Rat Man (1988)
"Quella villa in fondo al parco" (original title)

A maniac butchers a fashion model on a Caribbean island and leaves the body to be eaten by rats. The model's sister suspects something isn't quite right with the police investagation and ... See full summary »

Director:

Giuliano Carnimeo

Writers:

Dardano Sacchetti (story), Dardano Sacchetti (screenplay),

Stars:

David Warbeck, Janet Agren, Eva Grimaldi

Cast

Cast overview:
David Warbeck	...	Fred Williams
Janet Agren	...	Terry
Eva Grimaldi	...	Marlis / Marilyn
Luisa Menon	...	Peggy
Werner Pochath	...	Mark
Nelson de la Rosa	...	Mousey (as Nelson De La Rosa)
Anna Silvia Grullon	...	Monique (as Ana Silvia Gruyllon)
Pepito Guerra	...	Doctor Olman
Jose Reies
Victor Pujols
Franklin Dominguez

Storyline

A maniac butchers a fashion model on a Caribbean island and leaves the body to be eaten by rats. The model's sister suspects something isn't quite right with the police investagation and decides to go snooping on her own. With her friend, Fred, their investagations lead them to an unknown part of the island where they discover a monstrosity of a rat like man. The creature is killed by Fred, but the true horror of it's nature is just beginning...

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Plot Keywords:

rat | offscreen killing | eye poked out | skin ripping | female frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

He's The Critter From The Shitter!

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

20 April 1988 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Rat Man

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fulvia Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Pretty bad but bizarrely pleasing and hence ultimately good time trash

No one could ever accuse Ratman of being one of the highlights of Italian shock cinema and until relatively recently when it earned a DVD release it did perfectly nicely lurking in the shadows of its oddball rarity status, a film that true trash fiends could hunt down and watch and be pleased that they had knocked down another little seen slice of bizarre horror. Not that getting a DVD release makes it mainstream but it does trim a little of its mystique. Fortunately this is a certifiable bad film, so it will still amply deter all but the more dedicated viewers. The barking mad plotting has a kooky scientist creating an unholy half rat, half monkey hybrid (yes, no true Ratman in sight in this one) with vicious temper, sharp teeth and claws and deadly venom. All this because he wants to earn a Nobel Prize. Er, come again? Naturally the evil little beast escapes and starts killing the inhabitants of its island. At the same time a model heads into the jungle on a photo shoot and her sister, misinformed that she is dead, comes to the island and then heads after her, aided by a young writer. Now the writing, from genre veteran Elisa Briganti and a story from the great Dardano Sachetti isn't great, and neither is the direction, so its very fortunate that the cast is perfectly suited to the film. We have David Warbeck (The Beyond, The Black Cat and others) as the writer, smooth and charming, his regular cool self essentially and hottie Eva Grimaldi is perfectly watchable as the model, who also gets a gratuitous but wholly welcome shower scene. Janet Agren is perhaps even more attractive and just as pleasant as her concerned sister, whilst Werner Pocath (Devil Hunter and others) does OK as a photographer. The best thing about the film though is Nelson De Rossa as the ratman. De Rossa was one of the smallest men in the world at the time and an occasional actor and he throws himself with a mad and frequently unnerving gusto into what is essentially a pretty degrading role. He leaps, creeps and scampers around, appearing in all sorts of unlikely places to spring into action and whenever the film threatens to slow down too much he pops up and makes everything well. The direction from Giuliano Carmineo is a little inert, he doesn't make the most of the locations which are reasonably creepy, or the potential for suspense, but he does serve some good shock scenes and a few sections of drawn out and mean unease. Another issue is the lack of serious gore, there are scratches, some cheap biting effects and a cheaper (and mild) gut-munch scene so things aren't completely grisliness free, but more grue would have helped out. There is quite a good body-count though and all the deaths have at least some shock value which is pretty handy. All in all this is an effectively endearing bad film, it may not always go right but it doesn't ever go too far wrong and its splashed throughout with memorable moments. Serious viewers will likely balk at it but undemanding trash fiends like myself will quite likely draw some good fun times from the experience.