Vampire Bats

Having survived a traumatic encounter with hordes of dangerous locusts, Dr. Maddy Reardon (Lucy Lawless), a specialist in the behavior patterns of voracious insects, accepts what she thinks will be a stress-free job as a professor at Tate University in Louisiana. Unfortunately, Maddy is once again forced to put her knowledge to use--and her life on the line--when the body of a student is found, drained of blood. Assisted by her husband Dan (Dylan Neal) and by several of her more courageous (or should we say foolhardy?) students, Maddy endeavors to prove that the death of the student was caused by a flock of particularly vicious vampire bats, mutated into monstrosity by a recent toxic waste dump. Timothy Bottoms costars as Mayor Hank Poelker, who is covertly in cahoots with the chemical company that has caused this calamity. (Can it be that Bottoms was cast because of his resemblance to President George W. Bush, whom the actor has also played on several occasions?) Originally slated to be filmed in New Orleans, Vampire Bats shifted production to Canada to avoid the anticipated onslaught of Hurricane Katrina; the made-for-TV thriller debuted October 30, 2005 on CBS.