The Rats (2002)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This movie came on TV while I was doing something else...from basically everything about it I thought it was going to be crap, but was pleasantly surprised and ended up getting totally glued to it. It was suspenseful, creepy, had some great scenes and scares (unexpected gore as well), and for the most part well-written, shot, and acted. Much better than the average made-for-TV-movie...one big reason I liked it as well was that it doesn't take itself too seriously (thank god) but it's somewhat plausible minus the cinematic exaggeration, like if the plot was reported as fact in the news one day you'd believe it (especially if you've seen the rats in the NYC subway). Give it a chance if you love B-horror movies. it's far better than the title/premise suggest...lots of fun

So according to this movie, rats outnumber humans in NYC nine to one. I accidentally got caught up in this predictable piece of cheese while flipping channels, error. Avoid this if you can. I don't think it's a good sign for a movie when you find yourself pulling for the rats - hoping they eat all the actors ...and the cameraman. Though I will hand it to them, they made me not want to ride a subway ever again. And while I'm sure a 3am viewing of this film would be more creepy-crawly, even the 2pm version was enough to make y'squirm. But why? Why do we need this movie. I guess there's an answer: 30 years ago, they brought in cats to handle the rat problem in my neighborhood (true story), and after this film, I feel I owe the then-mayor a thank-you note. Maybe I'll track him down.

Rats invade every place in New York...you get a B-movie plot. The beautiful, elegant, sexy Madchen Ammick stars in this cheesy Horror flick for cable.I won't talk about the plot because there isn't much to tell about it. In fact, I will only comment about the scenes that are worth the watch. The rat attack in the swimming pool is a must see as it's a little but tense moment as the rats almost bite the young Daveigh Chase.Near the end, when the beautiful Madchen falls and is attacked by thousands of rats really made me worry because I could only think about her beautiful face getting disfigured. To my happiness, she only gets some scratches and is rescued by Spano and other guy. The rat massacre at the ending is also a must see for the cheese factor. What a cartoonish ending! This is a must see for people who have a phobia for rats like me. This is what Horror is about, scare and make you feel tense. This low budget movie makes it's job and entertains B-movie consumers for about 90 mins.Watch "The Rats" for it's intention to entertain and to watch the stunning, incredible Madchen Ammick.

Stylish Susan Costello (Madchen Amick) is PR at Garvers Department Store in New York City. An unsuspecting customer is bitten by a rat in one of the dressing rooms and develops a serious disease. More sighting of rats at a nearby swimming center, and at Susan's apartment, suggest a plague of the rodents is brewing, and they appear to be overly aggressive too. Jack Carver (Vincent Spano) a suave professional rat exterminator and Susan together try to stem the plague of killer rodents, which extends to the Underground Railway, and finally ends at the swimming pool in a very suspenseful sequence, while the Health Department hope the whole thing will go away, and try to sweep it under the carpet. This is much better than the average thriller TV film thanks to some good special effects, and the general fear most folks have of Rats, especially feral ones in mass. In fact giant spiders ("The Haunting of Toby Jug" "Funnelweb"), rats, and snakes ("Lair of the White Worm" "Anaconda") all figure largely in horror literature. James Herbert wrote about London being invaded by rats in one of his first novels, (The Rats), but in this case the city is New York, and the rats have been mutated into something seriously aggressive, especially in huge numbers. Some possibly true and disturbing facts about the rodents in the city come to light in the script, which is reasonably sane for this type of movie. There are some well designed moments of horror - the janitor ends up in a very nasty situation being eaten alive. The cast have most unpleasant encounters with the little critters, making D. W. Griffith's putting Lillian Gish in a scene with a couple of rats ( in the days of the silent films ) seem like a summer picnic. She (Gish) managed to gain some publicity from the fact she allowed rats to crawl about her at the time. I'm not sure of the almost unknown cast of this feature gained as much notoriety, although perhaps they should considering the number of rats involved. However we are more skeptical today as digital effects can create the most awful situations without the actors being much impaired. Altogether the film will probably increase your phobia for Rats if you have one, and maybe start one if you haven't. Caution - don't watch the movie if you're squeamish.