Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Rat Scratch Fever’

Written by Scott Edwards

​There are many fears that come into play when you think about what is hiding in the vastness of space and even though we are dying to find another life form, what will the response be when it actually becomes reality? Not knowing if these other lifeforms are friendly or looking to kill us off to take over our planet, there are still many questions that need to be answered before bringing them back home. While it may not be in our lifetime, we still need to figure out a safe way to keep the human race from being eradicated from such a being. We all believe that there is life out there somewhere and hope to find it to prove that we are not alone, but when we find it, will we be able to keep things civil, so we can both survive in our own respective worlds?
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Finding a new planet that has a different orbit in the solar system, Sonja and her crew find that the planet has signs of ancient life. Exploring a temple on what seems to be a dead Planet X, the crew unintentionally release a large breed of rats who appear to have killed their masters. Being the only one to survive the rat onslaught, Sonja makes it back to the ship and sets course back to Earth, but she is not alone. With many smaller versions of the killer rats onboard the ship, she is infected with one that not only has the ability to keep her alive, but to control her in ways she never thought possible.  

Not knowing what happened to his crew on their mission to Planet X, Dr. Steele is fearing for the worst when he hears that the shuttle is returning. Trying to blow the ship out of the sky before it can possibly unleash hell on Earth, he is unsuccessful in all of his efforts. As Sonja is able to survive the crash that takes out mission control, she tries to find a way back home to Jake who loves her in every way. Being able to fight off a couple of Steele’s henchmen and taking out the back up base, Sonja starts to pave the way for a hybrid breed of rats that will infest Los Angeles and possibly take over the world with their blood lust.

Being able to locate his love, Jake brings her back to the bar where he is trying to build their new life together. Knowing that Steele and his workers will stop at nothing to rid the planet of Sonja, he puts some measures in place to keep her safe, but little does he know what she is capable of. After trying to negotiate with the doctor, he returns home to see that Sonja has a taste for blood that cannot be quenched. Not only has Sonja changed physically, but her attitude towards life has changed drastically and while Jake will never stop loving her, he may need to bend to the will of Doctor Steele and his wishes to save the world from extinction. 

Sometimes you just need a lower budget movie to make you smile and this one will do just that. With massive space rats and the use of some obvious miniatures, this movie is just entertaining overall. I liked the relationship between Sonja and Jake and how it highlighted love over everything else, even when it became apparent that Sonja was the leader of the killer rats taking over the city. Doctor Steele and his group of killers were great as well, as they know what it will take to save the world from the space vermin. With giant space rats, mini space rats, an infected woman, the thirst for blood, reanimation with rats at the helm and a lack of cheese for the rats to feed on, this is just a fun movie that does not take too much seriously, but has plenty of blood, explosions and a love story for the ages. Stay Scared.

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