Les rats attaquent

Cat-sized rats, laced-up on steroid enriched grain apparently destined for starving kids in Africa, overrun the city as former chop-socky filmmaker Clouse applies his unique, high contact brand of action/horror. Breaking with convention early, his sewer mob spirit away a toddler from its high chair – a trail of blood and an empty wonder suit greets the hysterical mother, a scene sure to disaffect plenty of parents so early in the piece, they may not stay for the blood bath still to come. Local teacher and single dad Groom investigates the strange goings on, while courting the attentions of Health official (Botsford) and attempting to dissuade those of an infatuated student (Langlois).

The versatile vaudeville performer Crothers is wasted in a frivolous supporting role, while veteran Canadian actor Linder is also given little respect. Langlois is the most vivacious characterisation, giving conviction and dimension to the sexually confident and nubile young student, enamoured by the worldly but unattainable Groom. Clouse even manages to stage a rat attack during a Bruce Lee cinema retrospective at which his film "Game of Death" is played on the big screen, for those who might appreciate an in-joke.

It's formula filmmaking and Clouse handles both the characterisations and action sequences with adept skill, albeit with little attention to detail or continuity. Groom is an affable leading man, Botsford a more attractive proposition (there's even a fire-lit love scene to really set the mood), and the daschunds dressed in sewer rat costumes, almost look cute in some scenes, as they scamper from one mark to the next below aerial shots that clearly display their canine features. Extremely bloody with plenty of limb gnawing, bone chewing gore, "Night Eyes" is the perfect late night viewing experience.

I had wanted to see this movie for a long time, but none of the video stores in the various cities I lived in stocked it. Finally, I had to purchase the Blu-ray. Was it worth the wait? For the most part, no. Now, the big feature about the movie that made me want to see it - giant rats played by dachshunds - does provide a little amusement, as well as the equally not convincing puppetry work when we see close-ups of the giant rats' faces. However, the bulk of the movie surrounding the rat stuff is extremely tedious to sit through. There simply isn't a lot of story here, and the characters are written in a way to be extremely uninteresting. The script is bad enough, but under the direction of Robert Clouse, the movie moves at a glacial pace and without any real tension. Clouse also makes some very big continuity goofs, like how the weather changes from shot to shot in some scenes, and how the movie seems to be taking place in Canada in some scenes but in other scenes in the United States. If you must see this, wait until it comes on cable and record it, then watch it with your finger hovered over the fast-forward button on your remote. Make sure your remote has fresh batteries, because this movie will give your remote a workout.

Yeah the movie sucks but we had a great time making it.

I got thrown through a glass window, hurled down a flight of stairs, and had dog food and corn syrup plastered on my face so the dogs would "eat" me...

I gotta tell ya, the dogs were treated like kings.

Each dog could only work 2 hours and they could only shoot for 5 minutes at a time.

They all had air conditioned kennels.

The humans on the other hand... well we just had to fend for ourselves...

George "Stompy" Hollo

A pack of rats get very large, super-vicious and smart(er?) after eating a load of corn ready for shipment but somehow laced with steroids. Teacher, single father and lady magnet Paul Harris (Sam Groom) pairs up in all sense of the term with health official, independent woman and man eater entrepreneur Kelly Leonard (Sara Botsford) to save the city.

Very loosely based on James Herbert's first novel, "The Rats" also known under the daft moniker "Deadly Eyes" is a simple yet adroitly crafted horror b movie. There are very little surprises here: the black token character (Scatman Crothers in an all too brief appearance sadly), the stupid canon-fodder teenagers, the old guy who knows about the threat in question are all present in the mix.

But that doesn't mean it's all bad, mind you. In fact, there's plenty to keep an 80's horror fan entertained. First and foremost the acting is actually pretty decent although the characters are under developed. The gore ratio is adequate; the attack of the cinema set piece (replacing the novel's horrific attack of the train) throwing some serious punches in that regard. The rats themselves (dogs in rat suits as you probably already know) are a bit of a mixed bag, being equally odd, creepy and grotesque.

It is fair to assume that the film got better with time, its 80's origins giving it THAT particular lustre which current horror films often try to replicate (or so they claim) but hardly ever achieve. It certainly isn't earth shattering work and should be avoided by James Herbert's hard core fans at all cost. But if, like my little self, you're an 80's horror film buff then this could be a worthy addition to your collection (if you manage to get your hand on it, that is).

Even if you know they're really dachshunds in rat suits, they're still pretty gruesome! It doesn't matter how fast you run, they'll still catch you!! There's a classic scene- an attack on a movie theater-- which you'll be thinking about for days afterward. This flick has a gritty, wintertime dinginess which I like. Plus, it's got Mr. Scatman Crothers- how can you go wrong?? Definitely worth a rental, especially for fans of low-budget horror films of the early 80s.