Rats!

[yog-sothoth]

This is the movie I've seen the most, being an insomniac. My question: why only show it at 3am? Rats give everyone the willies, right?

[TBlack]

Is this the one where they come up from the bottom of the swimming pool?
My daughter ran from the room!

[Patricia A]

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm not a huge rat fan.
The domestic ones are ok but that's it. I don't like feral rats at all.
Dead ones are the worse though, my sister's dog brought me one last winter.
It was early and I hadn't put on my glasses yet and I thought she was bringing me a big gray wool sock. Imagine my screams as bent down to grab it. I didn't know I could jump that high in the morning before coffee either.

[Mr. Palmer]

I've never seen the film. I haven't read very good reviews of it. Would you recommend it?

I liked the short story. And I have a pet rat. So...

[aeroplane]

Originally Posted by Mr. Palmer

I've never seen the film. I haven't read very good reviews of it. Would you recommend it?

I liked the short story....

To me, it isn't really any worse than some of the "lesser" Stephen King movie adaptations.

I'd say it is worth renting. But if you decided to buy it (either new or used) and pay more than $5-6, you're going to be awfully disappointed.

The film isn't too far removed from the short story. It uses quite a few of the same character names you read in the story, like the mill workers, though their personalities aren't identical to the book.

Also there is less of a focus on the large number of rats, because this is basically a monster movie with a large, unseen monster that kills off the mill workers one by one.

Nothing at all in the way of character development.

But there are some positives.....

1. Brad Dourif's exterminator character is the most interesting one in the movie and the scenes where he is onscreen tend to be the better ones in the movie. He isn't developed all that much but there is an amusing scene in which the foreman blackmails him into doing a dangerous job. And Dourif also has a scene where he gives a pretty chilling speech about his time in Vietnam (where he encountered huge rats).

2. It is bland 1980's American horror, as opposed to bland Asian style horror, bland comedy-horror, bland torture horror or bland "virus" horror. Basically you're getting a type of movie that isn't made anymore.

3. The setting in the mill's basement and deeper underground is genuinely creepy.

[sai slone]

I have 36 DVD's associated wiht SK,this is the one I watch the least. love the dog the exterminater has tho.

[dejolane]

I'm scared to death of rats. After I saw this movie, I was even scared of a little mouse. I hear noises in my kitchen for a long time. under the sink.