Lots of human error adds up to one colossal mess in this follow-up (rather than true sequel) to the 1976 film adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Food of the Gods". A growth hormone, initially used on produce, is injected into one rat, and the effects spread to other rats, which all develop a taste for human flesh after they become giants. The monstrous rodents then terrorize a college campus.Almost all of the human characters are stupid beyond belief, so ones' instincts will be to side with the rats and enjoy watching these people become rat chow. Written by Richard Bennett & E. Kim Brewster, and directed by Damian Lee, "Food of the Gods II" is so uproariously idiotic that you have to believe that these filmmakers were definitely going for tongue in cheek. The dialogue is dumb, the characters are insipid, and the movie utterly devoid of anything resembling suspense. But the good news is that this is quite violent and gory, and people will laugh in appreciation and approval at the hideous demises on display. The music by Dennis Haines & Stephen W. Parsons is pretty absurd at times, adding to the comical feel.Among the highlights: a subplot about a giant kid (Sean Mitchell), a memorable nightmare sequence, and the riotous climax where the rats run amok during the grand opening of the colleges' brand spanking new sports complex, disrupting some synchronized swimming.Paul Coufos ("The Lost Empire", "Chopping Mall"), who somewhat resembles Jeff Fahey, makes the mistake of taking himself too seriously, while at least some of the others here know they're performing in utter schlock and deliver goofy performances (like that priceless janitor Zeke (David Koyle)). And the lovely Lisa Schrage, the villainess of "Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II", is on hand to play the leading lady. Prominent Canadian actors Colin Fox ("Daylight") and Jackie Burroughs ("The Dead Zone") are among the supporting cast.Quite entertaining, provided that you know what to expect and enjoy this sort of thing to begin with.Seven out of 10.

What is 'Gnaw Food of the Gods' about? Well it starts out very exciting with grandmotherly scientist introducing our hero Dr. Hamilton to a ten foot boy screaming out them to, "Get the fxxx out of my room!" Wow! What a great scene! A super growth hormone has turned an innocent child into a monster and now a cure must be found. This movie really had me hooked. However, besides two other short scenes that's the LAST WE'LL SEE OF THAT STORYLINE!!! Instead the movie quickly degenerates into a cheap giant killer rat movie. Not that we ever see the giant rats. No, instead we just get POV shots of people screaming. I'm reminded of 'Grizzly II The Concert.' The first rule of a monster movie is to have a monster! If you're still having any thoughts of wasting your time on this snore fest I'll summarize the plot so you can see how horrible it is.So Dr. Hamilton brings the growth hormone back to his cheap lab at a community college to find a cure.Dr. Hamilton also just happens to be giving extra credit lessons to one of his students who's joined an animal rights group protesting the community college's animal experiments on... rats. Yes just rats. I had no idea there was a save the lap rats movement.PETR People For the Ethical Treatment of Rats breaks into Dr. Hamilton's lab and frees his lab rats whom predictably get into the super growth hormone.Giant killer rats on the loose at a community college. Oh the horror. The police are always on scene but they don't actually do anything until the end! This is why giant killer rats aren't as scary as an actual swarm of rats. They're big, they're easier to kill! Just shoot them! No, the rats don't start breeding rapidly like real life rats. There are only a dozen of them. Shoot them! They're hard to miss.Of course they're would be other easy ways to kill giant rats like... rat poison. Just use a large dose.In the climax the rats attack the school's synchronized swimming event. The police arrive and... shoot them. Yes that's how you kill animals. Just shoot them. They could have done this days ago! Dr. Hamilton protests this, pleading for the life of his beloved pet rat. When your pet is as big as a wolf it's time to put it down. If they're expecting anyone to feel emotions for the death of rat it won't work.So what becomes of that poor little boy? The movie doesn't care. It's too focused on rats... oh wait there are no rats just POV shots! Skip this whole mess of a movie. Even if you like giant killer rats you'll hate this movie because it doesn't even have giant killer rats just POV shots!

At a small American University, Professor Edmund Delhurst and his assistant Brett (Robert Kennedy) are performing experiments on rats to try and create a cure for both cancer and as a sort of hobby baldness. Animal rights activists Mark (Real Andrews), Alex (Lisa Schrage), Al (Stuart Hughes) and Angie (Karen Hines) break into Delhurst's lab and destroy his equipment and notes. Meanwhile fellow research scientist Neil Hamilton (Paul Coufos), who conducts his experiments on fruit and vegetables, is asked for help by one of his old teachers, Dr. Kate Treger (Jackie Burroughs). Kate has been trying to halt the growth pattern of a young boy named Bobby (Sean Mitchell) with a drug named 1-92. However, instead of reducing his height and growth the drug in fact actually increases it. She asks Hamilton for help, he agrees but tells Dr. Treger he needs samples to work with. So everything he asks for is sent over to his lab back on campus. Hamilton experiments long into the night and creates a serum that accelerates growth in tomato's, now he figures all he has to do is create an antidote. Hamilton's assistant Joshua (Frank Pellegrino) convinces him he must test any serum he develops on rats first, claiming that he's potentially gambling with Bobby's life, he agrees and some rats are taken from the biology department. Before he knows whats happening his girlfriend and animal rights activist Alex turns up at his lab, not wanting to get into an argument over the rats with Alex, Neil and Joshua hide the rats behind the giant tomato plant. The inevitable happens and the rats start to eat the giant tomato's through the bars on their cage. Later that night animal rights activists Mark, Al and Angie break into Hamilton's lab and in an accident all the infected rats escape. Before long there are loads of giant mutant rats running around the campus and feeding on the staff and students. Hamilton wants Dean White (David B.Nichols) to evacuate but is told that he doesn't want a scandal, and cannot cancel a party for the opening of a new Olympic standard swimming pool, which a lot of rich and influential people will be attending. Lieutenant Wetzel (Micheal Copeman) claims since it's private property that his hands are tied. As the bodies mount up Hamilton must find a way to locate and destroy the killer rats and save Bobby before it's too late. Directed by Damien Lee I liked this, even though the way it's filmed is very flat, the production design and photography screams made for T.V. It certainly kept me entertained me for an hour and twenty odd minutes. The script by Richard Bennett and E.Kim Brewster keeps moving at a fair pace and is entertaining enough. But I still don't understand why Hamilton develops a serum that increases growth when he needs to develop a serum for Bobby to reverse his growth. The gore effects look OK with various ripped off faces, limbless torsos, decapitated heads, bitten off arms and torn out backs, but the stand out scene is where one of Hamilton's fellow scientists tries to steal his growth serum and cuts his finger on a glass slide and becomes infected with the serum, he starts to bubble up and melt in a pretty gross looking scene that boasts good make up effects, just ignore the crew member you can see in the bottom left hand corner of the picture with a syringe pumping the white goo that comes out of his bubbling skin. The giant rat effects weren't as bad as some say, a mixture of normal rats and miniature surroundings plus basic puppets, their only seen in quick flashes and didn't look that bad to my eyes. The giant hand effect at the end looks terrible, though. There is only one scene of nudity. The simplistic music sounds at times like it was composed on a children's electric keyboard. Overall I quite liked it and think it's at least worth a watch.

In the first one it was mainly giant rats, but there were some wasps and a giant chicken too. This one, however, is just giant rats period, well giant rats and one really growing little boy. This one is about this growing boy and a scientist that is trying to help him so he accidentally creates giant killer rats...you know how it is. This movie has some kills and its moments, but I find it to be on par with the original, I just prefer some variety in my giant creature movies. Well, that is not true...I actually like "Empire of the Ants", maybe I just do not care for giant rodents. All in all a rather drab movie though it does have one rather odd turn of events in this one dream sequence that is truly bizarre. I just can't recommend this one.