The Rats (working title: The Colony[citation needed]) is a 2002 American made-for-TV horror film written by Frank Deasy and directed by John Lafia, loosely based on the novel of the same name by James Herbert.

The plot follows a clan of rats transformed, as part of a DNA research trial, into man-eating killers who take over a Manhattan department store and threaten to overrun New York City.

In Manhattan, when a client is bitten by a rat in the dressing room of Garsons Department Store and contracts Weil's disease, the manager Susan Costello is assigned to hire and help the best exterminator in New York, Jack Carver.

"[2] Rod Lott from "Flick Attack" wrote: "Come up with a cliché, and sooner or later, The Rats gets to it, right down to the ever-predictable it-ain’t-really-over final shot.

Child’s Play 2 and Man’s Best Friend director John Lafia does a decent job, having experience with all sorts of beasts, like killer dolls, robot dogs and Ally Sheedy.