cinema history class: empire of the ants (1977)

The session: "A tribute to Mr. Big: Bert I. Gordon Month"
This month we pay tribute to director Bert I. Gordon, who passed away this past March at age 100

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 4: Empire of the Ants (1977)
Directed by Bert I. Gordon

My Impressions Going In:

I had never heard of this

Plot:

A con artist and her intended marks are touring some Florida swampland real estate. Little do they know, the area is overrun by giant ants.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

We've all seen movies where the plot is, essentially, a bunch of people are trying to survive while they try to get somewhere while being chased or stalked by some dangerous monster. They get picked off one at a time and primary source of suspense is in wondering who will survive (and, I suppose, how). It almost doesn't matter what the monster is. It can be a wild animal, a space alien, zombies.

Early on, I was settling in to watch one more of these monster movies. This time, with giant ants. But Empire features a twist on the old concept. In Empire, the ants aren't simply stalking the people; they're herding them to turn them into slaves. Ordinarily, that revelation would be a spoiler. But the trailer makes that part of the plot clear. Of course, I hadn't seen the trailer before Keith showed us the movie, so that turn of events came as a surprise.

And I was having fun as it slowly dawned on me. "Oh, they're herding the people...just like the opening narration said they do with other insects." "Oh, they're going to make the people work for them...just like the opening narration said they do with other insects." When the movie opened with an educational clip about ants, I was getting annoyed. That's often a cheap device. But as I repeatedly related events in the movie to what we had been told in narration, I was actually appreciating the opening.

The movie did a good job of introducing the monsters at just the right time. They didn't appear too soon, and there was a little bit of tease, but we didn't have to wait too long.

Ratings

Me: 9

Bob-O: 9.2

Christina: 9.5

Dave: 9.6

Ethan: 8

Joe: 10