It's amazing what you can achieve if you dispose over a bit of professionalism. Even the most routine straight-to-cable production can be worth watching if the acting and directing is a little decent. It was the Fox Network that hired John Lafia (Man's Best Friend) to do the directing and the still yummy Mädchen Amick for the female lead. Vincent Spano (Alive) and Daveigh Chase (The Ring) complete the above average cast. The premise of a giant rat-plague threatening a big city isn't exactly new, but still this film succeeds in bringing a bit of tension and entertainment. Mostly thanks to the excellent underground shooting locations (basements, sewers, subways
) 'the Rats' looks icky and a bit unsettling. The rats naturally are slightly mutated by lab-tests and therefore a lot more aggressive and more difficult to annihilate. The grotesque finale in which a swimming pool is used as a rat-fountain is very over-the-top, yet brightly and well elaborated. Mädchen Amick is a seriously underrated actress and I hope she'll receive some new, bigger acting offers real soon. Vincent Spano is pretty good as well and he clearly enjoys sharing rat-trivia with the viewer. I don't know if all what he said is true (for every inhabitant in NY there are 9 rats?? You can get Weil's disease from a rat-bite??) but it was interesting nevertheless. Recommended!
