User reviews

A bunch of scary glowing rats go out for some food and terrorise a nearby mental institution. Apparently, they're so bloodthirsty because they all want to suck up to their master, a gigantic superrat who makes them perform Satanic rituals and chant Barry Manilow songs. There isn't much to say about this movie, you've seen it all before. It's mostly boredom, but there are in fact two scary moments, namely the bathtub scene where suddenly a giant CGI rat comes out of a CGI nowhere and some other rat licking up blood, which is goddamn creepy. Don't do that, rat. Generally this thing just isn't entertaining. If you want a good killer rat movie, well I can be of no assistance.

Rats starts out promisingly enough, with a suicidal woman being admitted to a secure institution for psychological treatment, only to discover that the staff are hiding the fact that patients are mysteriously going missing; given the title of the film, it comes as no surprise to find that killer rats are to blame for the bizarre disappearances. What does comes as a bit of a surprise, however, are quite how awful the special effects are in this film, and how much they ruin the whole experience.

Director Tibor Takacs' is best known for his 1987 teen-friendly horror The Gate, which delivered plenty of fun chills and thrills and some pretty good effects, proving that the man knew how to construct a decent film. On Rats, however, I suspect that he caught a glimpse of his digital effects mid-shoot, and, on seeing how excruciatingly poor they were, just gave up trying (either that, or The Gate was a fluke).

The barely-above-video-game quality CGI rats are so unconvincingly combined with Takacs' live footage, that I actually felt embarrassed for all those involved with the film (especially Ron Perlman)—a shame, because, had the effects been much better, this could have been quite an enjoyable piece of schlock horror: the cast don't do too badly with the hokey material, the cinematography is good, and there is a bit of welcome gore in the form of some gnawed carcasses and severed heads.

Since Rats, Tibor Takacs' has directed several other creature features (Ice Spiders, Mega Snake, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep) all of which I have yet to check out; for his sake (and mine) I hope that the monsters in those movies are a tad more believable than his dreadfully shonky rodents.

3.5 out of 10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

Another new-age creature feature flick with awful...better make that...REALLY awful computer-engineered effects, lousy acting performances and an ultra-thin storyline. Hungry and overly aggressive rats are once again revolting against the bastard doctor who performed scientific experiments on them and all this is taking place at Brookdale; institute for juvenile delinquents, drug addicts and suicidal teenagers. The funky red-eyed rodents are commanded by a ridiculously fake mega-rat and, for some reason, the institute's nerdy janitor can communicate with them. There aren't many aspects in the script that make much sense, like we're supposed to believe that two teenagers are capable to go undercover in the US' most heavily secured rehab facility. The film is also remarkably boring despite endless cargoes of silly-looking rats and irritating teenagers getting eaten. Of all the crappy, exaggeratedly computerized angry-animals movies that came out since the new millennium (and the list is really endless) "Rats" surely is one of THE crappiest. Director Tibor Takács scored a few hits in the late 1980's, like "The Gate" and a personal favorite of mine called "I, Madman" but he should consider a slight career change now. This was just irredeemably bad.

The tale concerns about the Brookdale asylum is a strange hospital for the insane, mad and criminals. Jennifer(Sara Dowling) an intrepid reporter for Philadelpia Enquirer newspaper and guised as a patient investigates about possible health rules infraction. But Brookdale hospital is infested with astonishing and super-intelligent killer rats created long time ago by Doctor Winslow(Ron Perlman). Nowadays an ex-patient(Michael Zilkene) is developing a symbiotic friendship with the large bugs. The inmates are attacked by the amazing rodents who are mobilizing to do battle with the human intruders. This is a terror-thriller quite exciting where large creatures roam for facing off the patients fears and developing a bloodthirsty and eerie hunger.

The rats, themselves, of course , are the real stars , as deliver the goods with genuine chills, terror and tension. The film provides lots of screams, blood and gore and with creepy atmosphere which becomes pretty sinister when the rats appear. This movie with thin characters and contrived plot, packs grisly murders and the filmmaker retains a fascination with the decapitated members. The rats are mostly made by computer generator FX, as usual, they're frightening astounding and quite convincing . The motion picture is regularly directed by Tibor Takacs. Born Budapest, Takacs has directed TV movies(Sabrina, the teenage witch,Outer limits, Earth, final conflict), Mark Dacascos vehicles(Deathline,Sanctuary,Sabotage) and giant monsters and bugs movies(Rats,MegaSnake, Ice spider, Mansquito,). Another films about the Rats sub-genre are the following: Food of gods(76, Bert I Gordon); Food of the godsII(1988, Damian Lee),Willard(1973, Daniel Mann with Bruce Davison), Willard(2003, Glen Morgan with Crispin Glover), The Rats (2002, John Lafia with Vincent Spano), among others.

At a mental health institution, the rats from a forgotten experiment (how anyone can forget an experiment I'll never understand, talk about a swiss cheese memory) have begun to mutate (of course) and eat the patients (guess the kitchen was out of head cheese) just as an undercover reporter checks in to do an inside story on the clinic (timing is everything, the proverbial hickory clock must not have struck one yet and the mouse is still running up it).

Okay, I have to be honest, this movie was lame. The special effects were horrible. The mother rat looked like some cheesy Halloween house decoration you'd leave out on your porch to wipe your feet on. The rat spawns had such fake glowing red eyes you'd think they'd be blind (but then again they all had their tails and there were way more than three of them). There was even a "Willard" type character who had a telepathic bond with the rodents (all he must have heard was "Brains! Brains! Must have fresh brains!" because the rats decapitated their victims). Although if you're actually into B- horror flicks you may love this movie and think it's the Mouse King of the genre.

Ron Perlman plays the head of the institution and the head of the forgotten experiment. It's a bad movie but he at least is, as always, good. Want to know more? Remember the remarks I made earlier about head cheese and decapitations?

Definitely a rental and definitely have a drink.

What do you expect? Sure, it's not "The Shining" for God's sake, but hey, it's decent entertainment, if you like cheap B-horror movies. If not, don't watch it, you sure won't like it. The acting is not all that bad, but the effects, like the huge rat, is really very comical. You have to realize that not a lot of money went in to making this one, and at times (most of the time) it shows. The plot of sneaking a reporter into a rehab hospital or whatever, to get a story is a little much, but the rats, hey they had a nice snack a couple of times in this one.

The tear jerking drama brought so much water to my eyes.

Mystery was so sharp, I could shave my beard with it.

Action was so intense. I had to watch this movie while being strapped by my arms, chest and feet to the seat.

Horror was so scary that I had to watch this with ten rolls of toilet paper.

The special effects were so believable that I couldn't tell if I was right there.

Music soundtrack brought so much emotion...once the film started, I was immediately hooked.

If any movie ever deserves an Oscar statue...Killer Rats would be it...for the title alone.

______

It was entertaining...anything more, you would have to be stupid...anything less you are expecting a movie script which I wrote.

Despite some horrible CGI and a even worse looking giant rat puppet displayed mid film, this thing actually manages to come off quite enjoyable. It comes off like the earlier style Sci Fi original movies and I'm pretty sure the channel played this one several times back in the day. Plus they actually managed to get Ron Perlman to play in this thing.

Let's start out with the cons of the movie,, the computer generated big rat,,, well it's so obvious that it's fake,, i mean it hops like a bunny rabbit,, i have a problem with the doors where the patients seem to go,, HM shouldn't those doors be locked.. other than those two points , i really don't have any problems with this movie. The acting wasn't that bad, the movie wasn't given a big budget; so it's going to show up somewhere. I think that the premise wasn't too bad either, at first i thought it was going to be like Clockwork Orange, then came the RAts so i'm thinking,, okay,, attack of the killer shrews,, the characters in this movie are pretty good, i liked the head of the hospital, Ron Pearlman's character, the female reporter was a hottie, the head nurse was funny,, this is a good movie if you're looking to have a few laughs,, not scared of rats, not expecting too much, and just want to enjoy yourself,, this is not a thinking man's movie, and if you go in to the movie with that frame of mind , trust me you will not be disappointed.

This is so far one the better movies I've ever seen in my whole life. The leading role is gorgeous and the script is really awesome. I even think you have to watch the movie like 2 times before you understand it. And the special effects! Just one word: INCREDIBLE! I don't understand the people who don't like this movie, maybe it's because they don't understand the movie. Too bad that there isn't a sequel.This movie should have been nominated for an Oscar. And the ending was very unpredictable. I've seen this movie with my girlfriend and also she liked it a lot! In fact, it was this movie who brought us together! I will certainly buy this one on DVD.

Well, a film with this title should make you think twice before you consider watching it. And this one certainly lives up to that prediction.

The acting is acceptable, the plot is absolutely awful and the special effects (the creatures) are .... well, funny is the word that jumps into my head right now, they are terribly fake, but then what did you expect from a low-budget monstermovie. Honestly, i should admit that this movie is so bad that you might actually like it if you're a fan of monstermovies.

Not to say that is very much. Just that hearing about it I was expecting irredeemable horse-poop, but was surprised that it was at least watchable. The acting was better than average especially from Ron Perlman, who is good value, the music is appropriately eerie and the bathtub scene is very creepy. However, the rats do incredibly fake especially the giant rat and the "scary" eyes and they aren't all that menacing. The script reeks of cheese, while there are few characters that I found all that likable, the camera work and editing are very choppy and the story is predictable and dully paced. The ending is also very confusing and felt rushed as well.

Overall, not as bad as I thought it would be but mostly very lame with fake effects and a fair amount of dullness and cheese. Some decent acting, one creepy scene and eerie music aren't really enough to save it. 4/10 Bethany Cox

A reporter goes undercover in a mental hospital where locking the doors is a foreign concept, and finds the place overrun with... KILLER RATS! As well as a crazy janitor who speaks to them.

I would have preferred more real rats and models than the pathetic CGI that was on display for most of the movie, more gore would have been nice too. Ron Perlman is here, but sadly not very much.

Nothing to see here.

Well, even for a creature feature then this 2003 from director Tibor Takács, then "Rats" (aka "Killer Rats") was just a downright bad movie.

Fair should be fair, and I will say that some parts of the story, as written by Jace Anderson, Boaz Davidson, Adam Gierasch and Brian Irving actually were interesting enough. But the movie, as a whole, just didn't cut it. And the horrible CGI animated rats didn't help sell the movie one bit.

I sat down to watch "Rats" in 2020, not really sure what I was in for. Sure, I had seen the movie's cover before, but I never found the time to actually sit down to watch it. So I did now in 2020, as I was presented with the opportunity.

First of all, I will say that I was surprised to see the likes of Ron Perlman in a low budget movie of this caliber. However, I can't really claim to say that his appearance or performance in the movie were sprucing up the overall movie much. There just simply was too many bad things stacked against "Rats", which prevented it from being a movie you could take serious.

I managed to endure 50 minutes of the ordeal, then I was ready to claw my eyes out. Actually, I was was good and ready 24 minutes into it, but I decided to stick with it and give the movie a fair chance. Come 50 minutes, I just couldn't take any more of the abominable things that transpired on the screen. And those lousy CGI rats were just the final pinch that made me give up.

"Rats" is a movie that I can't recommend that you spend your time, money or effort on, as it is just simply not worth it. I am rating "Rats" a mere, but generous, two out of ten stars. And I can honestly say that I have no intention of returning to watch the rest of the movie.

I wasn't expecting much from a b-movie about killer rats when I first rented this years ago out of boredom. In fact, I only did so because Ron Perlman was in the credits, so I hoped he'd be the main character. Needless to say, I was disappointed by how cheesy (no pun intended) and boring I found this movie, even for a cheap killer animal movie.

Tabloid reporter Samantha (Sara Dowling) goes undercover and admits herself as a patient in Brookdale, a mental institution for drug addicted rich kids and washed-up actors. Her goal is to investigate rumors of experiments conducted by Dr. Winslow (Ron Perlman), but little does she know is that Winslow's research involved experimentation on rats, resulting in them becoming vicious, mutant killers with a taste for human flesh, including a dog sized one. And the insane caretaker, Ernst (Michael Zelniker), apparently shares some kind of psychic link with the rodents and is secretly in league with them by feeding them human victims and cleaning up the bloody messes afterwards.

The entire cast is made up mostly of b and c-listers who can hardly act at all. Dowling is a spirited and good-looking woman, but hardly a leading lady. Ron Perlman is the only remarkable cast member, and he isn't even the main protagonist. And Ernst seems like he's based off of the title character from the movie "Willard" released the same year; only crazier.

The institution staff are either apathetic or totally incompetent. There are people disappearing left and right and they either don't notice or don't care. Nobody even hears the victims screaming from inside the facility as they're eaten alive. Worst of all, Ernst drives off with an exterminator's van and impersonates Dr. Winslow right under their noses.

The effects were horrible, even for a sci-fi original b-movie. The rats were a mixture of real ones with glowing red eyes that were only off-putting at best and CGI rats that were totally obvious and poorly textured, making them look ridiculously fake, especially the big one. This greatly mitigated the movies fear factor for me.

Overall, this was just another run-of-the-mill sci-fi original killer animal movie with nothing particularly enjoyable or worth watching twice.

My friend and I picked up Killer Rats from the bargain bin in the hopes that it would be one of my favorite kind of movies: the so-bad-that-it's-good trash fest. Unfortunately, Killer Rats entirely fails to deliver. It's bad, but not bad enough to laugh at, and ends up coming off as just boring.

Let's start with what the movie does right. The acting, sets, and special effects in Killer Rats are surprisingly good for a movie of its caliber. Don't get me wrong, they're all pretty lame, but they're a few steps up from rock bottom. This is about the best compliment I could give the movie. Ironically, this makes the movie less entertaining; the production values never quite reach the "laughably bad" level - instead they hover somewhere between "mediocre" and "lame."

Killer Rats does a whole lot of things wrong. The biggest problem is that it's just really boring. Every time it looks like a plot is about to develop, it stalls out. The first 75 minutes of the movie are dull and plodding, and the movie never really manages to go anywhere. It's pretty much just a bunch of mundane incidents in a rehab facility with a few halfway-decent death scenes thrown in for good measure. There is never any interesting/funny/witty dialogue. The final 15 minutes get a little more interesting, but the final fight is still pretty boring.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what Ron Perlman is doing in Killer Rats. I bought this movie in large part because he's in it, but the script gives him NOTHING to work with. He plays an uninteresting, buttoned-down doctor, the sort that a movie with an even lower budget might have given to a random geriatric actor. I kept expecting him to relive some old war memories or become a badass, but he never did. At one point it looks like there is some tension developing in his character, but then it goes nowhere. If you see this movie hoping to get some cheesy-yet-satisfying Ron Perlman action, you WILL be disappointed.

The Bottom Line: Killer Rats is not anywhere near good enough to stand on its own merits, and never gets truly bad enough for the so-bad-that-it's-good vibe. Boring, not worth seeing.

A Horror Rat movie set in an mental institute. Think of One flew over the cuckoo's nest crossed with Anaconda, although the acting here is far better than anything in Anaconda. The movie starts very slowly, but stay with it, it does improve, somewhat. If you like your movies with good special effects, then give this a wide birth. There isn't much to complain about, but then there are no big praises either. There is some fun gore for the Horror fans. Good to pass the time.

Terrible movie. I couldn't watch it after 5 minutes. Terrible plot, terrible acting, terrible story. Just not worth it. A huge waste of money after buying it on DVD.