Die Wurmfresser

Finally I bought this old flick just to see what it is all about. To be honest, I've seen the trailer and seen how weird some shots were and otherwise how bad it was. Is it a comedy, well, can't really, say that I had a smile on my face. Well, that's maybe not true, I laughed a lot but it was with the bad acting, this is really so awful, when they have to eat something that is infected with the worms you can see them laughing and when they drop unconscious you can see them act badly. Really, this is a turkey and one that I won't recommend to anybody wasn't it for some scene's. The ones were the worms are being eaten is really gruesome. You really see real worms going into mouths. And that's the reason why it has a cult status. To say, comedy, no, or to say horror no but one to see for the, sigh, worms.

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!

Writer / director / star Herb Robins (the creepy carny in Tobe Hoopers' "The Funhouse") concocted this inane cult horror-comedy that may well have been inspired by Jeff Lieberman's "Squirm". Robins plays Herman Umgar, a German hermit residing on highly coveted lakeside property which the uber-sleazy local mayor wants to develop. But Herman will get his revenge. It so happens that he can communicate with worms (!), and when he infects the towns' food supply with toxic worms, people end up turning into half-human, half-worm hybrids!

No-budget quirky stuff isn't as much fun as the B movie aficionado might like. It runs an hour and a half, but one can't help but wish that Robins had cut down a lot of the offbeat character detail; it takes this simple flick too long to get going, and the humour pretty much runs its course before long. As a director, Robins seemed to have encouraged his cast to go way over the top, whether or not the scene really calls for it. Still, Robins does know how to push SOME buttons: the most memorable images occur when people are chowing down, and he inserts close-ups of worms in peoples' mouths. Always a good way to gross an audience out. The special effects are hilariously crude.

All in all, there's a certain gleeful childishness about the whole thing, certain to make children and more immature adults giggle. The opening credits are accompanied by one of the most insidiously catchy ditties ("You'll End Up Eating Worms") that one is ever likely to hear. Robins doesn't deliver as good a time as these credits would seem to indicate, but it's hard to completely knock B pictures with these kinds of wacky premises. If you enjoy "Squirm" (whether ironically or not), you may be amused to some degree by this ridiculous nonsense.

Produced, and distributed, by Ted V. Mikels, himself a somewhat big name when it comes to similar entertainment ("Astro-Zombies", need I say more?).

Six out of 10.

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!