Empire of the Ants (film)
| Empire of the Ants | |
|---|---|
 Film poster by Drew Struzan |
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| Directed by | Bert I. Gordon |
| Produced by | Samuel Z. Arkoff (executive producer) Bert I. Gordon (producer) |
| Written by | Bert I. Gordon Jack Turley |
| Starring | Joan Collins Robert Lansing John Carson |
| Music by | Dana Kaproff |
| Cinematography | Reginald Morris |
| Editing by | Michael Luciano |
| Studio | Cinema 77 |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 29, 1977 |
| Running time | 89 min. |
| Country |  United States |
Empire of the Ants is a 1977 science fiction horror film by Bert I. Gordon.[1] Based very loosely on 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.
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[edit] Plot
A heavenly paradise becomes a hellish nightmare when a toxic spill turns harmless ants into gigantic rampaging monster insects. Stumbling into their creepy lair, land developer Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins) and her clients are horrified to realize the ants are devouring humans. Fleeing for their lives, they discover the giant ants are determined to exterminate humankind and build an evil empire.
[edit] Special effects
As with most Bert I. Gordon films, the giant ants are rendered by way of photographically enlarged animal footage and rear projection. The size of the ants varies from scene to scene. They often appear to suddenly crawl off the ground and walk vertically upwards in thin air. This is due to real ants being placed in a set lined with photographs of the locations where the scenes were shot. When an ant walked onto the rear photograph it appeared to walk on the sky. Where the film calls for actors to interact with the ants, large mock-up props are used. On the props, Joan Collins later said she didn't like working with the ant props as they bumped and scratched the actors, including herself. She even took small bleeding marks to her legs from the props, but she recovered later.
[edit] Cast
- Joan Collins as Marilyn Fryser
- Robert Lansing as Dan Stokely
- John David Carson as Joe Morrison
- Albert Salmi as Sheriff Art Kincade
- Jacqueline Scott as Margaret Ellis
- Pamela Susan Shoop (as Pamela Shoop) as Coreen Bradford
- Robert Pine as Larry Graham
[edit] References
- ^ Weiler, A. H. (June 30, 1977). "Movie Review: 'Empire of the Ants' A Snail's-Pace Film". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0CE1D91E38E53BBC4850DFB066838C669EDE. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
[edit] External links
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