Of Unknown Origin

Of Unknown Origin
Of Unknown Origin
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George P. Cosmatos
Written by	Brian Taggert
Based on	The Visitor; by Chauncey G. Parker III
Produced by	Pierre David; Claude Heroux
Starring	Peter Weller; Jennifer Dale; Lawrence Dane; Kenneth Welsh; Louis Del Grande;
Cinematography	Rene Verzier
Edited by	Roberto Silvo
Music by	Kenneth Wannberg
Production; companies	Warner Bros.; Canadian Film Development Corporation; Famous Players Limited; Les Productions Mutuelles
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	November 24, 1983 (USA)
Running time	89 minutes
Countries	Canada; United States
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000
Box office	$1,080,470 (USA)

Of Unknown Origin is a 1983 Canadian-American horror film directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Peter Weller. It was written by Brian Taggert and based on the novel The Visitor by Chauncey G. Parker III. It was filmed on location in Montreal, Quebec but set in New York City.^[1] The film won two awards at the Paris Film Festival.^[2]

Synopsis[]

Mild-mannered everyman Bart Hughes has a great life in New York City. When his wife and child leave for a vacation, Bart stays behind to work on a project that should get him a promotion. Some sort of rodent in his basement starts to bother him and consumes his time. Bart becomes obsessed with it and eventually starts losing his mind while trying to kill the creature, destroying most of his house in the process. The film's title comes from research Bart does and which he shares at a dinner party, stating erroneously that rats have no known origin.

Cast[]

Peter Weller as Bart Hughes
Jennifer Dale as Lorrie Wells
Aimée Castle as Birthday
Kenneth Welsh as James Hall
Louis Del Grande as Clete
Shannon Tweed as Meg Hughes
Keith Knight as Hardware
Maury Chaykin as Dan Errol

Critical reception[]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times had nothing but disdain for the movie, but lightly praised Weller's performance and opens his review:

Peter Weller, one of our best young stage and screen actors, is not at all bad in a rather terrible, Canadian suspense-horror film mysteriously titled Of Unknown Origin.^[3]

Home Video[]

Warner Bros. released the film on VHS and DVD.

Scream Factory released the film on Blu-ray for the first time on May 22, 2018 featuring a new 2K scan from an interpositive element.^[4]

References[]

^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086036/locations
^ Awards for Of Unknown Origin at IMDb
^ Canby, Vincent (1983-11-24). "Movie Review - Of Unknown Origin - 'UNKNOWN ORIGIN' - NYTimes.com". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
^ "Of Unknown Origin". Shout! Factory.

External links[]

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[1] ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086036/locations

[2] Awards for Of Unknown Origin at IMDb

[3] Canby, Vincent (1983-11-24). "Movie Review - Of Unknown Origin - 'UNKNOWN ORIGIN' - NYTimes.com". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-09-19.

[4] "Of Unknown Origin". Shout! Factory.

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