Them!
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Movie Reviews of Them!
Movie Review: "EEK! It's THEM! THEM! THEM!''
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fun black and white horror sci-fi flick from the '50s. The special effects may seem dated in our age of CGI, and the idea of genetically mutated ants may seem cheesy, but the strong performances, cool facts about entomology and the chilling musical score/sound effects make up for it. (Believe it or not, this movie may teach you some stuff about the life of ants.) The sound and picture quality of this DVD are very good, but I found the special features to be a bit of a let down. Still, I recommend this movie to any one who enjoys these old sci-fi, horror movies.Movie Review: Good SciFi
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie takes me back to my childhood.......We watched this movie and wpuld be so scared that we could hardly go to bed after seeing it. All the actors and actresses were so good and so believeable. It was a movie that we could watch and it didn't have curse words or overly blood and guts like the movies of today have. I am grown up and have a child (now 21 years old) and she wanted me to get the DVD for her for Christmas, and I did.Movie Review: The "Go To" Monster movie of its era
Summary: 4 Stars
This is -in my view-THE monster movie ;an absolute classic of the mutant monster sub-genre ,this is the real thing .
Them are giant mutant ants ,the product of A-Bomb tests in New Mexico near the end of the Second World War .Years late they go om a rampage across the South-western USA ,looking for sugar and killing anyone who gets in their way.
Veteran State Trooper Sergeant Ben Peterson (James Whitmore)and his partner Officer Blackburn (Chris Drake)are the first to discover evidence of their depredations when they encounter a distraught young girl amidst the wreckage of her trailer home ,muttering "Them "as she sits in the middle of the wreckage .All the while the biterw inds whip up the desert sands into a storm as the tension slowly builds.Indeed ,whet sets this aside from amny inferior imitators is its measured ,atmospheric build up .It is a while before we cathch our first sight of the creatures and Gordon Douglas'direction expertly builds tension along the way
A father -daughter pair of scientists Dr Harold Medford and Dr Patricia Medford ,played respectively by Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon ,are called in to assist in the elimination of the problem with aid from FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness).Some are able to eacpe the desert environment and make their way to sea and attack cargo vessels while the others congregate in the LA storm drains where the climax takes place .
The movie spawned many imitators of varying quality from the excellent (Tarantula)to the risible (The Deadly Mantis anyone?)but all fall short of the quality on display here .The acting is crisp and authoratative ;the script is pointed and pretty overt in its criticism of the nuclear age .When asked by Agent Graham what bother horrors might lie in waiting Dr Harold Medford replies "Nobody knows .When man first entered the atomic age he opened a door into a new world.What he will find in that new world nobody can predict"
That speech sums up a whole genre and neaty exemplifies the paranoia at the root of much 1950's science fiction cum horror moviemaking .The ants do in truth look a little phoney by today's standards but they are used sparingly enough for this not to be a major problem
From its slow measured build up to its tension packed storm drian climax this is genre film making at its best .I unreservedly urge you to see it
Movie Review: One of the best of the black and white sci-fi movies.
Summary: 4 Stars
THEM takes place in a desert in New Mexico, in U.S. government meeting rooms in Washington, D.C., and in water conduits in downtown Los Angeles. The plot is familiar to sci-fi fans. Monsterous creatures are created as a by-product of atomic bomb testing. In this movie, they are giant ants. There is an elderly professor who takes care of the scientific sleuthing. There are various military personnel. And there is the beautiful assistant of the professor. At first, witnesses are quarantined or declared to be "crazy." But as the plot develops, the repeated sightings of the ants make it obvious that the witnesses are to be believed.
THEM is to be commended by the acting of a little girl who is in the state of shock, because her parents had been killed by the ants. This is an interesting nuance in the realm of cinema. Usually it is some adult who is mentally traumatized, not a child. THEM is also to be commended because it is often scientifically accurate. For example, during the sleuthing efforts it was determined that the victims had a high level of formic acid in their bodies, thereby providing a tip-off that the poisoning was by way of ants (the French word for ant is "formis." The term "formic acid" thus literally means "ant acid.") THEM is also to be commended for its depiction of the female assistant scientist, as she is shown to be assertive and a good source of scientific guidance. Here, there is a close parallel with IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA.
Baby boomers who watched television or movies from the 1960s will recognize a few actors who play minor or bit parts in this film. For example, Fess Parker (a.k.a. Davy Crockett) plays one of the early witnesses. He is a ranch hand who happened to be flying a small plane, when he encountered a flying giant ant. He was committed to a mental health facility, and confined by government authorities. Fess Parker can be recognized by his handsome face, but what is more distiguishing is his poor acting abilities. In the film under review (THEM), as well as in all the Davy Crockett movies, Fess Parker speaks his lines as though he were reciting the lines of a memorized poem.
THEM is one of the best of all the black and white science fiction films. It is not as good as IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, which features a six-armed octopus that attacks the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. But it is light-years better than THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, which takes place in the arctic, and contains way too much yakking, meaningless dialogue, and has a "monster" that is just a man wearing rubber gloves.
The movie under review, THEM, deserves at least FOUR STARS because of its relatively intelligent dialogue and careful attention to plot development.
THEM is a good start for parents interested in teaching kids about ants. There is one episode, where the elderly scientist gives a serious scientific lecture complete with motion picture clips, about ant behaviors. Interested parties should also buy, ANTS:LITTLE CREATURES WHO RUN THE WORLD, produced by NOVA with noted authority Prof. Edward O. Wilson as the narrator.
Movie Review: "It's THEM! It's THEM!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I know I'm dating myself, but I saw this movie in the movie theater when I was a young boy. Science fiction has always been a favorite of mine. If it involves a mad scientist, outer space, or big bugs, I'm in for it.
THEM! is a nuclear scare flick from the early 1950's. It is in black and white, and has a cast that should be familiar to afficianados of films in this time period. If you are looking for something with a deep social message, stay away from this one. No philosophical paradoxes, no serious messages (other than the old "You never know what an atom bomb will do." message), and nothing that requires you to think too long or too hard. It is a fun film, so order the pizza, put on the popcorn, and pop open a couple of your favorite beverages and get ready for a good old fashioned adventure movie. The production is quite good for it's time, and the post Korea War military hardware is impressive. It's one you can watch a number of times without getting bored.
Enjoy! It's THEM!!!