Ratman

Seriously fun little Italian sleazefest by former spaghetti western director Anthony Ascott. His "Sartana" films were filled with nifty little gimmicks, gizmos, devices, contraptions and bizarre cinematic flourishes that set the films apart from the pack. Here his little wind up gimmick is a despicable marvel of exploitation monster mania that must be witnessed to be believed. Watching the poor little rat man claw apart the half naked female supporting players is where the heart of the film lies. It delivers the goods, doesn't apologize about what it is & gets the job over with a bit of style in under 85 minutes. None of it is really scary but a lot will make your flesh crawl, and probably laugh.

One idea that keeps coming to mind is about how the film is a study in applied bad taste right down to the wince inducing use of a real life deformed person in a freakshow role. Such things cannot be enjoyed in good conscience without beer which is used in the presence of friends: It's a howler of a party movie and a guilty pleasure to be enjoyed at times when you just want to marvel at how absurd the human species can be. I don't defend this movie for a minute but I sure am in awe of it, which in some cases will have to do.

7/10

I just gotta wonder how the filmmakers pitched this one to Nelson De La Rosa (at 2' 4" he is considered "world's smallest actor" and the lead in the film). I can just picture it now..."OK Nelson - we've got this REALLY great role for you. I know you've been trying to break into serious acting for a while now, so we're gonna give you the role of a life-time...are you ready for this?...you're gonna play a rat/monkey hybrid freak!!! Isn't that just perfect???". Well, however that meeting went, it obviously worked cuz De La Rosa DOES in fact play the ill-named RAT MAN (which I STILL don't understand, being that he is supposed to be portraying a rat/monkey hybrid - I guess RAT MONKEY just doesn't have the same "ring" as a film title...) and does so pretty competently for such a goofy film.

As you've probably gathered by now...the film revolves around a rat/monkey (or RAT MAN if you prefer...). The thing was created by this strange doctor for...well...for no real purpose at all. This doctor seems to be delusional as he said he was planning on winning the Nobel Prize for his "achievement" - but last I heard, they don't typically give out Nobel Prizes for the creation of murderous hybrid freak creatures, although I could be wrong. Anyway, the rat/monkey gets loose and starts killing people all over the Caribbean island that they're on - and let me tell you - this little bastard really get's around. From the beach to the jungle to a deserted village - you just can't stop the rat/monkey. When a model turns up dead, her sister is called in to ID the body - but it turns out to be the wrong girl (OOPS...). The woman stays around to look for her sister who is supposed to be doing a photo shoot in the jungle. The woman is accompanied by a writer who she just met in a cab(?)and decides to tag along with her for absolutely no reason at all (?!?!?). Their investigations eventually lead them back to the good doctor's home, and that's where the real "terror" begins...I guess...

RAT MAN is actually pretty enjoyable. The plot is completely retarded, the acting is so-so, the ending is hilarious in it's ineptitude, and there's not nearly enough gore or nudity for my taste (although there is a little bit of both). But for some reason, this one is still fun, and De La Rosa as the RAT MAN is probably one of the most perfect casting choices I've ever seen. This creepy little bastard should be in EVERY horror film. Recommended to fans of sleaze n' cheese films - most others will probably find it far too stupid to enjoy. 7/10

This flick do has his pros and contras, to be honest I can understand it completely. Just face the reviews, only a few for a cult classic. That must say enough. The problem this flick had was the fact that it was being cut heavily even so that nudity and gore was left out. It did had a few releases and was even sold with the title Terror House.

I still don't know what to think about it because to be fair it is a bit boring at some places. Comes because there's no suspense in it. But I have seen it full uncut. It took until 2008 before it was finally released full uncut and sadly Nelson De La Rosa (the ratman) never experienced the final release, he passed away in 2006.

Maybe people hate it because the effects weren't the next big thing and there is not really that much of gore to spot. For me it's even goreless, it's more a trashy flick. It's just made for the geeks of bad taste. And it surely won't win an Oscar for acting but there's more than the flick itself. David Warbeck (Fred Williams) famous of a lot of classics (The Beyond (1981)) has the main lead here to help a model's sister to search for her sister. Girls do disappear due the ratman of course. Most notable and been cut out of a lot of DVD's is the ratman as a peeping tom watching Marilyn (Eva Grimaldi) taking a shower. It's as gratuitous as it can get and she goes all the way. people who know Eva know that you will see an extreme beautiful body. And that's what's it all about for a lot of pervs out there, to see the shower scene.

A bit of blood here and there, trashy in some way and a lot of Eva walking around and modelling never wearing a bra throughout The Ratman.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 1,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

On a Caribbean island,fashion models fall prey to attacks by a pint-sized creature spawned in laboratory experiments.Agren teams up with journalist Warbeck to find her sister,a model,in the jungle.I enjoyed this film-of course the plot is pretty dumb,but there is plenty of gore to keep gore-hounds happy.The definitive highlight of this film is Eva Grimaldi's shower scene.The direction is solid and the Rat Man is a genuinely scary and ugly monster.It's a crying shame that this Italian piece of horror is totally forgotten by fans of Italian cult cinema.So if you liked "Bloodsucking Freaks" or "The Sinful Dwarf" give "Ratman" a look.8 out of 10.

Somewhere in the Dominican Republic, a scientist creates a cross between rat and ape, which is poisonous and feeds on human flesh. Of course, the creature escapes and starts to kill everywhere. The sister of a missing model and an author of television crime stories start to investigate on their own and follow the monster's bloody route...

This was one of the last "big" Italian gore shockers and has all the ingredients we've come to expect from such films as it is sleazy, sexist, gory and stupid as hell (heck, the scientist even wants to win the Nobel price for his monster!). The creature itself is, and that's a bit of a surprise, astoundingly scary (and ugly, too). However, as we can see the monster before it escapes and starts its killing spree and the director seems more interested in showing tits and gore than anything else, there's not much of suspense in the film. However it was nice to see the return of Italian horror film veterans David Warbeck and Janet Agren. A movie for fans.