I had been oddly curious about checking out Bat Pussy since reading up on some of the lore surrounding the film after it was first teased by the AGFA Instagram. Little to nothing is known about the production of the film touted as the first comic book porn parody, obviously poking fun at the Batman TV show from the ‘60s. All we do know for sure is that the film was discovered in a Memphis, Tennessee porn theater in the ‘90s and released by Something Weird Video. When it was announced as part of the Fantastic Fest lineup this year in anticipation for a new 2K release I was pretty much sold that this wouldn’t be your typical blue movie, and holy Batman I was not disappointed.
Bat Pussy has no opening credits and feels more like some bizarre home movie than something that was legitimately released into theaters. The film begins in a tiny Gotham City bedroom with “Buddy” and “Sam,” a couple that neither can recount just how long they’ve been together. After reading a porno magazine, Buddy gets the idea to experiment a bit, and this is where Bat Pussy comes into play. When her neither region twitches, signaling her that someone is about to “make a fuck movie in her holy Gotham City” without her, she sets off to join them. The majority of the 50-minute runtime has Bat Pussy leaving the Bat Cave, which is an outhouse, and setting out bouncing across Gotham on a Space Hopper. When she shows up in Buddy and Sam’s bedroom you can kind of guess what’s supposed to happen, but there’s a reason this film is also known as one of the “worst porn films ever made.”
While the film is definitely hilarious in a so-terrible-it’s-good sort of way, there is absolutely nothing titillating about Bat Pussy. Buddy and Sam aren’t the most attractive couple, with their thick southern drawls and slurred drunken dialog, and watching the film with an audience feels more like the kind of shared experience akin to someone farting really loudly in a crowded elevator. It’s really funny for a few moments, but the longer you’re in the elevator after the smell kicks, the more uncomfortable it tends to get. Also, about halfway through the film it becomes pretty apparent Buddy isn’t going to be UP to performing. Probably due to being REALLY drunk, so both actresses simply spend the rest of the film berating and belittling him as someone shouts directions and coughs off camera.
While as a curiosity it’s worth at least a watch, preferably in an intoxicated theater full of film geeks, I’m not really sure how this will play out for those watching it at home alone when it’s eventually released on Blu-ray. Bat Pussy was as bizarre and awkward as I had honestly hoped after reading some of the reviews online. With more “motherfuckers” than The Hitman’s Bodyguard, even calling Bat Pussy porn is a pretty big stretch. Yes, the couple here is naked for the majority of the film. And yes, they attempt to simulate something you could arguably call sex. But they spend the majority of the runtime arguing like drunken hobos as you the viewer attempt to comprehend how this gloriously amazing car crash of a film came to be.