Die Wurmfresser

The Worm Eaters (1977)

* (out of 4)

Ted V. Mikels produced this film that was directed, written and stars Herb Robins. In the film Robins plays a German man who has a special friendship with some worms. He eventually has a breakdown and starts feeding these worms to some of the locals who themselves turn into mutant worm creatures. THE WORM EATERS is an extremely bad movie but if you could come up with a catchy title and get it into the drive-in market then you could have a good hit on your hands and I can imagine a lot of people going to see this movie just on dares. The film runs 90-minutes, which is about thirty-minutes too long because there's really not much going on here. For the first forty-five minutes or so we see Robins talking to himself, talking to worms and just coming across as a complete weirdo. Once people finally start eating the worms these "shock" sequences really aren't all that shocking today considering many mainstream shows (Man vs Wild, Fear Factor) have gotten you used to seeing people eat worms. The scenes here are obviously done by a couple stunt worm eaters because we just see close up shots on their mouths with the worms in them but apparently no worms were injured, which seems true since we never see them bitten into. The mutant worm creatures appear to just be the actors with some sort of sleeping bags around their bottom half with various types of white foam coming out of them. Obviously this film wasn't trying to be the next CITIZEN KANE but it just needed a lot more entertainment in order for it to work. Those curious about the strange title and low-budget nature of the story might be tempted to watch it but there are certainly much better movies out there.

One of my beloved movie bibles, "The Time Out Film Guide," calls Herb Robins' 1977 gross-out horror comedy "The Worm Eaters" "a truly disgusting film." Reason enuff for any aficionado of bad cinema to rent it out in a flash, right? Unfortunately, this movie is not so much disgusting as it is truly awful, and every element of the cinematic arts--acting, directing, scripting, photography, editing, scoring--is rock-bottom deplorable here. "Director/writer" Robins himself plays Umgar, a clubfooted worm breeder who talks to his little squirmy darlings, calls them by name, and takes decided action when some slimy land developers try to push him off his turf; namely, he puts his pets in the local town's food. Thus, we are treated to various loudmouthed (every character in this flick seems to scream his or her lines obnoxiously), truly ugly personages eating spaghetti & worms, hot dogs & worms, ice cream & worms, cake & worms, and even worms & worms with his/her mouth wide open and in delectable close-up. For some reason never explained, these folks then turn into worm people themselves, and squeak and slither for the rest of the picture, supposedly hilariously. But not a single gag is the slightest bit funny here, many details go unexplained, Umgar's phony German accent is almost incomprehensible, the film's theme song is offensively and annoyingly catchy, and the net result is a film far worse than just about anything in the Ed Wood oeuvre. I've seen a lot grosser films, truth to tell, but none much worse; still, I wouldn't want to watch "The Worm Eaters" while scarfing down a bowl of linguini marinara!

Bad-movie lovers, beware …. Your standards will have to be set extremely low in case you want to remotely enjoy Herb Robins' "The Worm Eaters". This movie, produced by one of the über-gurus of crap cinema Ted V. Mikels – is BEYOND bad! It has an irredeemably dumb plot, a totally incoherent narrative structure, humorist elements that are horrid and horror elements that are painfully hilarious. It's easily one of the worst movies ever made, and it is truly incomprehensible how the hell it managed to build up a rather solid cult status over the years. Probably this exclusively has to do with the fact that Herb Robins insisted on using real, live worms for the on screen consumption. Much of the footage is just close-ups of people (often with really terrible dental hygiene) slurping down & chewing up worms, and the only goal is to disgust and gross-out the audience. Robins himself stars as the dim-witted hermit Umgar, living in a lakeside shed in a corrupted little town. He collects and breeds worms … and then feeds them to his opponents, like the town's council members that want to evict him and reclaim the lake zone. The consumption of the worms somehow transforms people into man-worm hybrids. "The Worm Eaters" introduces a seemingly endless series of demented supportive characters and – obviously – all the actors and actresses overact incredibly. The make-up effects are pathetic, as the hybrid monsters are simply imbeciles tightly wrapped in filthy brown sleeping bags and desperately trying not to use their feet when they crawl through the mud. But, as wrong as it may sound, the film isn't entirely without merit and there really are a couple of positive elements. Like the goofy but cheerful theme music ("You'll end up eating worms"), the creative animated opening credits and some of the gags that look like Benny Hill sketches. In conclusion, "The Worm Eaters" will undoubtedly one of the most bizarre low-budget, Z-grade schlock productions you'll ever encounter, so be careful who you recommend it to.

I think that it's a shame that collectors of movies such as this are steering good folk like you away from "The Worm Eaters." As far as I can tell this is a love it or hate it kind of movie, as is the case with any movie of its ilk. I think that it lacks respect to tell people not to bother with this film. Look, if you are into movies like "Big Meat Eater" or "Cannibal Campout" do yourself a favor and get your hands on "The Worm Eaters." You may not like it, but it may end up becoming one of your favorite movies! You know the deal with films like these. Jeez, "Flesh Eating Mothers" was awful, but I would never tell anyone to avoid it! I think this movie is downright hilarious, and the overacting (which I'm sure is not too unintentional) just makes the camp/slash/fun level sky-rocket.

And to all of those people who thought this comment wasn't useful (though I know you will probably never read this): You can sit and spin!

My review was written in October 1981 after a Midtown Manhattan screening.

Filmed in 1977 but recently picked up for distribution by Joe Gage's New American Films, "The Worm Eaters" is a grotesque horror comedy in the category of "intentionally bad" camp humor. Writer-director-star Herb Robins gives every indication of working in the vein of the late exploitation movie director Edward D. Wood Jr., but his film has enough outrageous laughs and gross-outs to captivate a minor segment of today's younger audience.

Robins portrays Hermann Umgar, a club-footed worm breeder living near Lake Melnick. Just as his dad had been cheated years before, Umgar is target of a real estate scheme whereby his land will be condemned by the city to make way for condominiums.

Though pic has a "serious theme" and much attempted pathos, Robins goes for intentional silliness, playing a poor man's Mel Brooks who sings and talks to his beloved worms (each with a pet name) while cracking Borscht Belt jokes. Supporting cast looks like people randomly recruited off the street, and they are encouraged to shout their inane dialog in an hilarious attempt at "acting".

Key requirement for main roles (including Robins') is a willingness to chomp real worms on camera. Gross closeups of the actors' mouths chewing disgusting food with live worms wriggling out of their choppers will no doubt amaze the younger patrons while striking adults as a new variant of pornography.

Pic gets really wild when Robins introduces a subplot of his worms somehow causing humans to turn into "worm people" (half man/half worm) when ingested. This sci-fi gimmick is hysterically realized, with the cast wriggling along the ground (resembling mermaids, the bottom half is a worm) and secreting shaving cream. Filmmaker's notion of irony has three fishermen turning into worm men and hooking Umgar (sleeping in his bed) to reel him in and demand that he bring them worm women to build a new, better civilization in the lake. A "red algae tide" on the lake's surface is the pic's big special visual effect.

Unlike the spate of comedy spoofs filling the horror market recently, Robins seems to be serious about his weirdness, including strange scenes of him dancing (in slow motion) to a music box with his worm Bertha dancing on his hand and a tasteless finale of himself being run over by a truck.

Technically the film is surprisingly watchable, being lensed in brightly lit 35mm with functionalism stressed rather than atmosphere. Beyond that, it's amateur night.