Over the years we've had killer frogs in Frogs, killer ants in Phase IV, killer rabbits in Night of the Lepus, a killer alligator in the sewers in Alligator. This time, it's the turn of a killer rat, in this largely overlooked but sporadically interesting George P. Cosmatos thriller.
Peter Weller leads the cast, as an overworked businessman who lives in a classy New York town-house with his wife and son. The wife and son go away for a short vacation, leaving Weller to get on with his paperwork for an upcoming business deal. However, an unusually large rat has somehow found its way into his house. Slowly but surely, it figures out various ways to outwit and terrorise the hapless Weller, until he decides that enough is enough and tries to kill it himself.
There are some great jumpy moments in this film. The scene where Weller stumbles to the toilet one night, only to lift up the lid and be faced with the giant rodent is superbly done. The scene where he gropes around inside a dolls-house for the rat-trap he planted days earlier, only to have it snap shut on his hand, is hard to watch without closing your eyes. However, the film goes through frequent dull patches which damage some of the good suspense work. The office scenes are necessary to the film to get across the stress Weller's character is under from work, but they seem to drag on pointlessly. The film is much better when concentrating on the man .vs. beast side of the plot. If you're into these films, with a mutant animal causing havoc, this may be of interest to you.
Peter Weller leads the cast, as an overworked businessman who lives in a classy New York town-house with his wife and son. The wife and son go away for a short vacation, leaving Weller to get on with his paperwork for an upcoming business deal. However, an unusually large rat has somehow found its way into his house. Slowly but surely, it figures out various ways to outwit and terrorise the hapless Weller, until he decides that enough is enough and tries to kill it himself.
There are some great jumpy moments in this film. The scene where Weller stumbles to the toilet one night, only to lift up the lid and be faced with the giant rodent is superbly done. The scene where he gropes around inside a dolls-house for the rat-trap he planted days earlier, only to have it snap shut on his hand, is hard to watch without closing your eyes. However, the film goes through frequent dull patches which damage some of the good suspense work. The office scenes are necessary to the film to get across the stress Weller's character is under from work, but they seem to drag on pointlessly. The film is much better when concentrating on the man .vs. beast side of the plot. If you're into these films, with a mutant animal causing havoc, this may be of interest to you.