I saw this movie in the theaters when it came out, which would have made me only seven years old! Wow. Some have described it as a horror film. I don't think it was that gory, but some people might think it so. It certainly was S-C-A-R-Y with the swarming bats. Not scary enough to give a seven year old nightmares, but certainly thrilling and enough to keep most viewers on the edge of their seat! Maybe a Sci-Fi thriller is more accurate. <br /><br />A bunch of unrelated people (men and women) are drugged, kidnapped, and thrown into a high-tech underground bunker, where they are told via a remote video screen, that they will be held in this stainless steel complex for years, riding out the Apocalypse in a bid to repopulate the Earth.<br /><br />!!! SPOILER !!!<br /><br />Actually, this is all a lie. They are the subjects of a manipulative psychological "experiment" where people are the lab rats. But, a monkey wrench is thrown in the works, in the form of RAVENOUS VAMPIRE BATS that eat their way through the walls, attacking the people in the lab complex. Of course, no contact with the outside world is possible, as the complex is sealed and is on a timer lock, which won't open for a month, says the one government spook on site, who knew the whole set-up was a scam. Now, the mission is to escape before the bats kill everyone! Can they do it, or will everyone die in a hail of blood???<br /><br />SPOILER OVER...<br /><br />At the time I had not seen every single Twlight Zone episode, so the "twist" actually did blow my little mind. (Twlight Zone used to actually frighten me around that same time as well, whenever I did occasionally catch a rerun of that). <br /><br />This movie vanished off the face of the Earth for years. But quite recently, I did manage to pick up a (not exactly official) copy of it on DVD! Looking at it again, I was shocked that I remembered so much of it. One thing that surprised me was the woman who appeared on the giant video screen "explaining" the situation was former Los Angeles newscaster Kelly Lange! I had been watching her (and being annoyed by her) on TV since I moved to L.A. in 1989. Diana Muldaur, a favorite from Star Trek (both original series and TNG) is good in this movie as well.<br /><br />Over the years I would think about this film from time to time, and its unique, claustrophobic atmosphere of doom, and this certainly holds up. Upon further viewing, it really is a cool little flick. The only part I misremembered was the fact that they reveal the "surprise" to the kidnapees about halfway through the film, and I had thought that the deception wasn't revealed until almost the end. A creepy sci-fi horror hybrid that I recommend highly to anyone who can find it!<br /><br />UPDATE 9/2007: 20th Century Fox is releasing a legitimate DVD of this film just in time for Halloween 2007! Hurrah! I highly recommend this movie, go out and get it! UPDATE: I got the DVD! Nice remastering job, great picture and sound, reasonably low price. No extras, though. Highly recommend the DVD. Great obscure sci-fi movie, lots of nostalgia for me.