tavm In continuing to review werewolf movies in chronological order, I'm now at 1972 and this: a movie written, photographed, directed, and featured in two roles by one Andy Milligan. There are both rats and werewolves, all right, but it's mostly a dysfunctional family drama between siblings and the elderly father in charge of them all. Like I said, Milligan plays two roles: one who sells rats to one sister Monica, and another who sells a gun to other sister Diana. Dialogue is mostly exposition that one wouldn't keep saying in real life and it's constantly said quickly most of the time except for those two scenes involving Milligan. He's not a good director or writer but I'll say this about him-I was never bored, that's for sure! So on that note, give The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! a chance if you're curious enough...

goldenarrow-99823 What a delightfully bizarre film. When reading the trivia on Amazon Prime attached to this I was amused and delighted to see that the director made his film, then was told it was too short at just 72 minutes. This led to the addition of the rats, adding 20 mins to the running time (and making what was already a strange viewing experience slightly stranger).I'm not going to list the elements that weren't perfect, because that's not the point of this kind of film, instead I'll stick to what I enjoyed or found amusing:The sisters Monica & Melanie (or whatever) are both very easy on the eye.The shop owner who sells the rats, Mr Micawber, is simply brilliant. Like a cross between Igor the hunchback and Edward from The League Of Gentlemen. I love how the poor unfortunate chained brother, when being taunted by Monica, stops his roaring when older sister intervenes to admonish the cruelty. Then resumes it once she's finished speaking. Pop is a sly old dog, he soon changes his curmudgeonly manner towards the new husband. Now it suits him.

gortry The tedious condescension of the other reviews notwithstanding, this film passes a number of screen tests that many a more mainstream big budget flick fails: does it have a horror film's one essential, i.e., atmosphere? In spades, although an original score would have helped sustain it better; do the characters dispatch their difficult roles convincingly or do they camp it up in a desire to wink at the audience to let us know that they don't take such an over-the-top scenario seriously? Very convincingly indeed. Mad Monica comes across as especially terrifying, and madness is always one of the hardest personas to bring off. (The actor playing the rather subdued character of Gerald is, perhaps an exception here, but the fault may reside with the part itself, which is the only "normal" voice in the action and suffers from some degree of underwriting.) And finally, the trump question of all dramaturgy: do you find yourself wanting to know how "Rats" ends and what becomes of its characters. Emphatically yes!

capkronos Most people seem to hate this movie and basically anything associated with director Milligan. It's slow moving, has awful make-up and lighting and a huh (!?) chaotic ending, but some of the performances are actually pretty good, the overkill melodrama is hilarious and it's kind of interesting...for awhile.In England, poor Gerald (Ian Innes) is in for a treat when he visits the family mansion of his new bride Diana (Jackie Skarvellis). Pa Mortimer (Douglas Phair) is a bedridden grouch, older sister Monica (Hope Stansbury) is a childish psycho, mom Phoebe (Joan Ogden) is a miserable mess and retarded brother Malcolm (Berwick Kaler) is kept chained-up in a secret room. Only the older brother seems normal. Something isn't right, as the son-in-law soon realizes, but his wife won't let him leave. Yes...they all turn out to be werewolves guarding the family secret.The older insane daughter torments the chained up brother by insulting him and beating him with a belt in some outrageous out-of-place scenes. She also buys a cage full of flesh-eating rats from a grimy vendor and in a shocking, standout scene, nails a REAL rat on a board! The whole rat idea has no relevance to the plot and was added by the director to bulk up the running time and cash in on the success of WILLARD, so that (sort of) explains the title.