Empire of the Ants

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.

An eminent intro with a neat voice-over makes us aware that ants actually are as sophisticated as humans (if not more sophisticated). This is the perfect introduction to one of the most grotesque creature-features ever unleashed upon horror cinema. Bert Gordon's Empire of the Ants, ladies and gentlemen! In this story, supposedly adapted from an H.G. Well's tale, the ravishing Joan Collins stars as a fancy estate agent who tries to sell island properties to a bunch of phonies pretending they have money. The joy is barbarically interrupted by a colony of humongous ants! The monstrous bugs have mutated into unearthly beings due to toxic waste (figures…). EofA is often categorized as one the worst 70's shlockfests, partly because it's from the hand of Gordon. But try to look at it as pure fun and cult entertainment that doesn't require brain activity. It's a troop of hairy, over-sized and – especially – cheaply created ants eating people one by one. Nothing more, nothing less. Still, the island location is eerie and the sound effects are more or less decent. Joan Collins, one of my personal favorite actresses, is great as the bitchy broad. The rest of the cast are stereotypes, like the loser turned hero, the old wise guy the egocentric coward (who nearly always dies spectacularly) and the cute babe. I hardly consider the overuse of all these clichés to be obstacles since I never expected to see a masterpiece to begin with. The only real crap elements are the weak dialogs and the complete lack of atmosphere and tension. Empire of the Ants does feature a brilliant, typical B-movie twist near the end, though. But that's just my opinion and I'm sure that most people will find it too stupid for words. Nevertheless, Empire of the Ants is a must-see if you're in to "big bug"-movies. This sub-genre of horror is going through a revival these days and it's essential to watch the influential gems that once started it all. Also recommended: "Tarantula", "The Bees", "Frogs", "Phase IV" (more ants), "Kingdom of the Spiders" and "The Deadly Mantis".

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.

I absolutely love this movie and would highly recommend if you're looking for something fun to watch! There are only two or three clips of ants that are consistently overlaid and recycled and it just gets funnier every time. Not sure if this is quite what H. G. Wells saw in his mind, but so happy it exsists!

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!