Food of the Gods II (1989)

"No, obesity-breath. This is no ordinary flamethrower. See, I modified this baby myself. I just find the rat, aim, and... kazoom."

One of the reasons as to why I started this blog (back when it was solely for film reviews) was that I was sick of reading 3 or 4 line reviews of films that I felt needed a bit more analysis. You know, the 'I saw this film ten years ago on video, and I don't remember much, but boy was it crummy' kind of reviews that you tend to find on sites like IMDB, especially if you are a viewer of older, less well remembered films as I am. The ratings too can really irk me. I'm a firm believer in not putting a numerical rating on anything I watch; firstly, I don't think that people should just jump to a number on a review and make a decision on whether to watch it or not, and secondly, without context that rating means absolutely nothing. Just because I rate Taxi Driver and say, The Evil Dead the same, does that mean an individual can come to the conclusion that both films are of the same quality or possess the same entertainment value? Of course not, and it's why I don't do it. But sometimes a film gets such a low rating that I have to wonder if those scoring it have actually even seen it. Which brings us to Food of the Gods II.

The brilliant doctor, Neil Hamilton (Paul Coufos; Chopping Mall, 976 Evil II) gets a call from his old scientist pal, Dr Treger (Jackie Burroughs; The Dead Zone), who has been doing some secret experiments with growth hormones on a young feeble boy. The boys growth rate has rocketed off the scales, however, leaving him an 8 foot monster of aggression. Neil takes the challenge of finding an antidote, bringing some samples of the serum back to his lab in the pleasant surroundings of the University where he works. First, he tries it on plants, resulting in some giant tomatoes that gets declared to be, "the food of the gods!" by his enthusiastic lab assistant.

Meanwhile, a group of animal activists are campaigning against the University over the use of live creatures in the lab tests by one of Neil's colleagues, the shady Professor Delhurst (Colin Fox), who claims to be trying to defeat cancer, but is in fact out to extinguish baldness. Some of these activists break into the lab that night, and on discovering his gory handiwork, they take pictures and smash the place up. The next day, Neil brings some rats to the lab, but only injects the white test subject to see the results. Unlucky for him that his assistant leaves the other rats so close to the ever-growing tomatoes, which they manage to gnaw at through the bars. Once again, the activists learn that there are now rats in Neil's lab, so they break in to do the same to his work that they did the previous night. They are completely unprepared for the giant, four-legged monstrosities that attack them, and the leader of the gang is chewed to bits while the others barely make it out alive. The giant, mutant rats escape; but will the police, the exterminators or Neil be able to stop them from spreading beyond the campus walls? Will Delhurst find that cure for baldness? And just what will become of the angry, 8 foot boy?

I'll say it now so that there's no confusion; Food of the Gods II is an absolute blast from start to finish. We really get a lot here; plenty of humour, plenty of gore and great special effects, and a fairly good dose of sex, too. On top of that, the script is funny, with some real odd-ball characters to liven it up, and a tone that, despite the context of animal rights, doesn't take itself seriously, and isn't afraid to poke some fun at these conventions. This tone is set early in the film with the jaw-dropping introduction of the hulking child, Bobby. The edit to him entering the room and his explosive torrent of profanity at the doctors keeping him prisoner have that rare, 'what the fuck!' quality that has you reaching for the rewind button on the remote; a quality that we seldom get these days. There are several great moments like this throughout the film; Neil's gigantism dream, for example, or the gloopy result of Delhurst testing the serum on himself. The climax is stuffed full of so much gore, deaths and giant rats that it's hard to keep up with. And even in this climatic chaos we still get those moments, like when the random guy with the gun just starts shooting innocent people... it really has to be seen to be believed. I know I've referenced several incidents in the film here, but I really won't spoil anything for you, these delights are best discovered yourself when watching it.

To go with these barmy scenes we get some other fun characters to keep things zipping along. The rat exterminator does a pretty mean Clint Eastwood impression, and is a real highlight in the middle section of the film. Same goes for the odd foreign chap having sex with the girl in the bushes- he has to go pee, but swiftly gets his bare arse munched by a rat, which sends him running and screaming headfirst into traffic with his trousers still down. These moments (and many more) have such a bonkers sense of reality that they seem off kilter with the more serious tone of Neil's scenes, but somehow it all manages to work well enough. Coufos himself isn't the best leading man, but he's likable enough, though he plays his part fairly straight. But it's this straightness that stops the film falling into goofy spoof territory, and despite the 'giant killer rats' plot line, the film has a lot going for it that 'spoof' just would just sell it short.

The film is far from perfect, though, but that's to be expected. As mentioned, Coufos is a bit stiff as the lead, but some of the minor characters (such as the animal activists) are borderline que-card readers. They add an unintentional hilarity to the opening scenes, though, so this might be a plus for crowd viewings. There is also a little bit too much running around sewers in the later parts of the second and third act, which could have been trimmed down a bit. Due to the scatter-gun nature of the ideas being thrown around here, you never really get to root for any particular character, meaning it does tend to go from one strange set piece to another - but once again, it means the film keeps ticking along, and you won't be watching the running time. What sets a film like this aside from the likes of say, Re-Animator, is that the central character dynamics work so well, which is down to the handling of the material by a director with a solid theatre background like Stuart Gordon. And though there are plenty of bonkers scenes here that could have been from a Gordon flick, it does lack that heart that you expect from his work

The effects range from 'OK' to fantastic - the giant kid and the dream sequence are stand out moments that warrant a viewing alone - but there is plenty of flowing red gore to keep you going, too. Throats are torn out, faces chewed off, even limbs ripped from sockets... and the rats look fairly good for the most part. Sometimes the film makers have cleverly used miniature sets that still have the desired impact, and the close ups of the mutant rat heads attacking people aren't quite as silly looking as they could have been. The music is a mixed bag - early on in the film we get strange cuts between classical and electro riffs, which seems at odds initially, but the score gets quite good towards the end.

The film was directed by  Damian Lee, and he does a solid enough job for what he has to work with. The pacing is spot on, and the action lively. There are some nicely done camera shots too, involving the rats POV chasing people, and you feel immersed in the film throughout. The important thing is though, that it isn't a weird or funny film by mistake, it all feels natural, scripted and intentional. It is a pity then that we do lose something without those great central characters, but not every film can be From Beyond, nor does it have to be. As it stands, Food of the Gods II is a much-maligned film, and for no discernible reason. It has a current rating of 3.0 on IMDB, which is absolutely shocking. This one really does need a re-evaluation, or as much of one that a straight-to-video film from the late 80's can ever get. For my money's worth, it's as much fun as other well-remembered flicks from the era, filled with strange moments, gore and good humour. If you are the type of genre fan who likes to pick something trashy to watch with a room full of like-minded fans and a few cold beers, then this one was made for you. And just who could pass up that fantastic box art on the video shelf?