Empire of the Ants (1977)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

Bert I. Gordon (screen story)
Jack Turley (writer)

Release Date:

July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

For they shall inherit the earth... sooner than you think!

Plot:

Sleazy scam artist Joan Collins tries to sell phony real estate deals down in the Florida everglades...

Plot Keywords:

Ant | Florida | Florida Everglades | Beautiful Woman | Ant Attack

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Joan Collins	...	Marilyn Fryser
Robert Lansing	...	Dan Stokely
John David Carson	...	Joe Morrison
Albert Salmi	...	Sheriff Art Kincade
Jacqueline Scott	...	Margaret Ellis
Pamela Susan Shoop	...	Coreen Bradford (as Pamela Shoop)
Robert Pine	...	Larry Graham
Edward Power	...	Charlie Pearson
Brooke Palance	...	Christine Graham
Tom Fadden	...	Sam Russell
Irene Tedrow	...	Velma Thompson
Harry Holcombe	...	Harry Thompson
Jack Kosslyn	...	Thomas Lawson
Ilse Earl	...	Mary Lawson
Janie Gavin	...	Ginny, the car rental agent

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' Empire of the Ants (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG (Certificate #24828)

Filming Locations:

Belle Glade, Florida, USA

Company:

Cinema 77

Trivia:

Inspiration for the phrase, "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords," where insect is usually replaced or substituted in an ironic sense. Though no character in "Empire of the Ants" says this line, "The Simpsons" (1989) character of newscaster Kent Brockman says it in the episode "Deep Space Homer" and is alluding to the theme of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before the Captain jumps in the ocean to try and save the boat, he takes off his shoes. After he burns the boat, he jumps in the water and you can clearly see his shoes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blow Out (1981)

"Stink Bug" would have been a more honest title...

There is a reason why Bert I. Gordon's American-International cheapies were paid more lip service than the works of Ed Wood on the now-defunct Satellite of Love: the man carries the dishonorable title of being one of the most inept directors of low-budget schlock. But whereas stuff like "The Amazing Colossal Man" (a man turned giant by atomic testing) and "Beginning of the End" (Peter Graves vs. giant grasshoppers) had a certain charm reflective of the 1950s' "high- concept/low-budget" brand of sci-fi, "Empire of the Ants" is a bottom-feeder from start to finish, trying desperately to capture the low-grade magic of a bygone era. The only real merit of "Ants" is its nostalgia value--yes, I would watch this as a child and be utterly terrified of those bloodthirsty, radiation-grown buggers; years later, the puppet heads being shaken off-camera are less than impressive (as is Gordon's excessively shaking camera during the attack scenes), as is the stock footage blown up to make the ants tower over our human protagonists. The exposition scenes are painfully awkward, the dialog mostly atrocious, and the performances reflect this (with dismal results). The film is padded out with nonsensical clichés (the old couple who wanders off for no reason; the girl who sprains her ankle; another who gets snagged on a branch) and incredible lapses in logic (why can't our zeroes see or hear a cluster of ants that are mere feet away?), which culminates in a third act that apparently tries to wax philosophical in the vein of H.G. Wells' original story (which I haven't read) but falls flat on its face. "Empire of the Ants" is an interesting epitaph for a genre that has long since passed, but its best possible fate will probably be drunken viewing at your next house party.