Synopsis
Two forces have claimed the house. Only one will survive.
A man who recently completed rebuilding a townhouse becomes obsessed with a rat infestation until it becomes an interspecies duel.
Of Unknown Origin
Cast
Director
Producer
Writer
Original Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Executive Producer
Production Design
Composer
Studios
Canadian Film Development Corporation Famous Players Limited Warner Bros. Pictures Les Productions Mutuelles Ltée
Countries
Language
Alternative Titles
Eredete Ismeretlen, D'origine inconnue : terreur à domicile, Terreur à domicile, De origen desconocido, Прикрита твар, Zlo neznámého původu, Mad House, Unheimliche Begegnung, Tuntematon vaara, D'origine inconnue, Hivatlan látogató, Di origine sconosciuta, 공포의 침입자, Nieuchwytny wróg, O Inimigo Desconhecido, Origem Desconhecida, Неизвестная тварь, Nepoznato porijeklo, Av okänt ursprung, 人鼠之战
Genre
Themes
Releases by Date
Premiere
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USAR
Fresno, California
Theatrical
23 Nov 1983
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USAR
01 May 1986
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Germany16
Releases by Country
Germany
01 May 1986
- Theatrical16
USA
30 Sep 1983
- PremiereR Fresno, California
23 Nov 1983
- TheatricalR
Popular reviews
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I realized that this was a Cosmatos that I had not seen yet. One of those 80's horror films that slipped by me back in the day.
Got the Scream Factory Blu-ray... which looks very nice and has some good extras on it. Commentary plus 3 interviews... one with exec producer Pierre David.
Fun allegory film that is of primary interest because is one of Peter Weller's early roles, Shannon Tweed's feature debut, Cosmatos's first US film (even though it was shot in Toronto) and supposedly Stephen King LOVES this film.
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George P. Cosmatos Man vs Rat jam Of Unknown Origin features some pretty dope rat POV shots and nice pre Robocop performance from Peter Weller as a corporate business guy ‘trying to score the big deal for his company so he can move his family from their huge house into an even huger house’ but a feisty rat gets involved as he becomes obsessed with trying to take this sucker out.
There’s a scene where peter weller is in a library reading about the history of rats and then a few hours later he’s at a business dinner and recites said history. Later on in the midst of his most dangerous game with the rat—imagines said rat popping out of…
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at one point, peter weller tries to out-bravado a rat by telling it he has smoked weed
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not bad. it's worth watching once, but i don't think there's enough of a story to warrant this being a full-length film. if this had been a short, i definitely would've given it a higher rating.
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Of Unknown Origin is a serious little thriller movie about a man who becomes obsessed with killing a rat. A giant and dangerous rat that walks around and destroys his house.
I think it's a very solid and enjoyable movie with a good plot. The overall tone of the film seems pretty normal, but the man struggling against the rat was pretty entertaining to watch. Peter Weller gives a good performance as the main character. I enjoyed the '80s setting with the house, and the special makeup effects were effective. The ending is good and has a slightly funny final line.
Overall, it's a solid B-movie that's definitely worth watching.
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With George Cosmatos…fun fact his name autocorrected to Clamato and that’s what I’m calling him from now on.
*ahem* With George Clamato behind the wheel and Peter Weller just starving for some scenery to chew on, there’s no way this could ever be a movie I wouldn’t enjoy. Add in that it’s Shannon Tweed’s first big theatrical role and maybe the only one where she doesn’t get the Tweeds out even if she does just ooze sex appeal in a role that would have been just a mundane housewife and mother had anyone else played it. Yep, put all that together and you’ve got a winner without even having a story!
And what story? This is literally Peter Weller vs.…
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THE RAT
Lapdog of the DevilFuture 80s American action stylist George P. Cosmatos and two French Canadian Cronenberg producers (hot off The Brood, Scanners and Videodrome) team up for a pretty simple and silly mix of man vs. beast emasculation survival-thriller and full-on home invasion creature-feature horror. Elevated by some fairly dynamic visual perspective/scale/FX imagery (that make the rat not just a convincing literal, physical threat but a malevolent force of stalking/preying; great split diopters!), and a very early and committed pre-Robocop/Naked Lunch Peter Weller performance that takes the disintegration of his yuppie professional life/psyche at the hands of an inconvenient and destructive invasion of his hand-crafted townhouse so deadly seriously it circles back around to being hilarious. (His…
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I can only suspend disbelief so far.
And I don’t mean Peter Weller going to war with a (sometimes) poodle-sized rat. No, I’m talking about the scene where he cheats on 25-year-old Shannon Tweed with some frumpy office girl.
Get outta here with that nonsense.
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Cinematic Time Capsule
1983 Marathon - Film #120”See that? Super rat did that”
Welcome to the great white whale of vermin movies!
Stephen King has called this Canadian psycho horror film one of his personal favorites, and even John Waters has referred to it as the "greatest rat movie"
"Rats, my butt."
So grab a tub of popcorn and prep yourself for Peter Weller’s descent into madness. As he’s sucked into an obsessive mano-a-mano showdown with a devilish red-eyed rodent.
I’ve heard some people say that the critter chaos is a little far fetched, but I can vouch for this film’s realism... Because just last summer I went through the exact same scenario with ants.
”Oh, my God! Bart, what happened?”
“I had a party” -
I like this film but can't help but feel that it could have been so much better. The centre of it all is a man vs rat dual but the film never really delves too deep into this. Sure there's a scene that sees our hapless hero rattle off a load of unsavoury facts about rats but it would have been nice to see a bit more of a contest between the adversaries. Still, this film is generally a fun watch. It meanders a little bit but the final climatic sequence between man and rat is worth waiting for. The old but modernised house makes a good setting and also allows the film to make a mild point about the ultimate pointlessness of consumerism. Peter Weller is good in the lead, kind of James Woods-lite.
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Does for a hardback copy of Moby Dick what The Departed did for a rat.
I love that this feels like it's just begging for a subtextual reading, and if you pushed you could glom onto details to puruse threads on thwarted masculinity, class anxiety, and gentrification, yadda yadda... but really the office scenes/career plot are all just a silly play on the phrase "rat race" and this is just about neat macro shots of rat destruction and Weller swinging a bat around losing his marbles. Rats off to ya!
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