Of Unknown Origin

This movie is about a large, smart rat threatening to undermine everything a worldly wall street climber (Peter Weller) has worked to create for his world. The movie is like it's clever rat...creeping up with more intelligence than should be expected.

Great movies work equally on separate levels so that a wide audience can take what they will from it and still enjoy it immensely. Although technically a B-movie punctuated by 80's camp, it is unmistakable that "Of Unknown Origin" is truly special.

It's unfortunate that this movie has enough unattractive elements to deter a viewer's interest. First of all, it's a "rat movie". When has that ever been a favorable genre? Second of all, Shannon Tweed's involvement, however early in her career, emits an odor of genericness and illegitimacy.

Don't be turned off by all these potentially fatal bad traits. Director George P. Cosomotos and Peter Weller had an interesting, artful collaboration going on in "Of Unknown Origin". The film has a tight focus on theme and story, and goofy, highly entertaining, cult-status-worthy performance bits from Weller. It's a fun film- there's no doubt about that. There may be cheese, but there's also sincerity in how the film refuses to take itself seriously. Also, the familiar moral of the story is shown in so fresh a form that you won't even care.

For a story that works so well on an intellectual level, it's a blessing that the actual rat combat scenes are a great time. As Weller's lost yuppie starts to lose his sanity, his battles with his furry foe become more and more extravagant. Let's just say the conclusion is incredible.

The title refers to the clouded evolution of rats. It also speaks of the burning, unavoidable core of our hearts that is pure and determined to defeat our dark sides. Our consciences? Our God? Or is it just a fear of a big friggin' rat? Ponder that if you'd like, but enjoy "Of Uknown Origin" regardless.

It's (future) Robocop VS. Rodent in this interesting & compelling but ultimately bland hybrid between an ordinary creature feature and a portrait of psychological downfall. Textbook 80's yuppie Bart Hughes has everything you could wish for in life. Married to the previous Playmate of the year, he owns a personally renovated brownstone in the heart of New York, his parents-in-law live all the Vermont, his secretary has a not-so-hidden crush on him and he's moments away from getting that important assignment everybody at the office was craving for. Bart's perfect universe gets brutally disturbed when an unusually intelligent rat decides to join the household and run a little bit of amok in the house. When all regular rat-catching methods like traps and poison fail, Bart begins to take the battle personal. He gradually goes berserk, isolating himself from his colleagues and neighbors, with only one mission left to live for: annihilate the rat! Okay, what we have here is an ambitious script about an alarmingly escalating obsession, a stellar performance by Peter Weller and skillful photography by René Verzier who successfully manages to depict the ordinary rat like the most fierce and petrifying monster in the universe. That's very admirable and all but, in the end, "Of Unknown Origin" only just remains a film about a guy chasing vermin through the house for nearly 90 minutes. The rodent's intellectual capacities, as wells as some of Bart's desperate measures to catch it, are just a tad bit implausible and actually on the verge of hilarious, even though the whole thing is acted with straight faces and serious undertones. What type of rat are we dealing with here, in fact? Because sometimes the animal is small enough to move through the draining pipes whereas at other times it looks big enough to pass for a warthog. Or maybe its variable sizes were intentional as part of the whole psychological aspect, and then I missed the point again? I know "Of Unknown Origin" isn't meant to be a full-blooded horror film, but still the lack of blood and action was mildly disappointing. Couldn't the rat have killed the irritating neighbor, the exterminator or even Shannon Tweed? Unquestionably the most fascinating moments of the entire film are the rat trivia Bart recites to all his clearly embarrassed colleagues & superiors during a diner party. Now that scene was both creepy and educational.

Though I don't really consider it a horror film, if you are one of many who happens to be afraid of rodents this film will terrify you. Hell, even you you don't mind rodents it might freak you out a bit. Peter Weller is always a great actor, and he stars in this film as Bart, a man who wages an all out war with one hell of an angry rat while the rest of his life begins to fall apart because of it. He is the only leading actor in this film, and he carries it almost completely on his own. His dinner table speech about the dangers of rats was both hilarious and a bit unnerving at the same time. I liked how this film was almost self-mocking in parts, though it always kept a straight face about it and never went to far. The rat's point of view shots really show this. The scenes with the rat were all very well done, congrats to whoever trained the rat. The plot was very original, and I liked how smart the rat was. Always a couple steps ahead of poor ol' Bart. I think I jumped a foot when the damn thing came out of the toilet. Last but not least, that was one heck of a bat he made near the end! Overall, this is a great film. Admittedly it's a bit cheesy in places, but it knows what it is and handles itself very well. Highly recommended.

8.5/10

The premise of this film isn't exactly original, but a story like this has great potential both for a psychological thriller and for a fun horror flick...but unfortunately, Or Unknown Origin doesn't quite manage to excel at being either. The focus is more on the battle between man and rat than providing the sort of schlocky horror that the eighties produced so prolifically, which is fine; but it never probes too deep into the psyche of the central character, and the film plays out like a movie that should be fun, but largely isn't. That's not to say that it's a bad film, however, as there are a lot of good ideas on display, and the film also features what may be a career best performance from Peter Weller. The plot sees a man who recently completed the rebuilding of a house being left alone when his wife and child go on holiday. He stays behind to try and win a promotion, but he doesn't count on an onslaught of torture when it turns out that the house he put together has become infested by a rat. What follows is an all out war between man and one of the world's most notorious pests.

Rats are one of horror cinema's most popular animals, and it's not hard to see why. There is a scene in this film that sees the central character make a case against rats, and it really makes you realise the reason why these animals are so often feared. Of Unknown Origin starts out slowly, but builds some momentum half way through when our hero begins his personal war against nature. I wasn't expecting much after the first half hour, but the film surprised me somewhat by the way it eventually comes together, climaxing with an exciting sequence that sees the central character really go off the rails. Peter Weller really is superb in the lead role, and I wouldn't be surprised if this film was the reason he went on to take the lead role in the classic Sci-Fi thriller 'Robocop'. It's a shame that director George P. Cosmatos doesn't seem too keen to get fully inside the character's head, as the potential for a great psychological thriller is definitely there. This film may have been better if it was handled by someone like David Lynch, but despite its imperfections; Of Unknown Origin is still worth seeing.

This is the story of a man (Bart Hughes played by Peter Weller) who becomes obsessed with a little rat problem he's having at his newly renovated house. Instead of focusing on Bart's growing insanity, the director unfortunately showcases the rat as a vicious and dangerous beast. Although there are some quite effective closeups of the rat-villain, we never really feel any threat emerging from this little creature. Bart's obsession seems all but unbelievable. It's implausible that he would not just move to a hotel or try (harder) to contact an exterminator. Also, the movie just doesn't seem to have any real purpose. After a quick showdown it just ends, leaving some plot lines (Bart's job, his relationship to his family) unresolved.

"Of Unknown Origin" is still a very watchable movie. The pacing is quick and Weller does a pretty decent job in this one man-show. Had director George P. Cosmatos added anything to make it more than a mere monster movie, "Of Unknown Origin" would no be the obscure left-over from the early 80's that it is.