Editorials
‘Gnaw: Food of the Gods II’ Is B-Movie Perfection and Creature Feature Fun [Horrors Elsewhere]
The wrath of rats on film essentially began with 1959’s The Killer Shrews, but more unambiguous depictions first cropped up in the ‘70s. This included Bert I. Gordon’s 1976 adaptation of H. G. Wells’ 1904 book, The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth. Food of the Gods was financially successful by AIP’s standards, although critical opinion was by and large negative. Roger Ebert dished out a 1-star rating, and Gene Siskel called the film’s special effects “rotten” and the script “laughable.” Any small demand for a follow-up was only met when production began on an even schlockier sequel in 1988.
Damian Lee’s continuation has little to do with Wells’ book or Gordon’s film. In fact, the only enlarged critter to make it to the sequel is the rat. Completely shot in Ontario, Canada but set in New York based on a conspicuous license plate, Gnaw: Food of the Gods II primarily takes place at a university during winter. The campus, really York University in North York, Toronto, is under fire by animal rights activists. The main target is Edmund Delhurst (Colin Fox, Murder by Phone), a scientist who is misusing grant money to cure male pattern baldness rather than cancer, as he originally proposed. In place of a beard of evil, Delhurst’s furtive wickedness is denoted by his lousy toupée.
Meanwhile, the sequel’s main character, a spectacled and rather beefy Dr. Neil Hamilton (Paul Coufos), is strictly all about the plants. That is until he gets a call from a colleague, Dr. Travis (Jackie Burroughs, Willard). Her patient, a boy named Bobby (Sean Mitchell), is now 12 feet tall and swearing like a pirate after his parents okayed an experimental growth hormone. Travis then asks Hamilton to help her reverse the process. This is where the real trouble — and more importantly, the fun — starts.
The creature-feature element is underway once Dr. Hamilton’s hunt for Bobby’s antidote requires finding lab rats he is not so attached to; his beloved white rat Louise is off the table. The resident animal activists, led by Réal Andrews, catch wind of the experiment and break in one night, minus Hamilton’s double-agent girlfriend, Alex (Lisa Schrange, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II). Their attempt to document and liberate only ends with someone’s face becoming a chew toy for a 20-pound rat, and all the voracious rodents escaping.
As is always the case in these kinds of films, a growing body count is not enough for the authorities to do anything other than look the other way or think of how their money will be affected. Dean White (David B. Nichols) is not about to jeopardize the unveiling of a new pool in several days, even if that means permitting some man-eating rats on his campus. He channels the mayor of Jaws and requests this matter be kept under the radar. Then there is the other ostensible human villain; the previously mentioned Dr. Delhurst is making good on his veiled threat when Dr. Hamilton refused to help him after the activists destroyed his own lab. Delhurst’s theft of Hamilton’s serum does not go unpunished in the film’s one scene of human body horror. In putrid fashion, Fox’s character is reduced to virtually nothing after succumbing to multiple tumors within a matter of minutes.
This film being set in college as well as made in the ‘80s, Gnaw naturally throws in sex to punch up the material. Coufos and Schrange’s lovemaking is awkward, and having Louise the white rat as a spectator to said session was a weird and suggestive choice. One of Hamilton’s groupies, a student named Mary Anne (Kimberly Dickson), is then involved in two lusty scenes. The first has her partner Carlos (Eduardo Castillo) getting more than a love bite on his rump after a nightly roll in the bushes. However, the strangest and most memorable of all these sequences has to be Dr. Hamilton’s serum-induced wet dream about Mary Anne. He suddenly grows in size — in more ways than one — during their bizarre encounter.
If Gnaw has anything going for it, it is the visual effects. Delhurst’s previously mentioned body meltdown is a gooey delight, accentuated with popping pustules and oozing orifices. Colin Fox delivers a campy and visceral performance as he deteriorates in real time. The tricks used to make the rats and Bobby appear big are convincing enough, although the prop for Bobby’s humongous hand at the end is as comical as it is rubbery. Giant rat models are brought in for those up close and personal attacks; limiting them to quick shots is for the best. And lastly, the inevitable massacre at the pool opening should have been the film’s pièce de résistance, but most of the action comes from the poolside humans panicking — a random man grabs a gun and starts firing into the crowd, completely missing the rats — rather than actually getting devoured by the jumbo vermin. Nevertheless, the scale work at the pool and in the subsequent extermination scene is solid, all things considered.
As positively junky and sleazy as Gnaw: Food of the Gods II is, it is also immensely fun. The dead-serious tone clashes with the film’s fundamentally preposterous nature, and the audience laughs when the actors themselves cannot. The story gets odder with every passing minute, and the overall execution is bewildering. Even after all the skewering, this sequel still manages to outdo the original in some respects. How it goes about doing so would never be accepted as “good” in critic circles, but among B-movie fans, Gnaw is a treasure trove of absurdity and mindless entertainment.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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