‘Rats: Night of Terror’ or — Eeksploitation?

Let’s get the problematic stuff out the way first.

I was worried about watching ‘Rats: Night of Terror’ (1984) last night as soon as the opening credits rolled. Firstly, I didn’t want it to be shit and, secondly, I was really worried what they were going to be doing to all these poor rodents. This is a low-budget, Italian exploitation movie from the 1980’s after all so ANYTHING could happen to these little buggers and I just didn’t want this to be nothing but Italians kicking the shit out of some rats for 90 minutes. The good news is that the filmmakers do show some restraint with most of the rat action mostly consisting of shots of bored rats cleaning themselves intercut with humans screaming and freaking in sheer terror at nothing. The bad news is there’s still a number of shots of rats being hurled about, thrown about, kicked about, knocked off bars with glasses and reluctantly partaking in stunts involving flame-throwers that really shouldn’t have been approved so even though there’s no on-screen rat carnage or deaths as such there’s certainly a feeling of disposability towards them which is just as bad. Considering what these rats were being put through at times its obvious there must’ve been some casualties so this film, rightly, won’t sit well with many people. It’s a pity because it only really comes down to two or three moments which could have easily been shot with models or puppets and, besides, it’s when ‘Rats’ is at its most unrealistic that it’s also at its most fun. I mention all the above because it’s what stops me from enthusiastically recommending this film to everyone. Which is a shame because ‘Rats’ is an insanely enjoyable movie that’s left me desperate to evangelically recommend it to everyone.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future it seems humanity has divided into two groups — those who live in comfort below ground and those who remain on the surface, destined to scratch out a living amongst the ruins. A group of above-ground bikers stumble across a town which is unnervingly deserted but packed with much needed supplies, food and water. One of the buildings also seems to be the site of certain scientific experiments with a laboratory containing a water purifier and even a greenhouse where fresh vegetables are growing. Sure, the place is strewn with half-eaten corpses but the gang decide to set-up camp and enjoy themselves nonetheless.

Yet there is a flesh-eating terror gnawing just under the surface and it’s not long before our gang is fending off hordes of killer rats, killer rats that seem to have mutated to the point that they’ve acquired not just the taste for human flesh but also a high level of group intelligence. If the gang can just hold out long enough to survive, and providing they don’t kill each other first, then they might just make it through. After all, it’s not as if there’s an even bigger threat out there other than these rats… right?

What’s initially striking about ‘Rats’ is that despite its low budget it’s a surprisingly good looking film. The cinematography was by Franco Delli Colli who assisted on Visconti’s ‘The Leopard’ (1963) and he brings an impressively robust look to everything here, especially the many night scenes. The film also re-uses sets from Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ (1984) which adds some production value, even though there are still multiple sins that need darkness or clever lighting to cover and disguise. This is a cheap movie after all but it sure looks good.

But ‘Rats’ biggest asset might be Bruno Mattei’s direction which injects the movie with a delightfully unhinged energy. These exploitation films tend to live or die depending on whether they have certain basic ingredients or not, namely ‘energy’, ‘pacing’ and ‘fun-factor’ and ‘Rats’ has all these in abundance. For example — there’s an excellent moment when gang leader Kurt (essentially playing a lower IQ-ed version of Kurt Russell from ‘The Thing’ complete with flame-thrower) opens a door to a locked room and shrieks in horror “IT’S FILLED WITH RATS!!!” before frantically slamming the door closed. However, there isn’t a single rat to be seen. What we do see is a demonic red light plus a howling sound effect, neither of which make any sense in reality, but they do make perfect sense in the world of this movie. It’s stupid and silly and awesome all at the same time.

What’s also hysterically funny is a problem which stems from the basic premise of the movie. After all, these rats can’t talk and are just sitting about twitching their noses and whiskers. Because of this gang leader Kurt has to say out loud what he thinks the rats might be thinking. At one point the gang need to escape by going outside where the rats are… but maybe that’s what the rats want them to do… or is it that the rats are using reverse psychology so maybe they SHOULD go outside… and before you know it Kurt has made another stupid decision of his own making and become a victim, once again, of his own projected insanity. It’s Peter Griffin level of idiocy on display here and I’m still giggling from it.

Talking of laughing your ass off, I’d suggest watching this with the American dub playing, not something I’d usually recommend but it is funny as hell and provides what might just be the greatest off-camera death scene committed to film. The gang find a recording device where the voice of a long-dead scientist warns of the horror that has been unleashed before we hear him succumb to the unseen terror himself with a vocal performance so over the top I almost had to pause the movie until I had stopped laughing. It is B-movie genius at its finest.

I enjoyed ‘Rats’ to an extent that really gobsmacked me. It has a deranged panache about it that’s undeniable, a group of distinct and colourful characters with their performances all turned up to max and a visual flair that’s really quite impressive (all things considered). And if you want some icing on the cake why not cap it off with one of the greatest, bonkers, glorious and oddly inevitable twist endings in sci-fi cinema. It’s inspired and audacious plus simultaneously hysterical and berserk. It’s an extremely satisfying way to finish the movie and almost deserves a standing ovation. Oh, and just a warning — if you’re in any way interested in watching ‘Rats’ then don’t image search the film as it might give away the ending; that happened to me.

‘Rats’ will be problematic for some people but if you’re familiar with the Italian exploitation genre then you’ll find a huge amount to enjoy here. ‘Rats’ is a deliriously infectious little movie.