WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? Up all night wondering whatever happened to Lou Diamond Phillips? Apparently, so were they.

THE CAST

LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS: Yummy guilty pleasure in such classic 1980s films as La Bamba and Young Guns; most recently seen in 1998's The Big Hit.

DINA MEYERS: Brandon's older woman girlfriend Lucinda during the Brenda Era of Beverly Hills, 90210; also known for her, uh, titillating performance as the tough chick Dizzy Flores in Starship Troopers.

LEON: Like Moses and Cher, Leon has been a monosyllabic voice of triumph, appearing in over 25 films and television series over the past 16 years and most recently stealing scenes as Poet in the HBO series Oz.

THE CREW

LOUIS MORNEAU: Things get a tad worrisome when the most notable of a director's credits include Carnosaur 2. Also: Soldier Boyz, Quake and To Die Standing.

DESTINATION FILMS: The most notable production aspect about this movie is this small independent studio, which has released 5 films since its inception -- and counts among them John Carpenter's Vampires.

OTHER

Bats was written by John Logan, and is one of the screenwriter's four films to be released this year.

THE PREMISE: Genetically mutated homicidal bats attack a small southwestern town.

GOSSIP and USELESS FACTS:

• Bats is not the first film to do the whole evil-bats-attack-the-southwest deal: the horror film Nightwing carried out a similar storyline 20 years earlier.

Official Site