Garp
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,104
- Reaction score
- 180
- Trophy Points
- 68
BONUS: 'Them!' [1954]
Is Godzilla in it? No. Godzilla connection: Inspiration for 'Rodan'.
'Them!' is one of the earliest radioactive-giant-creature movies and arguably still one of the best. Nuclear testing in the deserts of New Mexico 9 years earlier has - naturally - turned a particularly vicious type of ant into giant sugar-obsessed beasts. Sgt. Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) investigates the mysterious deaths, disappearances and destruction left behind by the monster insects, ably assisted by an FBI Agent (James Arness) and a father-daughter scientific combo.
'Them!' is so much fun that it is easy to overlook its flaws. The film begins as a police procedural movie (Whitmore is excellent throughout), adding extra clues to slowly draw you in before the big reveal. The scene where the little girl rises up from her ambulance bed to the sound of the ants, unseen by either cop or doc, is wonderfully chilling. The ants themselves are fine for the time, more effective in the darkness of their nests than above ground, and there are enough light-hearted moments to ensure that the film doesn't take itself too seriously.
Edmund Gwenn as the elder scientist is a little too dotty for my tastes, though his confusion regarding radio communication in the helicopter made me chuckle. Also he seemed too old to be Joan Weldon's father, she of the impressive eyebrows. Being the fifties, her role is under-written and stereotypical - her introduction gives the viewer a long and lingering look at her legs. And child psychology has hopefully come a long way since evoking extra trauma on young girls to test a theory.
Regardless, it's still a terrific film, one I had great delight rewatching.
Is Godzilla in it? No. Godzilla connection: Inspiration for 'Rodan'.
'Them!' is one of the earliest radioactive-giant-creature movies and arguably still one of the best. Nuclear testing in the deserts of New Mexico 9 years earlier has - naturally - turned a particularly vicious type of ant into giant sugar-obsessed beasts. Sgt. Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) investigates the mysterious deaths, disappearances and destruction left behind by the monster insects, ably assisted by an FBI Agent (James Arness) and a father-daughter scientific combo.
'Them!' is so much fun that it is easy to overlook its flaws. The film begins as a police procedural movie (Whitmore is excellent throughout), adding extra clues to slowly draw you in before the big reveal. The scene where the little girl rises up from her ambulance bed to the sound of the ants, unseen by either cop or doc, is wonderfully chilling. The ants themselves are fine for the time, more effective in the darkness of their nests than above ground, and there are enough light-hearted moments to ensure that the film doesn't take itself too seriously.
Edmund Gwenn as the elder scientist is a little too dotty for my tastes, though his confusion regarding radio communication in the helicopter made me chuckle. Also he seemed too old to be Joan Weldon's father, she of the impressive eyebrows. Being the fifties, her role is under-written and stereotypical - her introduction gives the viewer a long and lingering look at her legs. And child psychology has hopefully come a long way since evoking extra trauma on young girls to test a theory.
Regardless, it's still a terrific film, one I had great delight rewatching.