Scott LeBrun Lots of human error adds up to one colossal mess in this follow-up (rather than true sequel) to the 1976 film adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Food of the Gods". A growth hormone, initially used on produce, is injected into one rat, and the effects spread to other rats, which all develop a taste for human flesh after they become giants. The monstrous rodents then terrorize a college campus.Almost all of the human characters are stupid beyond belief, so ones' instincts will be to side with the rats and enjoy watching these people become rat chow. Written by Richard Bennett & E. Kim Brewster, and directed by Damian Lee, "Food of the Gods II" is so uproariously idiotic that you have to believe that these filmmakers were definitely going for tongue in cheek. The dialogue is dumb, the characters are insipid, and the movie utterly devoid of anything resembling suspense. But the good news is that this is quite violent and gory, and people will laugh in appreciation and approval at the hideous demises on display. The music by Dennis Haines & Stephen W. Parsons is pretty absurd at times, adding to the comical feel.Among the highlights: a subplot about a giant kid (Sean Mitchell), a memorable nightmare sequence, and the riotous climax where the rats run amok during the grand opening of the colleges' brand spanking new sports complex, disrupting some synchronized swimming.Paul Coufos ("The Lost Empire", "Chopping Mall"), who somewhat resembles Jeff Fahey, makes the mistake of taking himself too seriously, while at least some of the others here know they're performing in utter schlock and deliver goofy performances (like that priceless janitor Zeke (David Koyle)). And the lovely Lisa Schrage, the villainess of "Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II", is on hand to play the leading lady. Prominent Canadian actors Colin Fox ("Daylight") and Jackie Burroughs ("The Dead Zone") are among the supporting cast.Quite entertaining, provided that you know what to expect and enjoy this sort of thing to begin with.Seven out of 10.

lost-in-limbo A undeniably cheap, offbeat and trashy unrelated sequel to Bert I. Gordon's (Mr B.I.G) original 1976 film of H.G Wells 'The Food of the Gods' (which I haven't seen) sees a growth hormone accidentally transform a horde of rats into giant man-eating rodents that feed there way through a college campus. Those who love b-grade madness, gooey FX (with a splendid, if pointless melting scene) and graphically cheesy gore will have a field day. The fanatical rat attacks are unpleasant… that you'll find them irksome or laughable. While quite wonky (boom mike appearing at times and there's a scene where you can clearly see the FX dude in the corner of picture doing his thing), it was still better made than you would think. The script while serious, does take time out to add many tongue-in-cheek and blackly humorous distractions (which sometimes feels off-balanced) and this perfectly makes light of the situation. Still it's filled with stupidity and we end up with an abrupt open-ending (I'm sure a sequel was in mind) of a sub-plot (involving a young boy being injected with the growth hormone and College Professor Neil Hamilton being asked to help find a cure to stop the uncontrollable growth by use of experiments) that starts of proceedings, and is the main reason for the rat mayhem to occur and when it centres back on this angle, it glazes over it despite probably being more interesting than the rat chaos. Damien Lee's conventional direction remains assured and snappy enough. The electronic score while one-note is moodily pitched amongst a fitting campus setting and the soundtrack has a spunky embrace. Performances are largely forgettable, but in the end acceptable from the likes of Paul Coufos, Colin Fox, Karen Hines, Frank Pellegrino, Robert Kennedy, Michael Copeman and the beautiful Lisa Schrage with her piercing blue eyes. Also you got Jackie Borroughs showing up as the ill-fated professor. I found it fun the first time I watched it, and it's the same on this occasion.

Michael_Elliott Food of the Gods 2 (1989) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Bert I. Gordon was a somewhat decent director who has gained a huge cult following over the years due to his drive-in fluff like The Cyclops, Earth vs. The Spider, The Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People and Village of the Giants with a young Ron Howard. All of these dealt with people and/or animals growing to a huge size and attacking us smaller people. In 1976 Gordon made a comeback with the cult classic The Food of the Gods, which turned out to be one of the biggest disasters of his career yet it was bad enough to be laughable at times. They should have left bad enough alone but thirteen years later we got Food of the Gods 2, which is also known as Gnaw. While Gordon didn't direct this sequel his stamp of approval must be all over it.The story is pretty sweet and simple. Dr. Neil Hamilton (Paul Coufos) is called to his former teachers house because she has a huge secret to tell him. The teacher did an experiment on a small child using growth hormones and somehow the child grew to a gigantic size. The teacher asks her favorite student to do some more experiments to see if something can be created to reduce the size of the child who is not only still growing but his attitude is getting violent.Back on the college campus, PETA members are throwing a fit because the school is doing experiments on live animals. Dr. Hamilton was always against this but since there's a child involved his tries the grown hormone on a rat, which does start to grow but before the doctor can put a stop to it, the rat escapes and heads off to the sewer. Even worse, at least a dozen other rats broke loose and ate the formula so dead bodies start popping up all over the place. Faces are eaten off, arms ripped out and the floors are drenched with blood but the doctor must find a way to stop it all.Director Damian Lee does a very smart job with this film and avoids the mistake of the original. The original was a flat out bomb because the director took the material way too serious but thankfully Lee doesn't do that and instead delivers a rather comical horror spoof that takes shots at everything from Gordon to PETA to even Jaws. The story is very stupid and not believable but this is a horror film so logic really shouldn't be taken into consideration. This certainly isn't a good movie either but if you've got nothing better to do and it's three in the morning then you should find yourself laughing.Since the story isn't important that means there must be something worth watching and that's the animal attacks that are downright hilarious. The scenes are actually very well handled but each of them are still held back by a low budget and that's where the over the top factor comes into play. Often times we get close up's of a doll rat attacking someone with a quick edit to the aftermath, which is usually red stuff pumping out of a missing arm or a face that's had the eyes eaten out. Another hilarious scene happens when a couple are trying to have sex and the guy leaves to use the bathroom but to only run into a mouse. All of the attacks are rather violent in a comic book way and the director certainly had enough in the budget to throw around the red stuff, which is what horror fans want.Outside the gore the next important thing is the humor that is scattered throughout the film. The best moments occur with a Clint Eastwood wannabe character who is a rat catcher. He's shows up on the scene, riffle in hand and a cigar in his mouth. This is clearly a spoof of Eastwood's Sergio Leone westerns and is cleverly done. Another wonderful moment happens during the climax when the rats overtake the college and a new pool, which they are showing off. The rats swimming around attacking the human swimmers is something that has to be seen to believe. Another idea of the comic nature is during a sex scene where a guy has taken the growth formula and a certain part of his grows a bit too big during sex. I'll let you use your imagination on this one.Food of the Gods 2 is in no way shape or form a "classic" film but it isn't trying to be. The film has a stupid story with some bad actors but thankfully the director knew this and pushed everything over the line and he actually delivered a rather entertaining film. After hating the original I thought this was would be horrid but I was pleasantly surprised in the end. If you're not a fan of those "animal attack" films or the films of Gordon then you probably won't like this either. However, if you appreciate films like The Cyclops and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman then you should get the comic nature of this movie.

Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) Once again my ability to be entertained finds it's happy place at the near lowest common denominator one can possibly find: A movie about growth hormone mutated rats chewing their way through the supporting cast of an unnamed Canadian university. Packed with in jokes, sight-gags and made by people who were using their brains for more than shoulder ballast, I found this to be a rip-roaring entertainment heightened by the ingenious way that miniature sets, forced perspective shots and other gimmicks were used to create monster rats, an over-sized university professor, and a giant mutant kid who's escape at the conclusion of the film was the perfect open ending. And I hope nobody ever makes a FOTG Pt3 to show what happens to him: some things are best left to the imagination.Anyone familiar with the abysmal 1976 film of more or less the same name can rest assured: Part 2 has absolutely nothing to do with the original FOTG, setting off on a totally independent storyline which produces more or less the same results -- giant rats eating people, a universally frightening concept -- though this film is correctly played for laughs where the original was a semi-serious ecological horror flick unable to overcome it's underlying stupidity.This one works because it embraced that stupidity & went with it.THE PLOT: An overachieving researcher develops a growth hormone formula, tests it on some tomatoes which are then eaten by a cage full of lab rats who get big and eat people. End of story.Along the way, the film takes hilarious pot-shots at such deserving targets as animal rights activists, liberal university administrations, the police, Clint Eastwood, and synchronized swimming. In fact the minute that the evil Dean character voiced concern that an effort to corral the mutant rats might interfere with the opening of a new pool complex I knew that the climax would be fun, though the bigger laugh came when he referred to "all the rich alumni with their checkbooks" who would be in attendance. Everyone whom I went to college with is as broke as I am, except the worms who weaseled their way into teaching or other academic positions. Like research work.Look, if you're going to be sitting down and watching a film about mutant rats on the rampage the last thing in the world you're really going to fret over are convincing performances, slick special effects and a coherent plot, so why not approach the material at an angle & have some fun? On that level of consideration this film is a minor masterpiece, and anyone who finds it to be prurient or juvenile in nature is simply refusing to play along with the fun.Highly recommended as a "party movie", with plenty of laughs, some repulsive gore and even a few bared breasts here & there.But if you're looking for a serious film, well that's why they make DVDs of CITIZEN KANE, and you'd be advised to stick with that. But for those with a sense of humor and a love for low-middle budget horror this flick is very hard to beat, and I've even seen DEATH SHIP.***1/2 out of ****