I watched this movie with an open mind, knowing it was made in 1983, and so not to expect staggering special effects when it comes to the horror part. The story is, as you could guess, about the battle between a man and a rat. A rat invading his private space, the house he completely renovated. It's almost a one man movie, with Peter Weller as the main character. Sure there are other actors in Of Unknown Origin, but the main story is just the battle between Peter Weller and the rat. Seeing Peter Weller turning from a normal human being to a psychotic obsessed person was a clever move in this movie. It makes it interesting to watch. Good acting with a simple but effective story.

This rat movie is basically Moby Dick. OK yeah, it's more The Old Man and the Sea. Oh yeah those are just the loaded references made to superior influences in this film.It's yuppie class climber versus the rat race and the slow descent into unhappiness and madness that that entails. Your hot wife goes on vacation with daddy without you. Her dad has money and rubs it in your face because you come from nothing. Your kid eats rat poison. You maybe almost cheat on your wife. You drink. Your brownstone gets trashed. Money is hard.This is a fun flick for sure, and the man vs beast metaphor is used supremely well. The moment Bart (Peter Weller) is offered the "big project" of his dreams, with the money and dehumanizing that inherently represents, the film cuts to the first shot of the rat coming to life in the brownstone and beginning his reign of terror. Subtle? Maybe not, but with killer rats it doesn't need to be.It doesn't stick the landing though. I never bought the supposed marital tension or his obsession with renovating the brownstone over family time. He seemed like a nice guy pulled a bit thin. I guess that makes him rootable, but also his journey less believable.The title is killer and the scene where he rattles off all his rat facts to a flabbergasted table full of moneyed people is a treat.

Bart Hughes (Peter Weller) is living the good life in New York City. Prestigious, high-paying job with ample opportunity for advancement? Check. Attractive and supportive spouse? Check. Nice, newly-renovated three-story brownstone? Check. Infestation by large-sized, uncommonly-intelligent, extremely-destructive rodent? Che... Uh... Well life can't always be perfect, can it?With his wife (Shannon Tweed) and their young son out of town visiting her rich father, Bart has two whole weeks of peace and quiet to immerse himself in work in order to impress his boss (Lawrence Dane) and secure a promotion. One morning he notices his dishwasher has leaked and flooded out the kitchen. A closer look reveals a leaky hose that's been gnawed almost in half. Suspecting either a mouse or rat as the culprit, Bart turns to the building superintendent Clete (Louis Del Grande) for help. Clete tells him about all the various ways he can exterminate the pest ("You trap 'em, you poison 'em, you knock 'em on the head, you gas 'em or you shoot 'em.") but adds that rats are the only animal that can survive atomic bomb blasts. That's encouraging, huh? Bart puts out a bunch of old school wooden traps with cheese bait and goes about his day. Unfortunately, those traps end up easily demolished, and his later attempts to kill it using heavy-duty steel traps and poison also fail.All the while, the "furry f#?!er" makes Bart's life a living hell. It pops out of a toilet, attacks him when he tries to sleep, kills a stray cat he brings in, leaves black hairs all over the place, eats his food, breaks vases and photos, chews through the electrical wiring, chews through the phone wiring, chews holes in the ceiling and walls, chews up feather pillows and essentially turns his once-immaculate home into a complete dump. It isn't long before Bart is studying articles like "The Rat: Lapdog of the Devil," flipping through photos of bite victims and learning everything there is to know about rats. His obsession with killing the four-legged intruder ends up potentially threatening his job, his marriage and even his sanity, until he decides he's had enough and goes after it with a spiked baseball bat.Though flawed (it's essentially a one-idea film and grows repetitive and tedious at points), this isn't a bad movie. It's professionally made and directed and features good music, camera-work (including a neat shot inside the box springs of a mattress!) and special effects (a mixture of model rats and close-ups shots of real ones were used). Some of the writing is sharp, including a very amusing scene where Bart spoils a snobby dinner party by discussing some unpleasant facts about rats. Best of all though is Weller himself, who deserves a lot of credit for single-handedly holding the whole thing together, which is important considering his character is the only one of any interest whatsoever. It's also slightly more interesting than your usual 'animal attack' flick because it eschews the cliché every-man lead for a main character who's a not- particularly- likable dissatisfied yuppie control freak who cringes when one character sits on his pristine kitchen counter top. The makers appear to be using the rat metaphorically to represent all that threatens the uptight protagonist's affluent lifestyle by dethroning him as king in his own self-made castle.As I was watching this, the final segment in George Romero's CREEPSHOW (1982) - which featured E.G. Marshall as a rich old jerk whose spotless apartment is invaded by an army of killer cockroaches - quickly sprung to mind. Both of these tales are black comedies and both feature an upper-class character that has it made being forced to confront how most of the rest of the world lives when their privileged bubble is invaded by an unwelcome intruder. What's interesting is that both stories have completely different resolutions. Not surprisingly, Romero, whose work is typically bleak, opts for the grim finale, while Cosmatos, who'd make the raise-your-flag-and-cheer-on-Stallone-as-he-blows-away-the-bad-guys RAMBO II soon after this, goes for the positive. In other words, by watching both you get to see the same basic story told from two very specific yet completely different perspectives; one condemning and punishing what they perceive to be classism and the other taking a more optimistic stance by suggesting that anyone is capable of positive change given the right catalyst.

Bert Hughes is home alone in his Manhattan apartment,trying to work out a major change in his trust company when a noisy rat starts scratching around his periphery and he becomes obsessed with exterminating it.By the time Hughes is through,his whole apartment is nearly exterminated-and his friends are keeping their distance due to his rat-mania.Pretty suspenseful and effective rat invasion flick with terrific central performance of Peter Weller.Several memorable moments were the diner table discussion turned to rats and everyone felt uncomfortable;and the end battle with the rat.There are also some very effective jump scenes that were finding the cat on top of the refrigerator and the toilet scene.Overall,"Of Unknown Origin" is a fine animal attack film that deserves rediscovery.8 out of 10.