting in a “community” to get their jollies from the sight of two arguably rather unattractive people going at it with each other, interspersed with patently gonzo scenes of a woman in a "caped crusader- ette" outfit bouncing around a town on a Pilates ball (I swear I'm not making this up). Certainly among the most “unique” porn films ever made, Bat Pussy’s origin story (so to speak) is cloaked in mystery. No one is totally sure who made the film or who in fact is even in it, and the fact that the film managed to survive at all might be attributed to either a miracle or perhaps (to some) as absolute proof that some Evil Entity holds sway over our physical realm (yes, that’s a joke). It’s hard to really adequately describe Bat Pussy, other than to reiterate that even for “genre aficionados” (the genre in this case being porn), it is regularly called “the worst”, even by those who have a peculiar affinity for its low rent “charms”. Bat Pussy was just one of a “treasure trove” of porn reels found in a discarded box inside a Memphis, Tennessee theater decades ago by Mike McCarthy, who quickly contacted Something Weird Video’s Mike Vraney, who reportedly purchased the entire collection of “classics” for the tidy sum of a thousand bucks. That rescued Bat Pussy from the ash heap of history, though some viewers may feel like they’ll want to burn their own eyes out after watching this peculiar combo platter of spectacularly unerotic porn and a sendup of the old Adam West Batman series (and, no, that is not a typo).

The less said about Bat Pussy’s “plot”, the better, but the basic premise of the film involves a couple named Sam (the woman) and Buddy, who are “experimenting” with their sex lives in a dowdy room, though neither is particularly enamored of the other's "technique" when it comes to lovemaking. Across town, a woman named Dora (we won’t get into her surname on this family site, other than to say it refers to a personal gratification device some women use) is more or less telepathically alerted to the shenanigans of the couple and sets off to participate. First she dons her Bat Pussy outfit, of course, because — well, are you really that concerned about any lingering issues of “logic” in a film like this? Soon enough Bat Pussy is engaged in a thrillingly unsexy three way with the aforementioned couple. And then everything just kind of ends, without even any cigarettes being smoked.

Bat Pussy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note of Warning: Please be advised that Bat Pussy's Main Menu drops the F bomb (so to speak), so screenshot ten (of the Main Menu) may raise some folks' hackles. The more observant reader will notice this review features only ten screenshots instead of our standard 20 because most of the film features full nudity and sexual acts, two things we try to stay away from due to the site being viewed by such a wide range of ages and experiences.

Bat Pussy is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. AGFA's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfers of the two films contained on this Blu-ray disc:

Bat Pussy is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics film scanner from the only 16mm theatrical print in existence.

Robot Love Slaves is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics film scanner from an original 16mm theatrical print.

Color grading was performed with DaVinci Resolve. Every effort has been made to retain the original theatrical experience of the films. The monaural soundtracks were remastered using Pro Tools HD. The digital transfers were performed by the American Genre Film Archive in Austin, TX.

Bat Pussy might serve as an excellent example of scoring a release on how faithful it is to its source versus how it actually looks. There's little doubt that this is an accurate scan of the only print currently known to exist, but that doesn't necessarily translate into an enjoyable viewing experience (even apart from any content issues). This is a very badly damaged print, one with rather large and pretty ubiquitous blue scratches running vertically through a large number of frames, as well as missing frames and other signs of age related wear and tear. Color is still fairly anemic anemic despite whatever corrective actions may have been taken. The entire film looks soft, and in fact many midrange and (especially) wide shots can look downright blurry, with virtually no fine detail. I'm "splitting the difference" by scoring this in the "middle range" of 2.5 to indicate it is an accurate looking transfer in terms of the source but also to indicate that the source itself is highly problematic. One way or the other, those interested in this title are encouraged to parse the screenshots to see how they feel about the appearance of this film.

Bat Pussy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Bat Pussy features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix which, like the video element, simply can't overcome some of the source limitations. The film kind of jump starts, and so audio suddenly just begins, but there's occasional damage the follows video issues like missing frames. There is not a ton of dialogue in the film, but with an understanding of the beyond lo-fi ambience of the film, things are delivered without anything too overly problematic.

Bat Pussy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary Track features Lisa Petrucci and Tim Lewis of Something Weird!, along with what sounds like Joe Ziemba, Sebastian Del Castillo, and Annie Choi (the printed credits only list Petrucci and Lewis).


• Dating Do's and Don'ts (1080p; 12:28) is an old educational film from Coronet just brimming with sage advice.


• The Shoplifter (1080p; 19:33) is a patently bizarre short about shoplifters.


• A Trip to the Storefront Theater (1080p; 1:54) is a (once again) patently bizarre PSA urging guys to "put it back in your pants" since intermission is coming and the lights are about to come back up. Like I said, maybe internet porn is a good idea.


• Crime Smut Trailers (1080p; 26:34) are culled from the Something Weird! archives.


• Bonus Movie: Robot Love Slaves (1080p; 53:59) is a soft core opus from 1971 that was evidently also released under the title Too Much Loving.

Also, right after the label mastheads display at disc boot up and authored as part of that introductory element, a short PSA (1080p; approximately 30 seconds) plays warning folks that they're about to watch X rated material. I'm frankly not sure if this is a "real" vintage announcement or a post- modern prank. Also as with their other releases, AGFA has included a nicely appointed insert booklet, including a kind of funny essay by Mike McCarthy entitled "I Saved Bat Pussy". There are some things that are better left unsaid, Mike.

Bat Pussy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The participants on the commentary track seem downright giddy that Bat Pussy is out on Blu-ray, and for a certain kind of genre aficionado, this film may well fit the bill, though my hunch is this release is going to appeal to fairly small niche of buyers. AGFA is establishing an interesting reputation with some goofy and bizarre releases, and Bat Pussy certainly qualifies in both of those regards. You may notice that there is not an Amazon link above, since evidently the retailer banned this release due to its pornographic content. Diabolik DVD is offering a link for purchases for those interested in buying this release.