Towards the end of Bottom Feeder, Vince Stoker (Tom Sizemore) seizes a ringing phone from a government agent. On the other end is Charles Deaver (Richard Fitzpatrick). He is trapped inside his limousine, under attack by a disgruntled lab experiment with a voracious appetite.
Charles wants help, and being a billionaire, screams he’ll give Stoker $1 million if he save his life. Realizing an opportunity, Stoker throws out a $50 million offer. They bicker back and forth as the creature begins breaking into the limo. Negotiations fail, and Stoker is only flustered because he didn’t get the deal he wanted.
If all of Bottom Feeder was that witty and entertaining, this could have been a great piece of B-movie filmmaking. Unfortunately, it’s not, bogged by a plot that involves drug companies, the government, a street bum, a doctor turned into a rat monster, city workers, and an underground tunnel system.
Put that mess of ideas together and you have yourself a creature feature, one in which a prominent scientist is turned into a man-like rat in an abandoned tunnel system somewhere in Michigan. His new drug, one that can regenerate cells, has some side effects… specifically some the government is interested in.
Director Randy Daudlin is a make-up effects artist, so credit is due for using a man-in-a-suit as opposed to bargain basement CG to create the monster. Unfortunately, in full light, it doesn’t hold up, and the design doesn’t invoke fear. The thing looks dopey. It would have been perfect for a completely campy horror movie, but too much of Bottom Feeder is played straight. That’s when the obvious budget limitations begin crumbling the entertainment value.
The ending isn’t particularly clear either, but at least you get to see Tom Sizemore wandering around sewer-like tunnels and over dead bodies to get there. That has to be worth something. ![]()







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