MJRM2009: Ratboy (1986)

I have no idea where I originally saw this movie, but deep in the recesses of my memory, I thought I loved this...

And I think I still do, but, Ratboy is bad, I mean a real stinker. Starring and directed by Sondra Locke, it’s hard to tell what we’re watching. It’s not really funny, it’s hard to establish any real drama here, like in ET or something similar, and it’s kind of slow as hell. Locke starts by trying to pimp out the rat/human hybrid kidnapped from his sewer dwelling but he just wants to left alone. Even Mr. Belvedere makes an appearance to help Ratboy assimilate into his new non-sewer life. Ratboy just wants to crush on Locke and not be out in the public, though I will say he deals with people reasonably well considering his circumstances. So anyways, he eventually freaks out and runs away, people chase him, Locke realizes he should be left alone, the end.

And actually Ratboy is really Ratgirl, Eugene is played by former Mousketeer Sharon Baird (funny how that worked out) with help from make up maestro Rick Baker and big puffy shirt to hide her boobs.




Ratboy has a number of comedian appearances and cameos including Louie Anderson, Bill Maher, Robert Townsend, Gerrit Graham and Larry Hankin. I have no idea why in the hell Locke would want to make this movie, and wouldn’t be surprised if she and Clint ended up destroying all the prints. Maybe this is why they broke up even, I mean, I hate to spread rumors, but the connection would seem obvious after you’ve watched this all the way through. And now that I think about it, Locke was no stranger to rat movies. She also starred in the original Willard, which was followed by Ben, whose title song was performed MJ, which is why we’re even talking about Ratboy right now. Amazing how that worked out, if not for her and Clint.



To date, Ratboy doesn’t have a DVD release (not surprising), but you can find used VHS copies around the web.

EDIT: Ah, well, Blogger took down our previous post because of the MJ song, and any explanation of why we’re talking rats. Basically, MJ sang them theme to Ben, so we’re honoring his memory with a week’s worth of rat posts. Reasonable, no?