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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Vastly entertaining Italian bloodbath., 30 March 2002
8/10
Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

On a Caribbean island,fashion models fall prey to attacks by a pint-sized creature spawned in laboratory experiments.Agren teams up with journalist Warbeck to find her sister,a model,in the jungle.I enjoyed this film-of course the plot is pretty dumb,but there is plenty of gore to keep gore-hounds happy.The definitive highlight of this film is Eva Grimaldi's shower scene.The direction is solid and the Rat Man is a genuinely scary and ugly monster.It's a crying shame that this Italian piece of horror is totally forgotten by fans of Italian cult cinema.So if you liked "Bloodsucking Freaks" or "The Sinful Dwarf" give "Ratman" a look.8 out of 10.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Most Degrading Film Role Ever?, 16 February 2006
7/10
Author: EVOL666 from St. John's Abortion Clinic

I just gotta wonder how the filmmakers pitched this one to Nelson De La Rosa (at 2' 4" he is considered "world's smallest actor" and the lead in the film). I can just picture it now..."OK Nelson - we've got this REALLY great role for you. I know you've been trying to break into serious acting for a while now, so we're gonna give you the role of a life-time...are you ready for this?...you're gonna play a rat/monkey hybrid freak!!! Isn't that just perfect???". Well, however that meeting went, it obviously worked cuz De La Rosa DOES in fact play the ill-named RAT MAN (which I STILL don't understand, being that he is supposed to be portraying a rat/monkey hybrid - I guess RAT MONKEY just doesn't have the same "ring" as a film title...) and does so pretty competently for such a goofy film.

As you've probably gathered by now...the film revolves around a rat/monkey (or RAT MAN if you prefer...). The thing was created by this strange doctor for...well...for no real purpose at all. This doctor seems to be delusional as he said he was planning on winning the Nobel Prize for his "achievement" - but last I heard, they don't typically give out Nobel Prizes for the creation of murderous hybrid freak creatures, although I could be wrong. Anyway, the rat/monkey gets loose and starts killing people all over the Caribbean island that they're on - and let me tell you - this little bastard really get's around. From the beach to the jungle to a deserted village - you just can't stop the rat/monkey. When a model turns up dead, her sister is called in to ID the body - but it turns out to be the wrong girl (OOPS...). The woman stays around to look for her sister who is supposed to be doing a photo shoot in the jungle. The woman is accompanied by a writer who she just met in a cab(?)and decides to tag along with her for absolutely no reason at all (?!?!?). Their investigations eventually lead them back to the good doctor's home, and that's where the real "terror" begins...I guess...

RAT MAN is actually pretty enjoyable. The plot is completely retarded, the acting is so-so, the ending is hilarious in it's ineptitude, and there's not nearly enough gore or nudity for my taste (although there is a little bit of both). But for some reason, this one is still fun, and De La Rosa as the RAT MAN is probably one of the most perfect casting choices I've ever seen. This creepy little bastard should be in EVERY horror film. Recommended to fans of sleaze n' cheese films - most others will probably find it far too stupid to enjoy. 7/10

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Da Da Da Da Da Da Ratman!, 14 November 2005
6/10
Author: Scott_from_Modesto (danofthedead80@yahoo.com) from Bear, Delaware

There is really only one thing that differentiates Ratman from the rest of the Italian horror pack, and that is Nelson de la Rosa. This guy is small. I mean Li'l Tykes small. He might be about two feet tall and they've decked him out in claws and fangs for this film. Everything else in this film you've seen before, but Ratman himself is a creepy little terror. What's better than an actual abomination of nature playing an abomination of nature? I submit to you that there is nothing better.

David Warbeck of The Beyond latches onto this stinkbomb, as does Janet Agren from City of The Living Dead. They are okay in their parts. Actually, I've watched this thing about six times now and I still have no idea why these two hook up. David Warbeck is a journalist who shares a cab with Janet Agren and then he just stays with her. For a good story? Maybe. I don't remember. Who knows and is it really important? No. I do know why Janet Agren is there, she's looking for her model sister and has the feeling that something bad has happened to her. And she's right, her sister and some other non-characters have been killed by a tiny rat/monkey hybrid that's been created by a Dr. Moreau-like scientist. Why did the scientist create such a beast? I dunno. Details are not important with this kind of movie. If you try to understand the whole plot thing you'll just hurt yourself.

So Ratman pretty much kills everyone he comes in contact with and that's the movie's strong point. He looks so creepy (not to mention adorable!) as he claws out your torso in a mess of strawberry preserves (the gore is sort of weak but that's forgivable). To his credit, Nelson de la Rosa comes off as very feral and is perfect for this film in every way.

Did I mention Eva Grimaldi's shower scene? There's that, too. They must have realized that this movie needed full frontal to round it out. And they were right. (When are they ever wrong about nudity?) Watch as she lathers! It helps to fill a minute with something other than a silly plot or characterization or any of those other unnecessary elements.

Truthfully, most of this movie is just so-so. But I will still name it as one of my favorites just based on de la Rosa's involvement. He's just fantastic--a true freak and a great performer to boot.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty Tame Italian Horror / Midgetsploitation Flick, 12 January 2007
Author: Rapeman from New Zealand

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

2' 4¼" tall Nelson De La Rosa - aka Mahow - stars in this piece of Italian trash cinema as Ratman, a rat / monkey hybrid who is on the loose on a tropical island attacking & killing swimsuit models and anyone else who crosses his path. De La Rosa is the world's smallest actor (and a creepy little motherf ucker!) and in 1990 was certified in the Guiness Book of World Records as the smallest man on earth, (although this is untrue, there are 2 other people in the world smaller than him - Gul Mohammed from India and Lin Yu-Cheh of Taiwan) he died recently on October 22nd 2006.

The thread-bare plot involves a "mad scientist" that creates this insane little mutant – for what reason we never find out – which promptly escapes and starts randomly killing people (mainly females). While on the island looking for her missing sister, Janet Agren (Eaten Alive, City of the Living Dead) meets up with crime novelist David Warbeck (Black Cat, The Beyond), and together they start to investigate the murders. Eva Grimaldi (Convent of Sinners, Quiet Days in Clichy) is also hanging around and treats us all to a titillating shower scene, which ups the pretty much nonexistent sleaze-factor a bit.

Although written by Dardano Sacchetti & Elisa Briganti (Zombie, House By the Cemetery), this flick is pretty much dullsville: there's a bit of blood splattered around but very little gore apart from one scene where De La Rosa cannibalizes a victims stomach, a lot of ''filler'', bad dubbing, and you don't see Ratman half as much as I would've liked to – although when he does appear it definitely makes for the most entertaining parts of the film, so its not a complete waste of time. The films director, Giuliano Carnimeo has also directed Case of the Bloody Iris, numerous Spaghetti Westerns and wrote the infamous violent and sleazy Giallo, The Killer is Still Among Us. 6/10

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Gore Mongral Movie Review: Ratman, 28 August 2006
6/10
Author: ChiefGoreMongral from Knoxville Cannibal Pygmy Reservation

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ratman is one of those movies you are going to like it or hate it for me it was the first more than the last. Ratman is just that a genetically breed crossbreed between human and rat.

What you get for 90 minutes is a paper thin plot about a model and photographer who are going to go into the woods for more exotic locale pics and ending up getting more than they bargain for with the title character not wanting to smile for the camera. There is a side plot that has this model's sister coming to find out if she has been killed only to find another model matching her description has been slaughtered by old RM and also the scientist who made him trying to recapture him again.

From there it is a cat and "rat" game with the cast running from the RatMan and boy is it funny. This mug is about 2 feet tall at best and bites scratches and claws people to their deaths. The movie works best on a cheese level whenever the Rat Man is on the screen he brings a smile to my face as he leaps at people with his high pitch squeal and takes them out.

The ending in itself was interesting but I could have been better if they would have shown what was happening as Rat Man has stowed away in typical rat fashion on an airplane. The movie ends with the screaming passengers. Man I wish they would have shown him leaping on those people and doing a number on them.

In closing a guilty pleasure film if I've ever seen one, if you like midget killers and hot Italian women then you will want to check this out. Heck if you like cheesy monster action check this out also. with alittle more gore this could have been in my highly recommended rating zone but since it falls a tad short there I'm giving Rat Man: 6/10: Cult worth film and a good way to waste a Saturday Afternoon (as I did with this one).

RatMan, other than a German DVD Release by X-Rated (under the title Terror House) with no English audio or subs has no official U.S. release. The best way to get this is my magic word "special order". Remember if your going to see only one mutant Rat Man movie see....well uh....there is only one!!!

Until next time Ghouls! Mongral Out!

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Rat-crap., 4 April 2009
3/10
Author: ba.harrison from Hampshire, England

Four years before Peter Jackson's Sumatran rat-monkey caused a whole heap of trouble for Lionel in Braindead, director Giuliano Carnimeo introduced fans of Italian horror to Ratman, an equally troublesome simian/rat hybrid played by the world's smallest actor, Nelson De La Rosa.

Suffering the indignity of having to strip to his waist and don plastic fangs for the part, little Nelson gives his all as the titular poison-clawed, killer critter created by an irresponsible scientist. Unfortunately, being only two foot four inches tall, Nelson's 'all' is nowhere near enough, and with weak support from genre regulars Janet Agren and David Warbeck, who practically sleepwalk though their roles, Ratman winds up being extremely disappointing.

Between dreadfully dull scenes of chinwagging between Agren and Warbeck, as they attempt to discover who or what is responsible for a spate of recent murders, viewers are treated to a touch of light gore, plus some nudity courtesy of Agren's busty fashion model sister (who displays very unusual techniques when it comes to both modelling and taking a shower). There's also a little fun to be had from seeing just where teensy Nelson will pop out next: during the film, he launches attacks from a wardrobe, a fridge, a box, a luggage bag, and a toilet.

All of this cheesy silliness, however, is not nearly enough to compensate for the movie's virtually plot less script, crap acting and torpid direction.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Late nasty shocker from Italy, 12 October 2003
Author: Laserdome-AMH (laserfire_amhch@yahoo.de) from Switzerland

Somewhere in the Dominican Republic, a scientist creates a cross between rat and ape, which is poisonous and feeds on human flesh. Of course, the creature escapes and starts to kill everywhere. The sister of a missing model and an author of television crime stories start to investigate on their own and follow the monster's bloody route...

This was one of the last "big" Italian gore shockers and has all the ingredients we've come to expect from such films as it is sleazy, sexist, gory and stupid as hell (heck, the scientist even wants to win the Nobel price for his monster!). The creature itself is, and that's a bit of a surprise, astoundingly scary (and ugly, too). However, as we can see the monster before it escapes and starts its killing spree and the director seems more interested in showing tits and gore than anything else, there's not much of suspense in the film. However it was nice to see the return of Italian horror film veterans David Warbeck and Janet Agren. A movie for fans.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
creepiest midget in movie history..., 6 August 2003
Author: teptime from fabulous Las Vega$!

You've really got to hand it to David Warbeck...the man would gladly appear in ANYTHING offered to him...he must have the same agent as Michael Caine. This flick is terrible, but I enjoyed it regardless. A genetically engineered poisonous rodent/sapien hybrid on the loose story worth watching only for the amazing midget made-up with claws and fangs- quite frightening, really, as he is VERY small. Beyond that, nothing new here...just another bump-and-grind Eurohorror with crummy synth music. 4/10.

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The case for the defence..., 9 September 2008
8/10
Author: Edgewalker from Tuxford, England

I like Ratman, I like the way that Giuliano Carnimeo just points the camera at the actors while they say their lines, I like the way the actors say their lines with only the merest hint of caring. Amazingly for a film released in 1988, as desperate a year as any that decade flung at us, it doesn't feel particularly eighties at all, it could just as easily have been made in 1978, 1998, whatever and 8, I guess that's what happens when your budget is three shillings and sixpence, it can't age, because it was nothing to begin with. Nelson De La Rosa (RIP) seems to enjoy himself and the three stars - Eva Grimaldi, Janet Agren and David Warbeck - seem to care slightly more than the identikit bit-parters who are probably appearing for thirty seconds in horror films to this day. Yeah, I like Ratman a lot...But I bet I haven't convinced you to.

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Nelson De La Ferocious, 1 November 2004
Author: mojunk from Philadelphia, PA

Nelson De La Rosa is absolutely horrifying in his portrayal of a half human / half rat beast that preys on showering women with nice Italian boobs. This movie is a must-have for any true cultivist.

Imagine your flesh ripped by sharp claws on the end of little crazy straw arms, teeth gnawing at your face, blood pouring while your unsuspecting girlfriend showers in the adjacent room, unknowingly flashing bits of flesh... just enough to be torn to shreds.

Any fan of Nelson's should see this movie! You may know Nelson from some of his other popular characters such as The Little Dancing Man, Mahow Mahow, his role in The Island of Dr. Moreau, and various Dominican television shows... and more recently as the Red Sox good luck charm that broke the Bambino's Curse... for real.

See this movie.

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