DVD review: Rat Scratch Fever (2011)

Inadvertently brought to eart by a doomed space mission in search of intergalactic life, an army of giant carnivorous rats from outer space invade  Los Angeles and develop an acute appetite for the local residents as the crass Rodan-sized rodents proceed to treat  the city like a 24-hour "all you can eat" buffet! Will astronaut Sonja (Tasha Tacosa) and her  ex-marine boyfriend Jake (Ford Austin) be able to exterminate them and save the planet? Rat Scratch Fever is written, directed and edited by Jeff Leroy who also handles the special fx. It´s a loving homage and a parody of giant monster movies with non-stop action and carnage. The acting is decent but it isn´t supposed to be perfect. The camera work and editing actually looks quite amazing and it´s incredible how the film makers have managed to pull this off with their limited resources. There are plenty of blood (mostly in the form of blood splattering), the gore make-up fx are ok but what sets this film apart from other films are the extensive use of models and miniatures. There are also computer gendered fx in the form of muzzle flashes, gore make-up fx as people are being ripped apart and so on.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from Media Blasters label Shriek Show,
Rating: 7 out of 7. Rat Scratch Fever does have some flaws but these are charming and most of them are intentional. In my opinion this is a fantastic flick and a great homage to the classic giant monster movies! I love it!

/JL