Director(s) – Bruno Mattei (Zombi 3, Hell of the Living Dead) and Claudio Fragasso (Troll 2, After Death)
Starring – Ottaviano Dell’Acqua (Gangs of New York, Escape from the Bronx), Geretta Geretta (Warriors of the Lost World, Demons), and Massimo Vanni (Warriors of the Wasteland, The House by the Edge of the Lake)
Release Date – 1984
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline – “Mutants of a nuclear disaster”
When it comes to horror everyone has that one sub-genre that has films that gets under your skin. For some the concept of rape can be severely unnerving for the viewer while others have a hard time sitting through films that involve clowns.
When I was in middle school I thought it would be cool to camp out in the yard with the new tent and sleeping bag my dad got me. I couldn’t get the tent put together properly so me and a friend just slept on the ground in our sleeping bags. Sometime during the night a river rat crawled into my sleeping bag. It didn’t hurt me but scared the shit out of me. As I got older I started to hate rodents with a passion. They do not scare me but I want to kill them all. Kill them until they die! Anyway, some people (my wife included) have a crippling fear of rodents. This is sparked several films to use these filthy creatures to pull on those strings.
In 1984 Italian director Bruno Mattei made the post-apocalyptic horror flick titled Rats: Notte di terrore or Rats: Night of Terror. I had never seen the film until Blue Underground was nice enough to send me a review copy. Thanks guys!
**Spoiler Alert**The film takes place centuries after a bomb went off and devastated the world. The humans that survived sought refuge underground but after decades of living like rats they came back to the surface leaving the civilized underground. We then meet a group of nomads as they travel from ghost town to ghost town scavenging what they can. They stop by a bar and discover a large group of rats along with several crates full of food and cooking ingredients. The push the rats away and feast.
They quickly discover several bodies stripped of their flesh and brush it off as a turf war over the food. They find military style cots and head to bed for the night but two lovers are slaughtered soon after by the flesh eating rodents. The remaining members of the group believe that the young man killed his fuck buddy during the night but soon discover that these rats are not your typical cheese eaters but a flesh eating mutation caused by the bomb.**Spoiler Alert**
I love the late 70s and 80s post-apocalyptic movement. These films are cheesy but are wildly fun while giving us an over exaggerated look at the future. These usually crossed paths with the gang exploitation films from the same time period. It was not uncommon for the two to collide. Anyway, this time saw a huge influx of post-apocalyptic biker flicks from the U.S., as well as, Italy, but very few cross over to the horror genre. This film is able to keep that post-apocalyptic vibe going while giving us a great horror flick.
The acting in this one not consistent which is a problem that I had with another Mattei film, Hell of the Living Dead. The cast has a hard time determining if the film is meant to be cheesy and over the top or serious. Some cast members try to give a performance of a life time whiles others are dramatic and unrealistic. If the acting was consistent with the mood of the film it would have helped this film out tremendously. The story for this one is fun, and to be honest, I fucking loved it. I love post-apocalyptic films and when you mix it with bikers and murdering rodents you have a recipe for a damn good Italian flick. I also loved the ending and did not seeing it coming at all. It had great build up and an amazing twist. Bravo to Bruno for pulling that off.
Finally, the film has some great practical effects and kills. Most of the kills take place off camera which is understandable due to the complexity of filming with rats. However, the special effects are great and really makes the film work. Overall, Rats is a superb Italian horror flick that has camp, sex, bloody rodents, and an amazing twist ending. Check this 80s classic out now!
