User reviews

This movie can not be taken seriously at all. It is all tounge in cheek n deliberately acted over the top n cheesy.

I can honestly say it was not half bad at all. It is a bit like Tremors with ants instead of giant underground worms.

All actors acted appropriately for the over the top fun fest it was. The characters were deliberately unlikeable and so annoyingly camp.

The ants were decent enough special effects for the quality and budget of the film.

The ending was ok but predictable.

I recommend this movie if you like camp humour n ott acting n creature features.

This film fails on just about every level - the music score is truly depressing and is a chore to listen to. The acting and special effects are dire - some films are so bad that they are good - this film is just bad.

Although this one is better than a lot of garbage coming from mainstream Hollywood producers, it shouldn't be rated against those big budget products.

Meant to be fun entertainment - cheesy lines, gory, reference to the old classics (Them!), intentional over the top acting. Only an idiot can't see that this flick doesn't take itself seriously.

Definitely worth a view.

This isn't even up to the standard of silly horror comedy. They have some nice props, but apparently couldn't afford a screenwriter or director. The dialogue is worse than I can describe, and any humor is lost in its pure awfulness.

I couldn't take even half of this movie. You'd have to be very drunk, or zonked out of your mind on drugs, to make it to the end. How it even got a 4.9 rating I'll never know, but money must've changed hands somewhere!

Remember how awesome "Tremors" was? Well this movie is the exact opposite of that. I totally get that this film is supposed to be a fun ride for 90 min, and not to be taken seriously. But it fails at its only goal. It wasn't fun to watch. After 35 min, I wanted it to end already. It wasn't funny, just annoyingly stupid. And any scene that was supposed to deliver thrills and excitement fell flat every time.

I rather play the mediocre game version on my old Turbo Grafx-16 than sit through this film again.

This has to be the worst film ever ! Harry Mills looks like a 30+ something over acting like a 15 year old , and not good at it either, the storyline is ridiculous with all the actors really over acting and not at all believable, if I could rate it less than 1 out of 10 I would !

Firstly, I wanted to watch because of the huge ants, but well, it's just one more movie trash, kinda without great ideas, with poor visual effects, and terrible actors, but at lest, it's funny to watch, and you totally will laugh with some moments, the problem it's just the story that is not creative.

As a big fan of the computer game this is inspired by, there are a million other ways they could have done this movie. The only resemblance they have to each other is giant ants. What a waste of the source material. This movie is truly, absolutely awful - with almost zero redeeming qualities.

Saw this on a pirated dvd. The trailer was enticing n the synopsis n settings more like Eight legged freaks. The opening sequence was more like Starship Troopers, where two military men r firing at giant ants. Cut back n v see some beautiful villas in the desert town n even more better is the amazing dirt bike racing scenes reminiscent of the new Point Break film. Hordes of deadly giant ants attack a group of youngsters partying in the middle of nowhere. The effects of the giant ants were cool n the bike action sequences were really cool, particularly during one chase sequence with the giant ants in pursuit. Remember its a very low budget film n it managed to entertain very well. Also noteworthy is the cinematography. What more could you ask from a monster movie?

New take on "Them!" and the ants actually looked great for the money spent, but the teens were stupid. I think it's the writing and the casting. Double-whammy. I don't think directing could have helped. Or maybe direction drove the nail. Honestly, something went wrong here, long before the pickup went over the cliff.

Well I'm just paraphrasing of course. And the movie did not conquer judging from the voting so far. But comedy is in the eye of the beholder, so if you are not into silly horror comedy, you may feel insulted (by the movie and by my vote). But if you have a heart for low budget movies, who do achieve a certain quality and originality, then you will feel what I did when I watched this at the Fantasy Filmfest last year.

The acting is good, the script had quite some funny ideas and it's really something you can enjoy if you let yourself. I did not expect this to be as much fun as it turned out to be and I'm really happy with what they came up with. The story is not new and what the characters have to go through is not new either. And others have gone the comedy route when it came to this kind of horror ... but it does have a couple of ideas it has that really do work. And the effects are not half bad. So again, this may or may not be for you - but the movie gives it its best shot

Heading out to the desert, a guy and his brother trying to celebrate a racing championship with the friends stumble upon an abandoned military facility doing research on gigantic killer ants which get loose and terrorize the party forcing them to overcome their bravery and stop the colony from spreading.

Overall, this one was quite an exciting entry. One of the best elements present here is the old-school style tone and feel present throughout here. This one brings about a great sense of fun and charm which comes through not only in the general setup of the secret government getting loose but also from the idea of the experimental video played to inform them of what's happening which comes straight from that time period. with the type of action usually found in such a film also premiering rather frequently and there's a lot of good to be had with this old-school setup. That action holds this one up for the most part. The opening attacks set this going on a nice note, while the series of encounters within the facility where they first find the ants have plenty to like. The ants taking out the party offers some great moments of the swarm looking to overcome the different party members there as well as the chases on those who are attempting to flee the scene that provides plenty of swarming over their bodies in addition to the action-packed carnage. Coupled with the stellar action underground in the finale as thy free the captive partygoers and stop the queen ant using all manner of high-energy action confrontations, these here are the film's best aspects overall. There are a few issues to be had with this one. The biggest problem here is the fact that the tonal changes throughout here become quite distracting as the film constantly tries to switch between goofy old-school monster movie and creepy creature feature. As the ants are constantly mentioned to be a devastating threat due to the intelligence of the breed and their ravenous behavior from nearly every source they come across, the film's constantly manner of having the ants giggle, laugh and talk-trash to each other which is inherently goofy and disjointed tone with this one taking on these wildly varying tons so rapidly in a matter of a few minutes. The other real issue here is the utterly moronic leads that border on the dangerously stupid. The idea of the two releasing the ants from the colony has to take place here, but just simply rushing into an obviously abandoned and dangerous military facility just because of the rush doing so gives them is utterly idiotic. The idea of overlooking so much obvious ploys against their safety they just blindly go into means that there's very little interest or care for the characters here as they continually display such unrealistic rationale and motivations for everything they do or spout off such statements that they end up sounding so stupid as to be questionable functioning adults. Otherwise, there isn't much else really wrong here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

I remember playing the "It Came from the Desert" game on Amiga 500 computer back in the day, 1989 or the start of the 1990s. And it was a great game back then. Then forward about 34 years and I happen to stumble upon this 2017 movie by random chance. And the title was an instant flashback to the Amiga 500 days, and of course I had to check out this movie.

Truth be told, though, I wasn't really harboring much of any great expectations to director Marko Mäkilaakso's movie, because it seemed like it would be a questionable low budget movie. Yet, I still opted to watch it and give it the benefit of the doubt.

The storyline in "It Came from the Desert" was based loosely on the storyline from the game, but writers Trent Haaga, Marko Mäkilaakso and Hank Woon Jr. Did their own twist and approach on it, for better or worse. But normally, then movies based on computer games have a tendency of being horrible movies. However, I will say that the script and storyline in this 2017 was actually fair enough.

What held the movie back was some half-hearted acting performances. I didn't really buy into the performances put on by the actors and actresses in "It Came from the Desert", because it was just a bit too wooden, rigid and amateurish. And the performances paled in comparison to what director Marko Mäkilaakso apparently set out to accomplish.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble.

Visually then the CGI in the movie was so-so. It looked okay, but it was just not overly impressive or all that convincing. But it was suitable enough for a movie of this level of accomplishment, I suppose. However, when the giant ants started giggling, chuckling and drinking beer, then I have to admit that I was good and ready to turn off the movie, because that was just too ridiculous.

I managed to sit through the 90 minutes that the movie ran for, and while the movie did spark a nostalgic trip down memory lane to the days of playing Amiga 500, that was just also about that was to it, because Marko Mäkilaakso's 2017 movie "It Came from the Desert" wasn't impressive. Watchable for the cheese that it was, if you have played the game, but otherwise not really worth the effort.

My rating of "It Came from the Desert" lands on a four out of ten stars.

REVIEW - IT CAME FROM THE DESERT

In 1951 a science fiction film came out with the same title which told the story of how radiation made ants grow to a huge size, this b movie became an instant classic even though it was filmed in black and white, this sequel however..........

Imagine if you can Bill and Ted discovering these giant ants (dude) and chugging beer, yes very annoying especially as I couldn't honestly decide if this film was actually meant to be serious, a comedy or just a very feeble excuse to get someone on screen.

If you want to watch a film called it came from the desert then watch original and avoid this as you would a huge ant, otherwise drink lots and lots of beer and try to enjoy this silly homage to what was a true b movie classic.

Rating 4 out of 10

It Came from the Desert was directed by Finnish film-maker Marko Mäkilaakso, who also gave us the utterly abysmal War of the Dead (2011) -- and it's another dud. The intention was clearly to make a fun, pulpy big bug movie, but with a script that feels like it was written by teenagers, a dreadful cast, and Asylum/SyFy standard special effects, the film doesn't cut it, even as schlocky B-movie entertainment.

Harry Lister Smith plays mechanic Brian, who accompanies dirt bike champion Lukas (Alex Mills) to a party in the desert to celebrate his recent victory. The fun is cut short when giant genetically modified ants attack the revellers, including Brian's love interest Lisa (Vanessa Grasse), and carry them off to a nest to feed their young.

One might make the argument that this film is intentionally bad, in keeping with the trashy monster movie subject matter, but this excuse only works if the result is fun, and funny, and it isn't. The humour is sophomoric, the characters moronic, and the story plain sucks. A budget of just 400,000 euros explains the cruddy visual effects, but the film is in desperate need of something that money can't buy: talent.

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for the nice desert scenery.

Dumb guys (even if they they are academically smart) uncover a corporate scientific laboratory that is developing giant ants. Motocross, beer, and idiots prevail. Saturday night special sci-fi movie. Nothing special, and bordering on the annoying, but still a B-movie special.

Just watch this movie and nothing in the film gets pass marks. Terribly lame story, awful acting, music score poor and mostly doesnt fit into the scenes. Very little action, its not funny and the special effects bad.

A low budget is not and excuse for a rotten film.

Some young motocross riders discover a large, abandoned military research site in the desert and come face to face with giant, mutated ants. Frankly it is ridiculous that such a place would be so easily accessible. Add to that cheap looking CGI, awful continuity and humour that is plain stupid, this is certainly not a good movie. The scriptwriter has obviously used the same dictionary as Wayne's World, Bill & Ted, Beavis & Butthead, etc, lines such as "Dude, you're not a squirrel, you're an ant!" quickly become tiresome. However, there are a few factors that I found positive. The characters were quite likeable, despite the annoying "dude" overkill dialogue, and the acting was decent. To my surprise I discovered after watching that it was made in Europe, the European actors did a good job doing American accents (they are often painfully bad). The arid Spanish landscape served as a good stand-in for a desert in the US. Apparently the film is based on a 1980's video game of the same name and during the closing credits plenty of game footage is shown, which I liked. This is a bad movie, almost certainly the worst ant flick that I have ever seen but fortunately it does partly redeem itself, hence my 4/10. But there is no way that I could sit and watch it again.

This was really entertaining and we were pleasantly surprised. Some cheesy special effects, but all around good fun. Reminded me of 8 Legged Freaks

Gotta be "that guy" and say that the haters just don't "get it". This is a cheesy, fun homage to 80's teen and mutant animal horror movies. Cliched dialogue, a rockin' soundtrack, obligatory montages, typical teen-movie stereotype characters, and it doesn't take itself seriously. The acting is good, sometimes overdramatic and unrealistic, but it's meant to be! Glad to have stumbled upon this movie.!

From the first minute you can sometimes tell if a movie is going to be any good - It was not a good minute.

Terrible acting and bog standard story done 40 years ago if my memory serves me right with Joan Collins in the Empire Of The Ants but apparently its based on a video game - hmmmm

It was supposed to be a comedy and to be fair I did have a few laughs so its not that bad. Good for a few beers with the lads and a few laughs - better if you are stoned marocless though!