| Food of the Gods II | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Damian Lee |
| Produced by | Damian Lee David Mitchell |
| Written by | Richard Bennett E. Kim Brewster |
| Starring | Paul Coufos Lisa Schrage Colin Fox Frank Pellegrino Jackie Burroughs Michael Copeman |
| Music by | Dennis Haines Stephen W. Parsons |
| Cinematography | Curtis Petersen |
| Editing by | David Mitchell |
| Distributed by | Carolco Pictures New Line Cinema Seven Arts Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 19, 1989 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Food of the Gods II, sometimes referred to as Gnaw: Food of the Gods II as well as Food of the Gods part 2, is a 1989 film that is a very loose sequel to the 1976 Bert I. Gordon film based on H.G. Wells' novel, The Food of the Gods. It is a sequel in name only, as its plot bears no relation to the 1976 film.
Dr. Neil Hamilton (Paul Coufos) receives a call from his old professor Dr. Kate Travis (Jackie Burroughs) about a patient of hers, a boy named Bobby. Bobby was given an experimental growth serum Travis had developed. The problem is a side effect of the serum. Bobby has not only grown, but has also become violent and difficult to control. Neil takes a sample of the growth serum back to his university lab, which is being protested by animal-rights activists led by Mark Hales (Réal Andrews) and Alex Reed (Lisa Schrage), who is also Neil's girlfriend. The group has problems with the work of Prof. Edmund Delhurst (Colin Fox), who claims to study cancer, actually experiments on animals to find a cure for baldness.
Neil and his assistant Joshua (Frank Pellegrino) test the growth serum on some lab rats. Later that night, the activists (minus Alex) break into the university. They trash Neil's lab, accidentally setting free the now-giant rats, which kill Mark and escape into the campus' utility tunnels. Despite testimony from the surviving activists as well as Neil's own admission that he used a growth hormone, police Lieutenant Weizel (Michael Copeman) does not believe their story. Dean White (David B. Nichols) hires a pair of exterminators to handle what he believes are only normal rats.
The rats kill several people, including one of the exterminators and the rest of the activists, who tried to hunt the animals down themselves. Although Lieutenant Weizel now believes the story, Dean White is still skeptical. He refuses to shut the campus down because of an upcoming grand opening of a new sports complex. When Joshua is killed because of White's denial, Neil attacks the Dean and is fired.
Suspicious of Neil's "side project", Edmund Delhurst takes the growth formula samples. He dies when he tests it on a sample of dog cancer cells, cutting his finger and contaminating his blood with the cancer cells and growth serum. He transforms into one giant mass of cancerous tumors. Neil breaks back into the university, develops an antidote and tests it out on the tumorous mass that was once Delhurst. Meanwhile, the rats attack the swimming competition being held in the new sports complex, killing several people, including Dean White.
Weizel and his men arrive and, with Neil's assistance, lures the rats into the university courtyard, where they gun them all down. With the carnage over, Neil phones Dr. Travis to inform her of the completed antidote, but it is too late. The now-psychotic and much bigger Bobby kills Travis while she is on the phone, and escapes.
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