The Nest

In the sleepy island town of North Port, not much ever happens. Sheriff Richard Tarbell (Franc Luz) seems to have the easiest job in town. His only complication in life is whether to be involved with local waitress, Lillian (Nancy Morgan) or the mayor's daughter, Beth (Lisa Langlois). That is, until a gruesome discovery turns out to be the beginning of a coming slaughter.

Mayor Elias Johnson (Robert Lansing- 4D MAN, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, ISLAND CLAWS) appears to know what's going on, having to do with a certain scientific installation called INTEC and its heartless Dr. Morgan Hubbard (Terri Treas). INTEC has been up to no good, attempting to create super-roaches for nefarious purposes. Grisly, disgusting horror ensues.

THE NEST is the perfect movie for the carnivorous cockroach connoisseur! Bug haters beware! These pests are shown in crawling piles and gobs! So, if insects make you squirm, and death by flensing isn't your thing, avoid this film!

BEST SCENES: #1- The diner cook in the dumpster! #2- Lillian defending the diner against the six-legged horde! #3- Oh yes! The mutant, cat roach! #4- Mayor Roach-enstein! #5- The hopelessly rushed final conflict!

Preposterous beyond all reason, this is 1980's schlock horror at its finest! Bon Appetit...

To be honest, I had too much whiskey prior to and during my viewing of this killer cockroach taking over a small town film, so key plot points remain a blur. That's fine, so when I view it again in a few years under the same circumstances it will be like a first viewing. While the film never lives up to the absurdly tasteless poster of a 5 ft tall roach mounting a scantily clad woman, it's still a fun cheesy creature feature. Throw in a mad scientist, a wacky exterminator and a whole lot of insect action and this ranks as one of the better late 80s output from Corman. The Scream Factory blu-ray seems to have put in more effort restoring the best looking version of this film, than the filmmakers put into making the actual film.

I am the first to say that we need more good horror flicks. But, in my opinion, a horror movie has to have a balance between gross things and alluring things in order to keep the emotions of the viewer from swinging quickly into a state of disgust, which makes the movie worthless. The Nest has the first part down right: you got your mutant cockroaches that eat everybody in sight, two rather nasty animal killing scenes, and the cockroach queen that I think is a masterpiece of grossness. Unfortunately, there is no counterbalance: there is almost no comic relief, absolutely no naked babes, and no smart dialogues. The outcome is a pure terror movie that scares you, disgusts you, but doesn't leave a good after-taste.

Who doesn't hate cockroaches? If you have a phobia for bugs, I suggest you steer clear of 'The Nest'!

The movie poster sends out a very different message to what the movie is actually all about. Cockroaches are NOT mating with women! The film revolves around an experiment gone wrong, causing cockroaches to feed on everything in its path. The film used over 2000 cockroaches... imagine being on set with so many cockroaches! Nowadays they'd use CGI, but back in the day they used REAL bugs, and practical effects - and the practical effects were amazing, especially during the final act.

I enjoyed Franc Luz as sheriff Richard Tarbell - he is so sexy! The acting from the entire cast was good. I thought Robert Lansing in particular was good as major Elias Johnson. I've literally seen hundreds of 80s horror movies, and 'The Nest' is one of the better 80s horror movies. This is a memorable film with interesting characters and a good script. The camerawork is effective in displaying bug movement. Cleverly done.

In general, 'The Nest' is a thoroughly enjoyable insect horror movie. There are so many out there, but only a few really stands out. 'The Nest' is one of them.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

This mediocre sci-fi horror flick concerns hungry roaches chowing down on the residents of an island-based town. The story is absolutely standard to these types of things, and this one offers nothing new to horror fans, as the gore piles up. Not especially gory, although it definitely has its moments, and there is an eyeball scene that Lucio Fulci would be proud of. Despite this, this is not an especially good, or thrilling flick. Really for genre fans only.