Rat Scratch Fever (2011)

Great Film overall

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Planet X on an gross elliptical orbit comes by Earth. A private company owned by Dr. Christopher Steele (Randal Malone) sends a spaceship to explore the planet, which we discover is inhabited by rats. The rats manage to kill off all the humans except Sonja (Tasha Tacosa). A small one appears to climb inside her vee only to eat its way out of her tummy, clearly an Alien spoof that didn't work well. She manages to return to earth with rats that battle the humans.First off, this was designed to be a camp "so bad it is good" film. As far as the special effects, if achieves the goal. However the dialogue and plot lack engagement and cleverness needed to go along with the bad props. If you are going to create a guy to spoof Dr. Strangelove, don't go half way. Weak characters.Guide: f-word. No sex or nudity.

RAT SCRATCH FEVER is another indie science fiction film done on a very low budget which simply isn't enough to bring the required special effects to life. It's about a plague of super-rats invading the Earth and only a lone space woman having the power to save mankind. This lamentable B-flick feels like an average episode of RED DWARF only cheaper. It's chock full of bad CGI effects and quickly descends into headache-inducing inanity.

An army of giant carnivorous rats with glowing red eyes are accidentally brought back to Earth on a shuttle from an ill-fated space mission. The enormous rodents invade Los Angeles. Rugged ex-Marine Jake Walsh (an earnest and engaging portrayal from Ford Austin) must prevent his infected astronaut girlfriend Sonja Trenton (a solid performance by Tasha Tacosa) from helping the vile vermin in taking over our planet.Writer/director Jeff Leroy keeps the enjoyably loopy story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, delivers oodles of outrageous over-the-top blood-spurting splatter, makes neat use of both cool CGI and nifty old school practical effects such as miniatures, and concludes the film on a pleasingly dark'n'downbeat note. Moreover, it's acted with gusto by an enthusiastic cast, with especially lively contributions from Randal Malone as the sinister Dr. Christopher Steele, Phoebe Dollar as the hard-as-nails Jennifer, and John C. Mayer as unflappable newscaster Brock Coldfield. Leroy's sharp cinematography provides an impressive polished look. Andrew Crandall's groovy-grinding score does the right-on rocking trick. A total blast.

Jeff Leroy continues with his non-stop carnage and annihilation of EVERYTHING in sight. It doesn't matter what it is.....human, rat, tank, TV, brick wall. Everything is blown to smithereens. If you've seen his other flicks like CREEPIES and WEREWOLF IN A WOMENS PRISON, you know he's obsessed with models and miniatures.These movies are not to be taken seriously, so disregard anybody commenting about the "bad" effects. They're meant to look like that. This is a parody of giant monster movies. Ford Austin steals the show as the Bruce Campbell hero type. I love the fact that there's no slowdown in this film. Not much time for gab. There's something happening every two minutes. Somebody get this director a bigger budget. Definitely a party movie. Invite a dozen friends over, order some pizzas, and enjoy.