THE PLOT THUS FAR
Meet mankind’s deadliest enemy!
Each year they plunder one fifth of our food, spread our deadliest diseases and destroy billions of dollars worth of homes and property. They’re not cute.
Grain contaminated with steroids produce large black rats that begin feeding on the citizens of Toronto. A college basketball coach (Sam Groom, The Baby Maker) teams up with a local health inspector (Sara Botsford, The Fog 2005) to uncover the source of the mysterious giant rats. When they discover that the rats are living in the subway, they try to prevent a new subway line from opening before all hell breaks loose underground. This is man’s last desperate, bloody battle to preserve the existence of the human race!
Based on the novel The Rats by James Herbert with a screenplay by Charles Eglee (Dexter, The Walking Dead), this nail-biting thriller is directed by Robert Clouse (Enter The Dragon) and co-stars Scatman Crothers (The Shining), Lisa Langlois (The Nest) and Lesleh Donaldson (Happy Birthday To Me, Curtains).
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Deadly Eyes” teaches the world one thing. Genetically modified corn will make rats go insane, grow and eventually eat our brains! It’s also great to watch with a crowd and listening to the first person to spot that most of the giant rats were just dressed up dogs. Golden Harvest was in this special place in the 1980s and that output will forever hold a place in my heart. Plus, Scatman Crothers shows up and that guy never made a bad film.
Robert Clouse is an expert genre director and he balances a ton with this film. However, it’s not a straight adaptation of “The Rats”. What we get is a creature film in an era where nature gone amuck had dominated drive-ins and cinemas for about seven years by the time this movie hit. I always wondered why Fortune Star sat on it for so long and I’m glad that Scream is getting a chance to introduce it to a new audience. After all, what’s horror without a few rats gnawing on your face?
The Blu-Ray comes with interviews as the special features. The A/V Quality beats the old VHS tape I got when Kroger Video went out of business. The 1080p transfer still plays dark, but you can make out some of the hokier effects. The DTS-HD master audio mono track is period appropriate. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 07/15/2014