[.ca] Them! (Full Screen)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
That ol' cinematic devil the A-bomb has spawned a colony of giant murderous ants bent on destroying humanity in this, the seminal big bug movie (an obvious and oft-credited influence for Alien among countless others). The special effects may be dated, but this brilliantly rational-sounding film has held up wonderfully in all other regards, including some starkly effective location work in the high Arizona desert, a genuinely inspired sound design guaranteed to bring on the creepy-crawlies, and an unexpectedly dry sense of humor (mainly personified by Grade-A egghead scientist Edmund Gwenn). This is essential viewing for all those who consider themselves science fiction or horror fans. Heroic hardcase James Arness previously played for the other team as the titular character in The Thing from Another World. --Andrew Wright

You Can't Stop "Them"!:
In the late 1940's and 1950's the USA and the Soviet Union repeatedly tested nuclear bombs. In the USA the early tests were done in the desert southwest, and the mushroom clouds could be seen for dozens of miles (and the noise could be heard for hundreds of miles). As scientists measured the increased levels of radiation in milk served to schoolchildren and their parents built bomb shelters in their backyards, Hollywood decided to take the cold war paranoia which made the fifties so unique and create a new type of sci-fi/horror movie - the "mutant monster" film. Along with the original "Godzilla", 1954's "Them" is one of the best of the lot. It starts out in the New Mexico desert, where two state troopers discover a mobile home that's been ripped apart by some unknown animal. The adults are missing, but they do find a terrified little girl (a creepy Sandy Descher) who's so shocked that she can't talk and simply stares wide-eyed and zombie-like at the policemen. A fierce sandstorm blows up, and the troopers then arrive at a local general store that's been ripped apart like the trailer. Curiously no money or valuables were stolen, but sugar has been spread everywhere, and the owner's corpse is found. He had emptied his shotgun at his attacker before being killed with a massive injection of acid. The troopers also find some tracks from an "unknown" large animal. Baffled by this turn of events, one trooper takes the mute little girl to a hospital. The other trooper stays behind to guard the store, but he is attacked and killed by an unknown assailant. The next day Robert Graham (a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness), an FBI agent, arrives to help with the investigation. Soon they are joined by two scientists from the Agriculture Dept. in Washington - the eccentric but brilliant Dr. Harold Medford (a scene-stealing Edmund Gwenn) and his lovely daughter and assistant, Dr. Pat Medford (Joan Weldon). The scientists have a hunch that the "unknown" animal that killed the storeowner and destroyed the buildings was - a giant ant! The ants had been at the site of the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico in 1945, and the radiation has caused them to mutate to an enormous, man-eating size. Soon our heroic quartet is involved in a race against time to find and destroy the ant's colony before they can reproduce and spread across the world. When the queen ant and some male escorts escape the search becomes even more frantic, and leads to a final showdown in the vast sewers of Los Angeles. This film features fine performances by all three of the male leads - James Whitmore as the gruff-but-warm-hearted New Mexico cop, Arness as the quintessentially stern and macho 1950's movie hero, and Gwenn as the quirky ant expert. Although the special effects are obviously primitive by today's standards, "Them" actually had a larger budget than most fifties sci-fi movies, and the ants themselves were an impressive creation for their time. This film also features an impressive number of cameos by future celebrities, including Fess Parker of "Davy Crockett" fame in a hilarious role as a hillbilly pilot who sees three "ant-shaped" UFOs buzzing his airplane. When he tells his story he is declared "crazy" and locked in a mental hospital. Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek's "Mr. Spock") also has a tiny cameo. "Them" was so successful that it was followed by a string of imitators, but it remains superior to all of them. This DVD offers a neat featurette on how they made the giant ant puppets work, but it has few other "extras". However, the film itself is more than worth the relatively cheap sticker price, IMO. Recommended!

A great 1950s horror classic:
This adventure was perhaps the best of the mutant-insect monster films that were so popular in the 1950s. In this story, huge, fearsome eight-foot ants were spawned as a result of nuclear testing in the New Mexico desert, and they wreak havoc in the White Sands area, where several people are missing or found dead under mysterious circumstances. The FBI enters the case and they enlist the expertise of two entomologists to help uncover the disappearance of missing persons and the awful realization of what has been taking place in the desert. A nest of the mutant ants is found and destroyed but the queen has already taken flight and must be found before she can hatch another batch of monsters. Eventually, the nest is discovered in a system of storm drains below the streets of Los Angeles, and sets the stage for a tense finish. The black and white cinematography is moody, and the good music score has an eerie, haunting quality that suggests a terrifying, unknown evil.

We're gonna need more Orkin men:
As a kid, I thought it was entertaining to squirt ants with my water gun and see if they could get away without drowning. I'm not proud of that fact, but I daresay I'm not the only dumb kid who ever tortured ants for fun. You can't tell me you've never kicked over an anthill before. For centuries, ants have also paid the price for the "crimes" committed by their nastier cousins (bees, wasps, etc.) because they are the perfect scapegoats - you can find them anywhere, and they're oh so harmless (well, except for the likes of fire ants and soldier ants). Just think about how many ants you've unknowingly squashed under your shoes over the years. Even those who "wouldn't hurt a fly" have probably sent countless ants to that big ant hill in the sky. If I were an ant, I would hunger for revenge on all the ruthless humans. Here they are, mind bogglingly more powerful than the mightiest of their tormentors (no human can lift something twenty times his own body weight), veterans of interspecies warfare, more organized than even the mightiest of human armies, and yet they can do nothing but wish they were large enough to really teach humans a lesson. Ironically, human beings actually grant them their wish in this seminal science fiction/horror classic. Nothing much happens out in the New Mexico desert - until now. It's a big mystery at first, as Sgt. Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) and his partner pick up a shell-shocked young girl wandering aimlessly in the desert, then discover an abandoned car trailer down the road that has been ripped apart pretty good. The only clues - a bloody shirt, a mysterious print in the sand, and some scattered sugar cubes. The situation gets curiouser and curiouser when they check in at Gramps' store and find it all smashed up, just like the trailer. Neither the cops nor FBI Agent Robert Graham (James Arness) can make heads or tails of it all. They are still grasping at straws when Dr. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn) and his daughter Pat (Joan Weldon) from the Department of Agriculture arrive in town. Their suspicions are soon confirmed - it's an ant problem. A really, really big ant problem. A really, really big problem with really, really big ants. Nine years after the atomic tests in that area of the desert, the radiation has caused the most unnatural of genetic mutations. The brass wants to find and bomb the nest, but the good doctor points out the futility of such an act. It's not just a matter of killing the gigantic ants - they have to make sure no queens have escaped to parts unknown. If that has indeed happened, a whole army of Orkin men couldn't save mankind. The idea of giant ants terrorizing the countryside sounds pretty hokey, but Them! is fantastically successful at presenting the story in a serious, plausible manner. The question of whether or not to inform the public is given due consideration, for example, and the giant ants themselves are pretty impressive, especially for 1954. I doubt they would scare even the youngest of kids in our day and time, but they are not ludicrously constructed, ridiculous looking "monsters" (OK, I'll admit those giant pipe cleaner antennae are borderline adorable) or the product of superimposed images of ants run amuck. You also don't get too many shots of them along the way, and this helps the film generate an impressive amount of suspense early on. Throw in some pretty good acting (Edmund Gwenn and James Whitmore are especially good, while James Arness' voice alone lends a serious air to every scene) and a minimum of nuclear bomb moralizing, and you've got yourself one of the best classic monster movies ever made.

Great Film For Fans Of The Genre!:
Them! has always been one of my favorite 50's American monster flicks. The story and the human drama are very well done and do not overdo themselves. Really the only sour part about this film is the ants' screen time is very limited, but sweet when they are on screen! A must have for those who are fans of the genre!

"There was no word to describe THEM!":
As the ad told an unaware paranoid public as they were officially introduced to 1st atomic age mutant film. Every Genre has a staple and this film was it for "giant bug" catagory. There would be 100's of atomic age nightmares to follow but none more better put togethe than this well oiled machine. The story begins as that of a police drama. A little girl is found wandering in the Nevada desert by local police. Although alive shes in a state of shock which adds to mystery to her folks where-abouts When the two officers are radioed in to check out a nearby trailer they find it's wall pulled out and insides wrecked. After Piecing together a few clues the officers realized that this is the lost girl's home and that her parents are perhaps the subjects of foul play. On another nearby call the two officers investigate an old supplyshack only to find it also in the same condition as trailer with one added element,the body of "Pops" the store's owner dead and lying mangled at the bottom of the cellar. One officer leaves to get help while the other stays behind at the crime scene. When he goes out back to search for the source of a wierd high pitched chirping sound,he fires his weapon,screams & also becomes victim. Upon the autopsy of "Pops" it's discovered that on top of broken up condition he also has enough formic acid in him to kill 20 men The FBI is called in and along with the 1st officer go back where the little girl was found and it is there that they encounter the horror of nature's fury in the form of giant ants mutated from a deployment of atomic radiation. This fomula would be followed time and time again in such lowbrow features as Tarantula, Beginning of the End & Earth vs.the spider but none would come close to the sincerity of this Warner brother classic. With a cast that includes James Whitmore, James Arness & Edmund Gwenn and great final battle under streets of Los Angleles it's simple entertainment from a simple time that holds up after repeated watchings. Look for Fess Parker and Leonard Nemoy cameos And listen to the "scream effects" these are Warner bros patented "screams" just for this film and can still be heard even in some films today. The dvd is excellent quaility in but both picture and sound & the goofy footage of the ant's test and trailer are a plus but still I was hopeing for a making of feature with maybe a reflection of stars Whitmore and Arness but I am thankful for the original art cover.