The Film (4/5)

    Bart Hughes is a corporate executive who is currently trying to obtain a promotion, he has also just purchased a Manhattan brownstone for his wife and young son. He is quite proud of the house, and has been working on it in his spare time, on his own to make it perfect. However, while his wife is on vacation he notices that an unexpected visitor has arrived, a giant rat, and its spawn.   Bart, at first, thinks it's going to be a simple job of catching, and killing the rat, but this rat is much more than a simple rat, and it becomes a battle of wits between man and rodent as he struggles to take down the beast, keep up with his corporate workload, and maintain his sanity.

   I'm going to preface this, by saying I had no idea what I was in for with Of Unknown Origin. The description on the back of the Scream Blu describes it as both clever and scary, so popping it into my player at 1 AM. I was wondering if it was something I would be finishing in the morning, or staying up to finish. As it turns out it was the latter.  In many ways Of Unknown Origin, is probably one of the sleeper surprises to hit the format for me personally this year.  I hadn't seen or even heard of the film prior to this announcement, and was quite surprised by what I saw. Any viewer expecting a typical animal attack horror, or creature-feature will be disappointed in this film, however, those that go in with an open mind will certainly be rewarded.

   Of Unknown Origin plays out like a truly dark black comedy, satirizing the upscale wannabe yuppie dream of the 1980's. It is basically a deconstruction of one corporate rich man's lifestyle as he is forced into a primal state of mind to fight against a mutant rat.  The film also offers a nice blend of suspense and scares, and interweaves them with darkly comic moments.  Though the film has a reasonably sized cast the film is essentially the Peter Weller show, and almost the entire film rest on his shoulders.  His performance goes from a confident corporate executive to an exhausted, stressed out guy, whose determination has shifted to a single minded focus on killing the rat which has taken over his house and his life, and the transformation, which is at first subtle, is amazing and at times hysterical to watch.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

    Scream Factory presents Of Unknown Origin in a quite solid 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded. The transfer is taken from a scan of the inter positive, Scream does solid work with it here providing some nice stable colors, solid blacks, and decent detail throughout the film. There is a solid healthy grain structure at play with no apparent issues.

    Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA mono track in English. Everything here sounds quite solid with no issues.

Extras (3/5)

     The disc kicks off with an archival commentary with director George P. Cosmatos and Peter Weller. We also get interviews with writer Brian Taggert, producer Pierre David, and actor Louis Del Grande. The disc is rounded by a trailer and still gallery.

Overall

   Of Unknown Origin was a totally amazing surprise as far as horror releases go this year. It is a nice mix of black comedy, suspense and scares. The Blu-ray from Scream Factory looks and sounds quite decent, and it has a respectable selection of extras giving a solid insight into the film itself. RECOMMENDED.