Details

Release year: 1990

Storyline

The owner of an ancient mill hires a drifter to rid the basement of rats.

Top credits

Directors

Ralph S. Singleton

Writers

Cast

David Andrews — John Hall
Kelly Wolf — Jane Wisconsky
Stephen Macht — Warwick
Andrew Divoff — Danson

See all 26 credits →

Did you know

• When a rat is thrown into the shredder, the effect was achieved by carrying a real rat to the machine and dropping it into a foam cushioned box in front. Then a fake rat made of cotton with a plastic tail and covered with stage blood is used. When a rat runs from an exterminator's spray (actually plain water), it is responding to the sound of a clicker that signals where his rat chow is. When a soda can is thrown by sling-shot and hits a rat, the can actually hits an area in front of the rat and the rat is pulled out of sight by the trainer, who is unseen by the camera. The vacuum hose sucking up rats is sucking up fake rats. Scenes with the water hose were shot in cuts with real rats then cutting to the fake ones being hosed away. Whenever real rats were in water, trained swimming rats were used and closely monitored. Fake rats were used to portray dead rats. The gigantic mutant monster rat is, of course, a puppet.

• The name of the mill is Bachman Mills. Richard Bachman is a pseudonym used by Stephen King, upon whose short story the film was based.

• The creature is a mutated rat with batwings. The explanation, according to the short story, is that the rats in the subcellar (under the trapdoor) have been living so long in the darkness that they have become blind, lost their hind legs, and grown gigantic, some as high as three feet. There are also what seem to be bats the size of crows that turn out to be more mutated rats that have grown wings but haven't yet lost their tails. The creature who attacks them in the movie is most likely the one described in the story as the magna mater or queen mother. She was totally limbless and as big as a Holstein calf.