Of Unknown Origin Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1983

Of Unknown Origin is one of the best psychological thrillers that you likely have never seen. I realize this is quite the sweeping claim to make, particularly before the review has gotten underway, but I'm not going to make any bones about it: this is the best rat versus man film I have ever seen. Deftly avoiding the cheap trappings of the cheesy and often gory killer animal B-movies, Of Unknown Origin presents an intelligent tale filled with tension so thick you can cut it with a knife.

So put aside your Willard and Ben tapes for now, because it's time to take a closer look at the new king of rat movies.

Watch and weep, you furry f**ker. – Bart Hughes

Killer animal films have always been a guilty pleasure for me, so life was good in the 70's and earlier 80's when the genre offered a nice assortment of such films. Frogs, bees, birds, dogs, spiders, snakes, rats… if it lived and breathed, chances are some director out there turned it into a psycho killer that preyed upon humanity. But although I generally enjoy catching these types of films, I'll be the first to admit many of them are pure trash not even worth ten minutes of a viewer's time (particularly the Sci-Fi channel exclusives!).

Somehow Of Unknown Origin managed to slip right by me in the 80's, and it was through sheer luck that I stumbled across it recently. On a widescreen DVD, no less! Yes, the DVD gods were smiling upon me to give such an obscure gem the royal treatment. So not really knowing what to expect, I slipped the DVD into the player and got comfortable.

Bart Hughes (Peter Weller) is a successful businessman quickly rising up the corporate ladder in the Manhattan financial firm he works at. He has it all – a luxurious brownstone home, a beautiful wife, a charming son and all the trappings that comes with a lucrative career.

When his wife decides to take their son and visit her father for a few days, Bart has the home to himself. Initially he has no time to miss their absence either, for his boss, Eliot Riverton (Lawrence Dane), has offered him a choice promotion. There's just one catch: in order to receive the promotion Bart must prove himself by completing a complicated project within two weeks.

One evening while working on his project at home his dishwasher floods the kitchen. The next day Clete (Louis Del Grande), a superintendent, shows the cause of the flood: a rat chewed through the sturdy cables! Bart refuses to believe a rat exists in his home, but he humors Clete by laying down some standard wooden mousetraps before leaving for work the next day.

Upon returning home from work he discovers evidence that a rat truly is residing in the home. No, he didn't catch the little bugger with his traps… instead the rat absolutely destroyed the traps by chewing up the wood and bending the metal! So begins the war between man and rat.

What really works about Of Unknown Origin is its atmosphere: it is both realistic and surreal. We can immediately identify with Bart and his frustrations as a darn rat begins to destroy his property. We sympathize with him when his attempts to capture or kill the rat meet with failure each time. And we feel his pain when the confrontation escalates to outright violence.

Of Unknown Origin has moments of wicked yet subtle humor and absurdity (though it's not a horror spoof), but for the most part the pace and happenings are grounded enough in reality that we easily identify with how Bart is feeling. The film spends more time on the slow psychological breakdown of Bart as he deals with the stress of an essential work project and a rat determined to force a confrontation than it does on violence. Don't expect to see the body count offered in other killer animal films like Willard – that's not what Of Unknown Origin is about.

It's not until the final third of the film that Of Unknown Origin proudly leaps out of the realm of reality for the final confrontation between man and rat… and what a wholly satisfying battle it is.

This film would never have worked without Peter Weller's masterful performance. Although he'll always be best known for his role as Robocop, quite frankly his Robocop performance was amateurish when compared to this gem. I developed a new respect for Weller after watching him here.

What if you were afraid to sleep for fear that the rat would attack you when you were most vulnerable? What if you were afraid to walk barefoot on the floor for fear that the rat would bite your feet? These are the types of questions you will likely ask yourself as you get immersed into this tense thriller.

Of Unknown Origin gets my highest recommendation. If you enjoy psychological thrillers or killer animal films, you owe it to yourself to check out this obscure 80's gem.

Movie rating: 10 stars

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