Matt Jaissle has earned a “forever pass” in my book. Anyone responsible for the unhinged, DIY madness of The Necro Files — a film featuring a flying, murderous baby doll — has proven they have the gonzo spirit required for true cult cinema. Jaissle is also one of the few directors to tackle the Amityville brand and bring original ideas to the table, rather than just filming a dusty hallway for 90 minutes. So, when I saw the cover for Night of the Rats, looking like a spiritual successor to Rats: The Night of Terror, I was all in.

The setup here is classic, meat-and-potatoes eco-horror. A quiet Midwestern town (and the second a TV announcer casually refers to the setting as Evans City, my Western Pennsylvania heart grew three sizes, and I fell deeply in love) becomes an all-you-can-eat buffet for a mutated, subterranean colony of rodents. These aren’t your average dumpster-divers, either. We’re talking fast-breeding, hyper-aggressive, radioactive pests that have developed an insatiable taste for human flesh. We follow a pair of scientists desperately trying to stem the tide as the furry, red-eyed swarm moves rapidly from the rural cornfields into the local kitchen sinks.

Against all budgetary odds, the way the rat swarm spreads through the back roads, isolated barns, and farmhouses actually feels genuinely claustrophobic. Nowhere is safe, not even the wide-open, agoraphobic spaces of the Midwest. But Jaissle throws an incredible curveball into the standard eco-horror formula: these rats carry a pathogen that can actually take over the minds and bodies of the people they bite.

If you’re coming to a Matt Jaissle movie, you’re looking for those moments of “did they really just do that?” The way the rat swarm spreads through the back roads and farms feels claustrophobic. Nowhere is safe, not even the wide-open spaces of the Midwest. They can even take over people who have been bitten, which leads to a scene that’s at once both horrific and hilarious, as a woman is trapped in her car as a zombie pounds on the windows. The camera pulls back to reveal…about ten fake rats. That’s the kind of absurdist magic that I watch movies for.

There’s also a rat in a bathtub scene done twice — yes, Jaissle hasn’t just seen Nightmare City, he’s going to reference it to the point that The Nightmare Becomes Reality comes up on screen — that reminded me of the time vermin climbed up our toilet and as a three-year-old, I looked down between my legs into the eyes of a rodent. 

Jaissle’s love for the golden age of Euro-sleaze drips from every single frame of this thing. Even the closing credits are a masterclass in cinematic trolling and fan service, hilariously naming “Fulvio Cozzi” and “Umberto Margherti” (glorious portmanteaus of Luigi Cozzi,  Antonio Margheriti and Umberto Lenzi) as the wardrobe crew. The special thanks section reads like a holy litany of grindhouse gods, sending love to Evans City, PA; George A. Romero; Lucio Fulci; Umberto Lenzi; Luigi Cozzi; Bruno Mattei; Enzo G. Castellari; Antonio Margheriti; Dario Argento; Andrea Bianchi; Lamberto Bava and multiple energy drinks.

When you break it down, Night of the Rats boasts a rumored $2,000 budget, a horde of rats that look like they were rescued from a pet store bargain bin or a claw machine, characters running around in yellow hazmat suits, stuffed rodents being physically thrown at actors’ faces from off-camera à la Mattei and older dudes with long ponytails having vivid, waking nightmares (I have never felt more seen). Plus, it all gets done in 70 minutes and has a great poster!

You can watch this on Tubi.