Masterpiece of Yugoslavian Cinema! What an atmosphere of fear and paranoia in society where you cannot tell who is human and who is rat-man permanently substituting a human being.Conspiracy of power thirsty rats leads to all parts of society so people can't really trust no one. Dark setting of the city makes this film dystopia. Leading actor Ivica Vidović did a great job as Ivan Gajski - a starving writer (Vidović often plays misunderstood artists) who looks for a place to sleep in abandoned building of the central bank and then he learns about rats plans and begins to act against them. "Izbavitelj" (eng. "Redeemer") is obviously influenced by "Invasion of Body Snatchers", but to me it looks more like "They Live". It's just that "They Live" is a critique of consumerism and "Izbavitelj" is critique of totalitarianism.
6 Reviews
Rats rule
Bezenby5 September 2018
A very nifty, Dali-esque credit sequence ushers us in to a film full of atmosphere and dread, but just fall short of the mark of being a great film. Still, I'm glad I stumbled upon it.
In a Croatian town young writer Ivan is struggling to make ends meet, and no one cares, because everyone else is struggling to make ends meet too. The country is going through a very bad economical downturn and Ivan has been forced to try and sell his books on the streets, and it is in this flea market that he meets mysterious girl Sonja. Sonja shows him kindness by giving him her scarf, but during a protest on the street the two become separated and Ivan go to the park to sleep on a bench, having been evicted earlier that day...
Ivan must have one of those faces, because even though the patrolman in the park tells him he can't sleep on a bench, he does show him a huge empty bank that he can use for a few nights, as long as he keeps his mouth shut about it. Ivan agrees, and accessing the bank via a sewer grate, he finds an empty office to bed down in. He's too hungry to wonder why someone has stashed a huge amount of food in one of the cupboards, and is also delighted to find that the phone still works, which means he can try and track down Sonja.
It's about this point I started wondering if anything was going to happen and it was about this point that the director flew from Croatia to my house, kicked down my front door, rushed into the living room and hoofed me in the nuts, shouting "YES, something is going to happen." And he was right! Hearing music, Ivan creeps through the bank to find what looks like a huge dinner party/orgy going on in the main entrance, only some of these people look a bit...odd. About two minutes later, everyone is called to stand before a shadowy figure who we soon find out intends to take over the world...someone who thrives in poverty and disease. Der Rattengott!
It's a kind of They Live situation involving rats, with Ivan finding himself joining up with a very small group of people going up against an increasingly large amount of rat humans who love getting jobs within the civil service. Paranoia also sets in as it turns out they can imitate people Ivan knows. Can he find a way out or is he rat nuggets? My kids have two rats, I wonder what they would have made of this one if they weren't more intent in climbing up my trousers and punching me in the scrotum for a laugh.
It looks like there wasn't much of budget for this one but it's good to watch the increasingly paranoid Ivan trying to get around town without losing his marbles. The rat/human effects are that great though, but the film's atmosphere is dark and broody. The only problem is that there's maybe too much brooding and not enough munching, as following the initial discovery of the rat people, things don't get manic enough. Still, it's short and well worth sitting down for.
In a Croatian town young writer Ivan is struggling to make ends meet, and no one cares, because everyone else is struggling to make ends meet too. The country is going through a very bad economical downturn and Ivan has been forced to try and sell his books on the streets, and it is in this flea market that he meets mysterious girl Sonja. Sonja shows him kindness by giving him her scarf, but during a protest on the street the two become separated and Ivan go to the park to sleep on a bench, having been evicted earlier that day...
Ivan must have one of those faces, because even though the patrolman in the park tells him he can't sleep on a bench, he does show him a huge empty bank that he can use for a few nights, as long as he keeps his mouth shut about it. Ivan agrees, and accessing the bank via a sewer grate, he finds an empty office to bed down in. He's too hungry to wonder why someone has stashed a huge amount of food in one of the cupboards, and is also delighted to find that the phone still works, which means he can try and track down Sonja.
It's about this point I started wondering if anything was going to happen and it was about this point that the director flew from Croatia to my house, kicked down my front door, rushed into the living room and hoofed me in the nuts, shouting "YES, something is going to happen." And he was right! Hearing music, Ivan creeps through the bank to find what looks like a huge dinner party/orgy going on in the main entrance, only some of these people look a bit...odd. About two minutes later, everyone is called to stand before a shadowy figure who we soon find out intends to take over the world...someone who thrives in poverty and disease. Der Rattengott!
It's a kind of They Live situation involving rats, with Ivan finding himself joining up with a very small group of people going up against an increasingly large amount of rat humans who love getting jobs within the civil service. Paranoia also sets in as it turns out they can imitate people Ivan knows. Can he find a way out or is he rat nuggets? My kids have two rats, I wonder what they would have made of this one if they weren't more intent in climbing up my trousers and punching me in the scrotum for a laugh.
It looks like there wasn't much of budget for this one but it's good to watch the increasingly paranoid Ivan trying to get around town without losing his marbles. The rat/human effects are that great though, but the film's atmosphere is dark and broody. The only problem is that there's maybe too much brooding and not enough munching, as following the initial discovery of the rat people, things don't get manic enough. Still, it's short and well worth sitting down for.
very unusual film that is well worth watching
christopher-underwood29 September 2013
As far as I am aware this is a 1976 Yugoslav film, Izavitely, translated on my copy as The Rat Saviour, a certain other film site would also seem to bare this out. In any event, this is a very hard to find and very unusual film that is well worth watching. Bit of a Kafkaesque tale involving a plague of rats. But there is more to this than that and although there are allusions to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this is a unique film and if I say that there is some overlap with some of the humans and some of the rats and that I watched this with German dialogue, to great effect, you will probably get my drift. Stunning opening credits usher in a dark and moody film that doesn't once let up. Lead actor reminds a little of a young Polanski but all the cast perform well and the shadowy cinematography is excellent. The cover illustration shown is rather misleading, although the scene briefly appears. My own copy has enlarged the inset detail top right, which is still rather fanciful. Still, never mind, the film is certainly just that little bit different.
Rat Savior
BandSAboutMovies2 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Krsto Papic, who wrote the script with Ivo Bresan and Alexander Grin (who wrote Morgiana), The Rat Savior is the tale of writer Ivan Gajski (Ivica Vidovic). He's been evicted from his apartment for failing to pay the rent, as he has no money as no publisher will buy his novel about a plague. He goes to sell his books in the streets and is eventually sent to a collapsed bank to spend the night. Inside, he discovers a rat-like opulence who feasts on cheese and plot to kill the professor father of his new love interest, Sonja (Mirjana Maurec).
The professor is the only other human who knows of these rats and believes that a rat savior exists, a rat who can look human and the one who will lead them to power over the humans. Ivan tries to do the right thing and goes to the mayor and learns that he's done exactly the worst possible thing, because he's the titular savior and even worse, a rat is now passing as Sonja and Ivan kills it. Or her, we're really not sure.
There is a concoction that when splashed on the rat humans reveals them like sunglasses being worn by Roddy Piper. And that seems to put the rat people down for some time, but then again, an even worse dictator is in the wings, one that will lead Germany all over Europe soon enough and have way worse plans for humanity than these rat folk and their divine leader.
And if you get bitten by one of these rats, like vampires, you become one of them. But then again, they seem like the only ones who are happy and actually have something to eat.
Not my favorite human rat movie - Bruno Mattei's Rats: The Night of Terror forever - but this is pretty wild.
The professor is the only other human who knows of these rats and believes that a rat savior exists, a rat who can look human and the one who will lead them to power over the humans. Ivan tries to do the right thing and goes to the mayor and learns that he's done exactly the worst possible thing, because he's the titular savior and even worse, a rat is now passing as Sonja and Ivan kills it. Or her, we're really not sure.
There is a concoction that when splashed on the rat humans reveals them like sunglasses being worn by Roddy Piper. And that seems to put the rat people down for some time, but then again, an even worse dictator is in the wings, one that will lead Germany all over Europe soon enough and have way worse plans for humanity than these rat folk and their divine leader.
And if you get bitten by one of these rats, like vampires, you become one of them. But then again, they seem like the only ones who are happy and actually have something to eat.
Not my favorite human rat movie - Bruno Mattei's Rats: The Night of Terror forever - but this is pretty wild.
Obscure and minor but still fun Slavic horror
Bloodwank30 January 2012
A strange film this, this Invasion of the Bodysnatchers aping affair from Soviet era Yugoslavia. Quite pointed in its criticisms, its notion of poverty and decay giving rise to seductive, destructive, downright monstrous collectivism. And a new movement not just monstrous but ah!, shock horror! decadent also. Seems to have survived intact though, I guess the censor must have been sleeping on the job or else just passed it through as a moonshine delusion (being as how its fairly weird and all). So for a plot, a homeless writer takes refuge in an abandoned hotel and spies a party of rat people, if this weren't unnerving enough they plan to kill the father of the winsome lass on whom his sights are set. So they come together, trying to come up with a rat person poison whilst eluding infection themselves. To be honest stripped from context this is actually pretty mundane stuff, but well arranged, it wraps about the attention like some piece of anthology science fiction, with the same sort of pattern of minor jolts building to stronger, risings and fallings to an ending of suitable ambiguity. There's suspicion in the outset that all may be delusion, and so a two pronged potential, evil as delusion superimposed on order, or perhaps order itself as a manner of madness. This leads to little though, the film generally evades attempts to not be taken as literal narrative (even if it is allegory). Still, as a time filling science fiction curio this hits enough of the right beats. Ivica Vidovic is a solid enough hero, run down and freaked out but well capable of handling himself in crisis, and he has able support from Fabijab Sovagovic as a helpful elderly scientist and Mirjana Majurec bears pleasing wisps of light and charm as his lovely daughter. There's some restrained but creepy effects work though little actual violence to speak of and the full fledged creature design towards the end is a little silly and too blatantly shown. Real live rats provide some discreet but effective chills too and work well with the cluttered, grimy setting. Creepy crawling score does well for the atmosphere too. Not really enough here for a hearty endorsement, but for those that like to scurry in the dark, scamper in the obscure this is certainly watchable enough. Solid 5/10.
Gnawing away the day.
bombersflyup18 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The Rat Savior has an intriguing premise, but hardly anything comes of it.
A similar plot to the film "The Witches (1990)," which targets a younger audience but memorable, which this isn't. There's barely any characterization here and the ending's quite vague.
A similar plot to the film "The Witches (1990)," which targets a younger audience but memorable, which this isn't. There's barely any characterization here and the ending's quite vague.
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