Rats: Night of Terror (1986)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A truly remarkable film, some of the other killer animal movies have a setting that isn't far from our own, normal places like a cabin, the beach, a forest, a small town, a city, but this movie goes beyond that, its a Bruno Mattei movie, he wouldn't settle for anything less, this is probably the best killer rat movie and the best post apocalyptic movie too, its fun, the characters are great, very likable with their own unique personality, its every graphic movie, also I would like so say something that not many people talks about, it has to do with a scene were one of the characters gets burned, it was very revolutionary for Italy at the time, before all they would do its just to light someone on fire and that's it, but Mattei decided to improve it, he shot it on a special suit for the actor and shot the scene putting the fire on and off and edited it so it would look like one sequence, for the time in Italy that was great, overall the movie its great fun, go and watch it.

This like many Italian post nuclear films of the 1980's is much the same. The characters were bland, but a lot more sympathetic than those in the Final Executioner. They were supposed to be a warrior group, but acted more like wusses - my four pet kitties would take on the rats with more bravery. One, of the character's performance was so hammy, I thought "Are you totally serious?"Diana "I Want To Die!, as if she was giving an overly theatrical performance, rather than acting with a bit of commonsense. Lady, seriously, come on! The male characters really weren't much braver in terms of their fighting ability. Having said that, I liked Kurt, Taurus and Chocolate

A significant horror genre is Euro-horror. These movies from Spain, France, Italy, Germany and occasionally others are rarely scary, but nevertheless show some REALLY nasty things. Directors in this genre include Antonio Margheriti (to whom Quentin Tarantino briefly paid homage in "Inglourious Basterds"), Dario Argento, Jean Rollin, Jess Franco, and Bruno Mattei.The first Bruno Mattei movie that I've ever seen is "Rats: Notte di terrore" ("Rats: Night of Terror" in English). Set in the years after a nuclear holocaust, it depicts a motorcycle gang riding into an abandoned city, which turns out to be populated by hungry vermin. Woe betide you if you venture into THIS city! "Rats" is a truly cornball movie. But, it was probably intended as such. I have no doubt that its target audience was horny teenagers. The movie delivers exactly what it promises and makes no pretense about what it is. It's gross, but it's still pretty fun. Probably worth seeing just to understand what it is.

The first half of Bruno Mattei's RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR has a certain energetic wackiness and some genuinely bizarre moments which help to keep the movie entertaining despite the fact that it's completely awful. Unfortunately, that energy burns out after about forty minutes, and the remaining hour or so drags like an extermination infomercial.In the distant future, a band of punk Mad Max-like bikers seek refuge in a boarded up building in a deserted urban area. They notice a lot of rats creeping around, but don't seem too concerned about them. After finding some non-perishable rations and some comfy beds to rest in, the group decides to hold up for a while and catch their breath before moving on. Unfortunately for them the rats have other ideas and pick off the gang members one by one.There is a surprising amount of restraint gore-wise in the depiction of the rats' victims. Other than a few chewed-beyond-recognition corpses, the blood and guts are pretty much kept to a minimum. There is a bit of nudity provided by two apparently uninhibited cast members who seem all too happy to show off every inch of their male and female anatomy, but otherwise it's all very tame for a Italian exploitation movie. With just a little more editing, it probably could have been released with a PG rating (along with YOR - THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE and STARCRASH).Overall, the first half or so will hold bad movie buffs' attention. The second half is pretty much endless scenes of the group wandering around the building, turning on each other or being attacked by the rats (sometimes real rats, sometimes guinea pigs made up to look like rats and sometimes plastic rats being dragged along the floor on a sheet). The "Twilight Zone"-ish ending will leave those who bother to sit through the whole thing underwhelmed.If nothing else, it gives Spaghetti Splatter fans a rare glimpse of Ottaviano Dell'Acqua without his iconic ZOMBIE make-up.