Ratman

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

Nelson De La Rosa is absolutely horrifying in his portrayal of a half human / half rat beast that preys on showering women with nice Italian boobs. This movie is a must-have for any true cultivist.

Imagine your flesh ripped by sharp claws on the end of little crazy straw arms, teeth gnawing at your face, blood pouring while your unsuspecting girlfriend showers in the adjacent room, unknowingly flashing bits of flesh... just enough to be torn to shreds.

Any fan of Nelson's should see this movie! You may know Nelson from some of his other popular characters such as The Little Dancing Man, Mahow Mahow, his role in The Island of Dr. Moreau, and various Dominican television shows... and more recently as the Red Sox good luck charm that broke the Bambino's Curse... for real.

See this movie.

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

I though that Ratman was quite a good film to watch. It is about a maniac who butchers a fashion model on a Caribbean island and leaves the body to be eaten by rats. The model's sister suspects something isn't quite right with the police investigation and decides to go to find out by herself. With her friend, Fred, their investigation's lead them to an unknown part of the island where they discover a rat like man. The creature is killed by Fred, but the true horror of the rats nature is just about to start. This ended up being a good film to watch. There is quite a lot of strong gory violence and nudity in the film for viewers which may be a bit to much for some people.

Escaped rat-monkey hybrid experiment surfaces in a Dominican beach resort where a fashion photographer (Pochath) and his models have gathered for an extended photo shoot, and the body count soon begins. Kiwi ex-pat of Italo horror Warbeck then shows up with Swedish bombshell Agren to uncover the truth of the model's grotesque murder.

Strictly by-the-numbers slasher movie with the usual villain replaced by a small, rabid science experiment with a taste for human flesh. Underdeveloped and repetitive, it's clear that the plot is little more than a promising outline in need of elaboration. The actions of the characters is at times baffling, with no apparent motivation other than to contrive a situation in which they can encounter the eponymous creature whom despite its size, makes light work of its much larger prey.

For its part, the creature is played with gleeful menace by short-statured Dominican actor de la Rosa although it's obvious he can't move as fluidly as the role demands, henceforth his appearances are often shadowy and photographed either in tight closeup or from a safe distance to try and conceal these limitations.

Gratuitous nudity allied with an extremely bloody, high body count will appeal to some audiences, whilst there's ample suspense, the logic has sadly been neglected and the result is disappointingly half-baked. Pochath, Agren and Warbeck are wasted in empty, largely incidental roles well beneath their talents, whilst Guerra is gifted the more interesting part as the English Dr Moreau imitation, a role in which Richard Johnson would've excelled had it been made ten years earlier.

Predictable and cliched, it's mildly entertaining with a few genuine thrills but also frustrating in its lack of effort, lazily constructed, poorly scripted and should've been a minor cult film instead of the underwhelming obscurity to which it's now relegated.