Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

I Like Bats Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 25, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of House of Psychotic Women Rarities Collection.

Kier-la Janisse has been on the busy side for Severin Films lately, what with any number of supplemental productions as well as both this latest collection and the earlier, in some ways more grandiose, All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror. In that regard, it's kind of ironic in a way that at least some "folk horror" outings tend to feature women who are perceived to be psychotic, or perhaps if not afflicted to that level, emotionally troubled, in plot devices that see "innocents" confronted with some otherworldly horror that no one else believes is real. The "psychoses" in this set are probably more overtly manifest, in that they seem to be objective (mis?)behaviors rather than how others are interpreting those (mis?)behaviors, but one way or the other this is another rather remarkable collection of films curated by Janisse that should attract some niche attention. This set is kind of a companion piece to the eponymous tome Janisse published around a decade ago, which she termed "an autobiographical topography of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films", and which is being republished in tandem with this set in an expanded version (Severin is offering a deluxe bundle featuring the book).

I Like Bats is kind of an oddity from any number of angles, with a story revolving around a woman named Izabela (Katarzyna Walter), who it is initially hinted may or may not be suffering from a delusion that she's a vampire. This might instantly bring to mind 1988's Vampire's Kiss, which offered Nicolas Cage the rare opportunity to chew the scenery (yes, folks, that's a joke), and in fact in some ways I Like Bats has the same almost profoundly goofy ambience as the Cage film, one that makes it play kinda sorta like an extended episode of Rod Serling's old Night Gallery series, where you could almost feel Serling and his team reaching for the heights of classic Twilight Zone episodes, but never quite getting there, and often resorting to kind of cheap "stings" at the end to deliver putative twists.

I Like Bats is frankly not very ambiguous about what's going on, and in fact Izabela's vampiric abilities are more or less overtly displayed on screen, if not especially graphically. But there's still a bit of ambiguity in the further development of Izabela ending up in a quasi-institution run by a professor kind of hilariously named Jung (Marek Barbasiewicz), who is convinced he can "cure" her. This is another piece that arguably might have ended up in All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, since its treatment of folkloric "monsters" like vampires is blended here with a particularly Polish flavor that gives this an "old world" Eastern European vibe, despite the fact that it takes place in "contemporary" times (meaning the eighties of its production). But unlike most of the films Janisse aggregated for that massive set, I Like Bats definitely has an impish sense of humor, though a lot of the punchlines are telegraphed before they're actually delivered.

This is another film that offers an "institutional" setting that is unabashedly outré, if arguably not quite as gonzo as the setting(s) of The Other Side of the Underneath. Like that Jane Arden creation, though, I Like Bats has an unmistakably feminist subtext, which makes its wrap up all the more baffling, as the blatantly theatrical commentary from Polish actress and provocateur Kamila Wielebska gets into. It's hard to argue for "grrrl power" (or whatever the 80's Polish vampiric equivalent might be), when the "solution" to life's problems is quasi-domestic bliss. The film ends with yet another little "sting" that many will probably see coming from a mile off, indicating that despite a putative "cure", Izabela's vampiric beat goes on, so to speak.

I Like Bats Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I Like Bats is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. The back cover of this release states this was "scanned in 2K from the only 35mm print known to exist". This is one of those transfers that "is what it is", with the film's "curio" status probably helping to counterweigh against color timing that often seems skewed toward yellow and green, and with some recurrent if never too problematic age related wear and tear. Contrast is a bit anemic in some outdoor scenes in particular, and blacks on the whole are a bit milky. Detail levels are often relatively fulsome, including on some of the outfits and especially some of the odd accoutrements that are utilized as set decorations.

I Like Bats Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I Like Bats features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track in the original Polish. The film has an insanely earworm infested whistling theme by Zbigniew Preisner which you can hear just clipping slightly in its highest moments. Similar very slight distortion can be gleaned at various louder moments throughout the film, but dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and sound effects encounter no major issues, either. Optional English subtitles are available.

I Like Bats Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Kier-la Janisse, Author of House of Psychotic Women (HD; 10:18) is accessible as either a standalone supplement under the Bonus Menu, or under the Play Menu as an option, which is authored to lead directly to the feature (the Play Menu also offers a Play Without Introduction option).


• Audio Commentary with Kamila Wielebska, Actor and Co-Editor of A Story of Sin: Surrealism in Polish Cinema is almost a piece of performance art, as Janisse alludes to in her introduction.


• TV Spot (HD; 00:41)

I Like Bats Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I Like Bats is something of an outlier in this set in that its depiction of an addled woman is played for a bit of whimsy, and at least in a moment or two, outright comedy. The entire film has a weird, drugged out ambience that is heightened by some theatrical performances. This has probably the least pleasing technical merits of Severin's House of Psychotic Women set, but everything is still perfectly watchable and listenable, and Janisse's introduction and the sui generis commentary by Kamila Wielebska may be especially alluring for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.