To me, this movie is perfection.

Powerful

Absolutely the worst movie.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I had a lot of problems with this film, mostly because its nowhere near what you'd expect. The "Food" that is causing all of the animals to grow to incredible sizes affects Bees, Worms, and other animals on the island. The main threat however, are the giant rats, that prey on humans. The first parts of the film are pretty good, but after the halfway point, the film tends to drag itself out a bit. Don't get me wrong, this movie is way better than some of the other giant rat movies I've seen, playing on the natural fear of rodents. What makes it worse is that it is psychologically trying (but telling you why would include spoilers).

In 1976 my parents took us kids to see this movie not realizing what we were about to see. I was only six years old and a particular scene is seared into my memory. There was a woman reaching into a cupboard and when she withdrew her hand she had a large cockroach on her arm. Next thing I know my mom puts her hand over my eyes and tells my dad to drive. Forty years later it's still with me.Just recently I was flipping through the channels and low and behold what do I see listed? You guessed it, FOOD OF THE GODS! I had to see what I missed. It's funny how time and age can change your perception. At six I was terrified of big bugs. At forty-six I found the whole thing laughable. I suppose that in 1976 the special effects were decent enough, in this day and age watching a herd of gigantic rats was hilarious. My teenage son and husband couldn't believe that this movie scared me.So if you're looking for a good fright, you should give this movie a pass. However, if all you're looking for is a good time and not wanting to take anything seriously this is the movie for you.

On an island, some crazy old lady and her husband found some white goo seeping out of the earth. So, they did what anyone would do--they mixed it with animal feed and gave it to their farm animals. The animals then grew to enormous proportions and soon had a craving for human flesh. Some particularly dim people get themselves stuck on the island and must fight giant animal models (being thrust at them by people from the props department) to survive. All the while, a REALLY dumb rich guy is imagining the riches he'll make by harvesting this goo! I was not at all surprised to see Marjoe Gortner starring in a crap movie like this. What surprised me was seeing some once decent actors whoring themselves out in this film. To a small extent I was surprised to see Ralph Meeker but even more surprising was the famous 1930s-40 actress/director Ida Lupino. Was she bankrupt? Was she being blackmailed?! All I know is that the film is every bit as bad as the worst giant animal films of the 50s and 60s and 70s and these two never should have taken these parts.Dumb acting, VERY dumb writing, horrible props and the like sink this production. One of the finer moments in the film was when giant bees attack as folks are INSIDE the cabin--so naturally one of them goes outside with a shovel to fight them! Later, when a Winnebago has a GIANT rat on the roof, the husband tells his wife (who is safely inside) to come outside to see the rat that is the size of a cow! Duh!!! By the way, this film would make a wonderful double-feature with "Night of the Lepus"--a 70s film about giant killer bunnies that is nearly the equal to "Food of the Gods" in the stupidity department.

Three friends with big faces go to an island to relax by chasing a deer to death with dogs. There's so many over-sized faces at the start of this movie it's like watching Easter Island statues bobbing around. This merry jaunt is interrupted when some giant wasps kill one of them.This film is full of laughs, most of which come from the unconvincing giant animals. The rats look OK in close up but the giant chicken is one of the funniest monsters I've ever seen and easily the highlight of the entire film.I liked the character development too. They want to show that the businessman is a real typical 70's businessman jerk so there's one line where he stands opening a gate and says "open the god dam gate" for no obvious reason. Granted it's not quite on a par with a giant chicken head pecking at you but it made me laugh all the same. The crazy religious woman is equally subtly sketched with her endless talk of sin. The ultra-hostile "female bacteriologist" is pretty funny too. Check out the bit where her biological clock goes off during a rat attack. Funny stuff.The whole movie is pretty much rats being shot with paint ball pellets while roaring like a tiger and climbing on a dolls house. The basic fact that rats can swim doesn't fit with the ending so there's a clunky scene where we get told that giant rats can't swim. They can't swim OK, and we're not just saying that because we've already filmed the ending before someone pointed out that they can swim.Also, how come there's a dam on an island in the first place? Geography wasn't my best subject but wouldn't that mean the island was lower than the level of the water? If you've seen any of Big Berts other movies you'll know what to expect. Definitely one for bad movie fans only!