Rise of the Rats Trailer: British Horror-Punk From Black Mandala

Black Mandala has released the trailer for Rise of the Rats, a British horror-punk feature directed by Stephen Roach (The Crucifix: Blood of the Exorcist, Cookster: The Darkest Days). The company represents the film internationally.

Rise of the Rats (2026) — British horror-punk feature from Stephen Roach. Courtesy of Black Mandala.

Roach draws inspiration from 1980s genre favorites like The Lost Boys, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Gremlins, blending horror, dark humor, and punk energy in something unmistakably British. “Rise of the Rats grew out of a desire to create a horror film driven by a true punk spirit,” the director says, describing something energetic, entertaining, rebellious, and full of character.

Kayla Thornhill, a rebellious young punk, travels with her estranged father, Jack, to Ditchfield, the town where he grew up. The homecoming turns sinister when Kayla finds the town suffering a relentless rat infestation and learns of a brutal act of collective violence the residents have spent decades trying to bury. From that buried history emerges the Rat Man, a grotesque embodiment of the town’s guilt, who unleashes hordes of bloodthirsty rats as he exacts revenge. Kayla must face the truth about her father’s connection to the town’s darkest secret.

Beneath the chaos, the filmmakers say the story explores what happens when the past is allowed to rot, with the creature standing in for inherited trauma, guilt, violence, and abandonment.

The cast includes Grace Gallagher, Mark Collier, Tania Staite, Jamie Nowski, Shayli Reagan, Darren Le Fevre, and Adrian Annis. Robert Howgate wrote the script and produced. Roach also serves as cinematographer, and Karl Casey and Daniel Garavini composed the music.

Watch the trailer below.