Poor James Herbert. Not only was he never truly given the recognition he deserved for his writing, in my view, but he also saw his material adapted into movies that ranged from the awful to the dull, to the entertainingly bad. Deadly Eyes, an adaptation of "The Rats", falls into the latter category, although I'll admit that I'm loathe to consider it actually bad.
The basic premise is simple. A load of contaminated grain leads to large, killer rats, and it's eventually up to a school teacher, Paul Harris (Sam Groom), and a health inspector, Kelly Leonard (Sara Botsford), to save the day. They might have some assistance from Dr. Louis Spenser (Cec Linder), an expert in rats who doesn't realise the full extent of the problem, but they'll struggle to keep themselves safe from the overgrown, deadly, rodents.
Adapting the hugely successful novel by Herbert seems like a no-brainer, especially in the early 1980s, when practical effects and a certain less restrained approach to getting wild antics on film would make this a more exciting prospect. But it's odd that this was given to Robert Clouse, a director best known for his work in martial arts movies (including a contender for the greatest of all time, and certainly the most iconic Bruce Lee movie, Enter The Dragon). Clouse had given us killer animals before (The Pack in 1977), and perhaps his work with dogs made him a strong contender here - as the large rats were depicted by Daschunds in rat costumes. He still feels like an odd fit though, with the material being ripe for a movie adaptation that could pile on the grisliness at every opportunity.
The script, based on an earlier treatment by Lonon F. Smith, is credited to Charles H. Eglee. It's certainly better than his first feature script (Piranha II: The Spawning), but that isn't really saying much. It's obvious, however, that this is a film that would have been massively improved by better special effects and some extra gore gags. Although the plotting is basic, and a bit laughable in places, it's really not often that far removed from the entertainingly brisk source material.
It's also a shame that the film isn't cast better. Groom gives a performance that is only slightly better than his turn in Deadly Games (at least there was a double-bill of Deadly films for him in 1982). Botsford tries her best, but she's often stuck playing second fiddle to Groom's character. Linder is the typical and reliable voice providing viewers with some extra facts, and a potential solution to the problem, and he plays his part well, and the other memorable character is Trudy White, played well by Lisa Langlois. Trudy is a student who has a crush on Mr. Harris, and Langlois is enjoyably coquettish and sweet in her role.
By most standard ways of judging such things, Deadly Eyes isn't a good film. It's not a good horror film. It's not a great adaptation of a fantastic book. And yet . . . it kind of is. It doesn't do enough to make the costume-wearing Daschunds convincing, nor does it do enough to be classed as one of the better directorial efforts from Clouse, but it does enough to entertain people who want something silly and undemanding.
6/10
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