Director: John Lafia
Writer: Frank Deasy (Screenplay)
Starring: Madchen Amick, Vincent Spano, Shawn Michael Howard, Daveigh Chase, David Fonteno, Sheila McCarthy, Elisa Moolecherry, Joe Pingue, Kathryn Winslow
Plot: A clan of evil rats overtakes a Manhattan department store and threatens to overrun the city.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Just Your Normal Late Night Movie
Story: The Rats starts by taking us to New York city where we follow a young lady in a shopping mall as we also see a rat running through the underground. We meet Susan Costello (Amick) as head of security in the mall who has to deal with girl who gets bitten by the rat but believes it was just a tac. Hours later the girl ends up in hospital which leads to Jack (Spano) to investigate any potential rat infestation.
Jack brings in his assistant Ty (Howard) who seems to do all the dirty work as the three start to learn the disturbing truth about the rats inside the mall. The team discovers the rats are spreading around the city faster than anyone could imagine leading our heroes to have to find a way to experiment them before any large number lives are lost.
The Rats is a film that let’s face it isn’t going to go down as a classic, it was made to be a typical B movie. We get an increase in the problem being face by the people of New York which works for the story but in the end really doesn’t make you go too mad because we don’t see a real body count. If these rats took a few lives we would have a horror film but in the end it feels like just the beginning of a creature feature and not the end. This will be a late night movie level story but nothing more. (4/10)
Actor Review
Madchen Amick: Susan Costello is the head of operation and security at the shopping mall that has been one of the targets by the rats. She has to team up with exterminator Jack to stop anything happening inside the mall. Madchen does a standard job in the leading role but we don’t have any stand out performance here at all. (5/10)
Vincent Spano: Jack Carver is the exterminator who has to deal with the rat problem, he knows what needs to be done but isn’t getting the agreement from the owner of the mall. Vincent doesn’t give the best performance but standard low budget one. (4/10)
Shawn Michael Howard: Ty is the assistant to Jack who helps do the dirty jobs when it comes to dealing with the rat problems. Shawn is solid in supporting role but like the rest nothing special. (5/10)
Support Cast: The Rats has plenty of supporting characters who are all the less important characters holding up the investigation.
Director Review: John Lafia – John does what you need for a low budget horror but gives nothing new to the genre. (4/10)
Horror: The Rats doesn’t really reach any levels of horror or any you would expect to see fro a film like this. (3/10)
Settings: The Rats uses the New York setting which is a huge plus for the film because there is a rat problem there. (10/10)
Special Effects: The Rats has terrible CGI effects for the rats especially with the final scene with fountains of rats. (1/10)
Suggestion: The Rats is one to only watch late night never go out your way to see this one. (Late Night TV)
Best Part: The Idea is a real thing that could happen.
Worst Part: Laughable executed.
Funniest Scene: Fountains of rats.
Believability: The rat problem is real but how far it ends up going seems too much. (2/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: It gets left open for one.
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
Tagline: The City’s Rat Race Just Got Deadly.
Overall: Terrible, boring and ratastrophe
Rating 
