Empire of the Ants

A fake land-seller : Joan Collins attempts to sell bogus real state to a group of innocent buyers : John David Carson , Robert Lansing , Jacqueline Scott , Pamela Shoop, Robert Pine at a location that is being run over by mutant giant ants contamined by radioactive waste. After ingesting an unknown radioactive substance , ants become huge and threatening the occupants of the remote Everglades in Florida . For they shall inherit the earth..sooner than you think ! . It's no picnic ! ..

Routine and regular monster movie about habitual issue concerning a group of nuclear , enormous , unfriendly ants stalking a real state dealer and prospective buyers of undeveloped oceanfront property. This is a cheap , humdrum version rendition of the H. G. Wells novel by suffering from lousy interpretations and an embarrassing lack of imagination. Fakey special effects might have been decent in the Sixties or Seventies , but they just don't cut it today. This is the follow-up to "Food of the Gods" 1976 also directed by Bert I Gordon with Marjoe Gortner, Ida Lupino, Pamela Franklin , Ralph Meeker . The motion picture was written , produced and directed by Bert I Gordon and he made the special effects effects too, in his usual primitive and traditional style . Bett realized various Sci-Fi , Fantasy and monsters movies , such as: " Cyclops , Food of the gods , Viillage of the Giants, Magic Sword , Picture Mammy Dead , Big Bet , and Witching, the Necromancy" . This is not nice enough even to be deemed a camp movie , as H. G Wells's story is trashed in this ordinary movie , in fact he must somersault in his grave every time somebody sees this below average rendition of one of his more thrilling stories. Rating : 4/10. Below average .

Like one reviewer says, (and I paraphrase) this is an Arkoff/Nicholson/ Bert I Gordon film, people - lighten up! Did you seriously expect Academy material (not that that means anything) out of a film called "Empire of The Ants?" Yes, the effects are laughable, yes the acting, and especially the reactions to the ants, are hilarious. It's all in good fun. I just love that grainy 70's print and the actors forging ahead despite the ridiculousness of it all. I personally think that credible acting in a film like this is a whole lot harder than a typical 'dramatic' production. I mean, how much harder would it be to get into the 'zone' and understand your motivations with something this silly? An absolute must watch for fans of bad movies. Especially if 70's bad movies really get ya. Similar titles: Squirm, Frogs, Tentacles. Anybody know any more good obscure 70's eco-horror? Please email me.

Based very loosely on the short story "Empire of the Ants" by H. G. Wells, the film involves a group of prospective land buyers led by a land developer, pitted against giant, mutated ants.

This was one of Bert Gordon's final films, and from a technical standpoint it is among his best. The production value looks much higher than his earlier work, and the star power of the cast is evident. The ants, while still relying on a few cheap effects, are overall pretty effective -- though why must they be screeching the entire time? But really, what makes this only a "good" film rather than a "really good" film is the length. This is clearly a 60 or 70-minute film stretched out to 90 minutes, and that allows for the ultimate sin to creep in: boredom.

Shortly before seeing this film, I saw Bert I. Gordon's other giant killer animal flick, The Food of the Gods, and on the basis of these two films, I've discovered two things about a director I previously knew nothing about; first of all, he obviously enjoys making films about giant animals, and secondly; he has very little in the way of directorial talent. My main complaint with The Food of the Gods, in spite of the fact that I knew it was going to be a somewhat less than brilliant film, was the fact that it was boring - unforgivable since it's about giant animals! The plot we have here is very similar to the earlier film, as a bunch of people travel to a secluded place and end up being attacked by animals which are larger than normal. This time, the group is lead by the scheming Joan Collins, who leads a bunch of property buyers to Florida on the promise of some bargain property. The property turns to be fake, Joan Collins a fraud and that barrel of toxic waste washed up on the beach has given the ants a growth spurt!

The obvious films to compare to this one are fellow giant ant movies such as the classic 'Them' and the interesting, but fairly boring Sci-Fi Phase IV, and this film isn't as good as either as those. The special effects are important in a film like this, and they're even worse than those seen in The Food of the Gods. The ants are just enlarged shots of real ants superimposed onto the screen, along with a couple of puppets to fill the gaps. As you can probably imagine, this doesn't look good; and it's hard to be convinced by a film with effects like these - cheap or not! The film stars Joan Collins, and she reaffirms what a shame it is that she went crazy with the plastic surgery as the pre-surgery Joan Collins is actually quite hot! The plot itself is nothing exciting - just your average monster flick stuff - running from the monsters, fighting the monsters etc. There's also a subplot involving the ants' pheromones that doesn't come off well at all. Overall, Empire of the Ants just misses the 'fun bad film' mark and ends up just being a bad film! It's not completely terrible - and it's better than The Food of the Gods - but I still don't recommend it!

Empire of the Ants (1977)

** (out of 4)

Mr. Big delivers another "big bug movie" with this one dealing with ants. Joan Collins plays a real estate con woman who takes a group of people to the future sight of a "great" beach front property. What they don't know is that a company has been pouring toxic waste in the ocean and unfortunately for them one barrel has found its way on shore and cute little ants have gotten into it. Soon these little creatures are now huge and eating humans. EMPIRE OF THE ANTS got the green light, I'm sure, because Gordon's previous film THE FOOD OF THE GODS turned out to be a decent hit. You really could have called this thing THE FOOD OF THE GODS PART II because they're quite similar but then again both are quite similar to the type of "big" movies Gordon was making in the previous two decades. There's certainly nothing new or original here but if you enjoy Gordon's films then I really see no reason why you won't enjoy this one. As you'd expect, the special effects are quite laughable with Gordon using the same technique in 1977 that he was much earlier in his career. Often times it seems as if the ants are walking in thin air and at other times you can obviously see the rear projection. Most films would be dead in the water with such bad effects but I think it adds some charm because of how serious Gordon treats them. Most directors would know these effects are bad and try to downplay them or hide them but not Gordon. He shows these bad effects with his head held high and it at least gives the viewer some entertainment. Collins and the rest of the cast do what they can with the material they're given but the humans certainly aren't the high point of the film. I think the film would have benefited from being at least ten-minutes shorter as things really start to drag during the final act.