RAT MAN (1988)
Label: Cauldron Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes 1 Second
Audio: English 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Giuliano Carnimeo
Cast: David Warbeck, Janet Agren, Eva Grimaldi, Nelson de la Rosa
In the late-era Italian creature-feature Rat Man (1988), directed by Giuliano Carnimeo (The Case of the Bloody Iris), a demented scientist Professor Olman (Pepito Guerra, The Overthrow) is working out of a lab on a Caribbean island, he has odd aspiration of wanting to win the Nobel Prize for science by cross-breeding a monkey and a rat. His experimentation results in the titular pint-sized Rat Man, not be confused with the Sumatran Rat Money from Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. dubbed "Mousey" by the doc, who is played with creepy rat-toothed, poison-clawed simian horror by the late Nelson de la Rosa, (The Island of Dr. Moreau), who was one of the shortest men in the world at just 28" inches tall full-grown!
In the late-era Italian creature-feature Rat Man (1988), directed by Giuliano Carnimeo (The Case of the Bloody Iris), a demented scientist Professor Olman (Pepito Guerra, The Overthrow) is working out of a lab on a Caribbean island, he has odd aspiration of wanting to win the Nobel Prize for science by cross-breeding a monkey and a rat. His experimentation results in the titular pint-sized Rat Man, not be confused with the Sumatran Rat Money from Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. dubbed "Mousey" by the doc, who is played with creepy rat-toothed, poison-clawed simian horror by the late Nelson de la Rosa, (The Island of Dr. Moreau), who was one of the shortest men in the world at just 28" inches tall full-grown!
However, the somewhat intelligent Mousey manages to free himself from his cage and get loose on the island, which is bad news for the people who live or our being tourists there. It immediately starts killing people, and the bodies of his victims are found by fashion photographer Mark (Werner Pochath, The Cat O' Nine Tails) and his models Marilyn (Eva Grimaldi, Paganini) and Peggy (Luisa Menon), but not wanting to get mixed-up in a local murder investigation by the authorities the Americans choose not report their grisly discoveries. Later while alone one of the models is stalked by a street weirdo with a knife and while hiding from the creepy guy in a dilapidated shack accidentally stumbles upon the Rat Man's nest who claws her to death her. The model's sister Terry (Janet Agren, City of the Living Dead) is then contacted by local authorities to comes to the island (from New York) and identify her body. Along the way she meets a mystery writer named Fred (David Warbeck, The Beyond), in a wonderfully loud Hawaiian short, who oddly decides to accompany her to the morgue to identify her sister, only to discover that the victim is not her sister, there's been a case of mistaken identity on the part of the local cops. The pair then sleuth that her sister is actually on a photoshoot deep in the island jungle with photographer Mark and his assistant Monique (Anna Silvia Grullon, Cross Mission), and with the hope that she is still alive they set out into the jungle to find her, but they soon find themselves stalked by the dreaded Rat Man.
On paper this one has some serious Italian talent behind and in front of the camera, we get a script by the legendary Dardano Sacchetti (A Bay of Blood), with lensing by Roberto Girometti (Witch Story), and a tasty synth score by Stefano Mainetti (Zombi 3), and it was produced by Fabrizio De Angelis (Zombie) who worked with Lucio Fulci a lot, not to mention it was directed by the aforementioned Giuliano Carnimeo who directed a couple classics, including the Sartana spaghetti westerns and the giallo The Case of the Bloody Iris, but he also helmed the post-apocalyptic stinker Exterminators in the Year 3000, so he had a few duds as well. There's quite a bit of known talent here, but this is just a bottom-of-the-barrel Italian horror entry, but don;t get me wrong, it also not un-entertaining either, it's just not a good flick.
What we get is a pretty trashy island set creature feature, it's low-budget and looks it in every nearly every frame, but thankfully we have a couple of things that save it from being a total waste of time. First and foremost, the pint-sized Nelson de la Rosa as "Mousey" the Rat Man is pretty creepy looking with practical rat-monkey make-up FX, protruding rat-teeth and deadly poison claws, the simple make-up effects are effective, at least when they are not peeling off on-camera, and having de la Rosa under the make-up and latex instead of a animatronic or puppet adds a lot to it. Also spicing-up the z-grade creature-feature up is some much appreciated nudity courtesy of the very lovely Eva Grimaldi as model Marilyn, who during the island photoshoots is often dropping her top or nude, and later we get a gratuitous shower scene were she's feeling herself up. There's also a smidgen of decent gore, mostly by way of insert shots of the rat-monkey sinking it's poisonous claws into victims, but it's not gore-soaked classic by any means, but it is plenty bloody.
That's the good stuff, the less stellar stuff is a lazy script, somehow Mousey the Rat Man is seemingly everywhere and anywhere the script conveniently needs him to be at any given moment, popping up in toilets and wardrobe chests, travelling seemingly great distances and keeping up with characters who are traveling by vehicle, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but if you're just here for a trashy creature-feature with some nudity and low-budget gore I think the flick delivers the goods, just don;t expect a well- made horror flick with suspense and tension, because that it is not.
Audio/Video: Rat Man (1988) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Cauldron Films in 1080p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, sourced from a 4K restoration from the negative. The source is in terrific shape, colors look good, grain is well-managed, and black levels are solid. This was a first-time watch for me so I don't have comparison to make other than to say I thought it looked pretty great on HD, the disc is well-authored and compression was never an issue. Audio comes by way of English 2.0 dual-mono with optional English SDH subtitles, the dubbed dialogue sounds fine, as does the synth score.
This edition is well-stocked with extras, we get a new Audio Commentary by film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth, and Nathaniel Thompson that is terrific, plenty of talk about the pint-sized star Nelson de la Rosa, as well as producer Fabrizio De Angelis, director Giuliano Carnimeo, and the cast and crew. Interviews kick-off with the 16-min Lighting the Rat Man: Interview with cinematographer Roberto Girometti, who talks about not being a fan of horror but wanting to shoot one, and watching An American Werewolf in London beforehand to get some inspiration for the shoot; we also have the 17-min Framing the Rat Man: Interview with camera operator Federico Del Zoppo mostly talks about his start in film, who he's worked with and memories of working with the diminutive star Nelson de la Rosa. There's also a 7-min Just a Fin: Audio interview with post-production consultant Alberto De Martino who talks about being a sort of film-fixer, and his work on this film, pus the 2-min Trailer.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap with alternate artwork, the new front cover illustration by Justin Coffee.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth, and Nathaniel Thompson
- Lighting the Rat Man: Interview with cinematographer Roberto Girometti (16:24)
- Framing the Rat Man: Interview with camera operator Federico Del Zoppo (17:21)
- Just a Fin: Audio interview with post-production consultant Alberto De Martino (6:35)
- Lighting the Rat Man: Interview with cinematographer Roberto Girometti (16:24)
- Framing the Rat Man: Interview with camera operator Federico Del Zoppo (17:21)
- Just a Fin: Audio interview with post-production consultant Alberto De Martino (6:35)
- Trailer (2:08)
- Reversible Wrap with new artwork by Justin Coffee
- Reversible Wrap with new artwork by Justin Coffee
Another late-80's Italian horror flick gets the spotlight from Cauldron Films, it might not be a top-tier Italian creature feature but it is quite an enjoyable romp with the Rat Man, the Blu-ray looks terrific and the surprisingly robust set of extras are solid.
Screenshots from the Cauldron Films Blu-ray:
