Les rats

It's amazing what you can achieve if you dispose over a bit of professionalism. Even the most routine straight-to-cable production can be worth watching if the acting and directing is a little decent. It was the Fox Network that hired John Lafia (Man's Best Friend) to do the directing and the still yummy Mädchen Amick for the female lead. Vincent Spano (Alive) and Daveigh Chase (The Ring) complete the above average cast. The premise of a giant rat-plague threatening a big city isn't exactly new, but still this film succeeds in bringing a bit of tension and entertainment. Mostly thanks to the excellent underground shooting locations (basements, sewers, subways…) 'the Rats' looks icky and a bit unsettling. The rats naturally are slightly mutated by lab-tests and therefore a lot more aggressive and more difficult to annihilate. The grotesque finale in which a swimming pool is used as a rat-fountain is very over-the-top, yet brightly and well elaborated. Mädchen Amick is a seriously underrated actress and I hope she'll receive some new, bigger acting offers real soon. Vincent Spano is pretty good as well and he clearly enjoys sharing rat-trivia with the viewer. I don't know if all what he said is true (for every inhabitant in NY there are 9 rats?? You can get Weil's disease from a rat-bite??) but it was interesting nevertheless. Recommended!

After a rat incident at a swanky NY department store, the store's chief of security (Madchen Amick) brings in a top exterminator (Vincent Spano) to solve the problem. Upon investigating the situation, the ugly truth is found. In fact, things are far worse than anyone could possibly imagine.

THE RATS is a decent "killer rat" movie that mixes both real and CGI rodents. The real rats are great, while the digital versions -used mostly for swarming attacks- are a bit dubious. Ms. Amick and Mr. Spano are believable enough in their sleuthing roles. Although the reason behind the sudden mass infestation is absurd, as is the means of their eradication, rat lovers should get a kick out of it.

The finale is a definite gut-buster...

I'm normally very cautious about renting films whose quality is dubious, especially if they are direct to videos. But I've been doing research lately and, based on positive imdb reviews, decided to check out The Rats (not to be confused with Killer Rats). I must say that this is a movie done with great taste and quality. The story was well thought out and the dialogue wasn't at all cheesy. It also doesn't hurt to have a beautiful leading actress. Good job to FOX for making a great DVD! Recommended is you want a fun but not over the top creature fx.

In Manhattan, when a client is bitten by a rat in the dressing room of the Garsons Department Store and contracts Weil's disease, the manager Susan Costello (Mädchen Amick) is assigned to hire and give all the necessary support to the best exterminator in New York, Jack Carver (Vincent Spano). The efficient Jack and his assistant Ty (Shawn Michael Howard) find a colony of mutant rats and try to convince the health department administrator and former partner of Jack, Ray Jarrett (David Wolos-Fonteno), how serious the infestation is. But the politician Ray is interested in covering the problem to protect economical interests of powerful groups.

The theme of "The Rats" is absolutely unpleasant, but the way the story is approached in this movie is surprisingly entertaining. The chemistry between Mädchen Amick and Vincent Spano contributes to make this film work. I do not know if there is any veracity in the scary statistic of nine rats per dweller in New York, but if it is true, the reality is scarier than this film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Ratos em Nova Iorque" ("Rats in New York")

I'll be truthful, when I first picked up this movie in the library, I though I would cry myself to sleep because of how horrible it might be, but I digress, it was pretty good. There were some scares; some scenes were you just cringe because its rats but I liked it. It boils down to New York run amok by rats, but these are no ordinary rats, they are, in fact, parasitic disease-spreading rodents that broke out of an abandoned genetics lab.

The movie had some pretty sly humor and the characters were very well played out. The whole concept of rats invading a luxury department store and finding mounds of rat crap all over the place, using a dark light, was the funnies thing I have ever seen in a rodent movie. Some interesting scenes involving massive hordes and tunnels of rats got me pretty uncomfortable, some, like the pool scene, were suggestive considering massive blood loss of kids.

The movie had some pretty snappy comebacks and a humorous relationship between the sophisticated luxury department store owner and the suave discrete exterminator. Their relationship, at points, is hard to look at because of campy level it's on but nonetheless a very good relationship. I liked how the Health Department is trying everything to cover everything up and…..its just a funny, scary movie.

Of course, there is a limit of how much corniness and silliness a movie can have. But despite that factor, this isn't that bad of a movie, the rats are more of a vermin that his movie and I think that any horror fan should at least try this movie. I like it, not loved it, but like it, and I hope other will.