THEM! (1954)
While the reality of giant insects is something inherently silly given the biological needs of their massive size, there is something compelling about the whole thing. It's probably a bad idea to have a long running story end with a giant bug confrontation out of nowhere. But building a sense of dread around mutant athropods can be done effectively, as this proves. We could talk all day about monsters from the atomic age, since of course the release date of this film in particular is notable. Alongside The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms a lot of clichés are seeded here. But let's focus on why this works; even though the budget was cut and the special effects limit the amount of creatures on screen at any one time.
In a lot of ways this is a story which is effective because of the structure. It's simply a police procedural in the early scenes as Sgt. Peterson (James Whitmore) investigates a series of murders. There's an eerie tone as the cops come across a catatonic child walking through the desert of New Mexico, leading them to find various destroyed crime scenes. The colour photography and 3D effects were scrapped by the movie studio, with only the title card standing as a reminder of the production's earlier stage. But the results are probably more sinister as a result. The remains of a wrecked general store and the discovery of several deaths are shot in ways that are moody and suspensful.
Thanks to desolate exteriors and Film Noir style shadows the story gets off to a great start as it becomes clear that nuclear testing in the 1940s has had unseen long term effects. The resulting giant ants are simply black and white instead of purple and green, and their main appearances have to be carefully dolled out. Sound effects alone are used in their place in many instances. These limitations work in the story's favour making it creepy instead of garish. Perhaps the film would have been more dynamic looking with a touch of technicolour ala The War of the Worlds. But the results are engaging in their own way, and they would only have been enhanced if stop-motion effects were being paid for.
The mystery elements draw an FBI agent into the story, Robert Graham (James Arness). Two scientists also arrive on the scene who just happen to be mermycologists - ant experts. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn) is the older eccentric scientist adding some personality to the proceedings. His daughter Pat is the standard female doctor archetype, although thankfully the intial gaping scepticism and any later romantic developments are minimal. With the main cast filled out it's up to them to find the nest and deal with it. After their nature is decided it becomes clear that the creatures hate light and heat. Of course they don't like cyanide gas either.
However this isn't the climax of the story. Their use of various tactics to assess the ant-hill before attacking and venturing inside is a great set piece. The sequence underground is a stand out moment that has clear influences on James Cameron's Aliens many years later. There's just one minor stumbling block which arrives in the form of a mid-movie twist. Two new queen ants have somehow escaped right before the poison took effect. Now there are two more colonies out there somewhere that have to be discovered, and the murder investigation drama becomes a meandering bug-hunt across North America. A national threat would in theory raise the stakes, but it comes at the cost of the film's pacing.
These investigation scenes aren't without merit, and Peterson and
Graham team up to interview a few fun characters that have seen (or deny seeing) strange ant shaped
UFOs. But it does all grind to a halt so that the Medfords can explain to a comittee (and the audience) how ants behave. Complete with naturalist stock footage. The running time and budget doesn't allow for the insect battles to go on much longer of course, so one of these new hives reportedly collapses off-screen. The other is eventually found; where else but underneath Los Angeles. In the famous storm drain system no less. Still, once the ants are back on screen it picks up, particuarly once flamethrower weilding troops are deployed.
It's a flawed movie during these later stages, and it doesn't help that the child in peril subplot from the first act is repeated in the third. These kids are all going to be fine, and all the added melodrama isn't going to convince anyone of the supposed danger. But the practical effects are good, as are the lighting choices. Despite a baggy mid-section it does pick back up in terms of pacing. The expected tropes of the human drama are thankfully restricted and the story ends with a suitable warning about the perils of scientific research gone awry. It's clearly a product of the time but it holds up and has enough focus where it matters; as a monster movie and as an atmosphere driven thriller.
4/5
BONUS REVIEW
TARANTULA! (1955)
Following in the giant footsteps of Them! of course came a slew of similar creature features. However despite the strengths of Tarantula it is ultimately far more uneven. Is it about the dangers of nuclear testing? It's never clear, since the isotope used to make animals grow is never focused on. Is it about solving food shortages in a world faced with overpopulation? It's also never clear since the effects of the drug aren't consistent. Test animals grow at a fanastic rate but human subjects develop a real life (but accelerated) condition that destroys them. It feels like two different films in some scenes, jumping between giant spider and mystery illness plots without much connecting tissue.
However despite these mixed messages it is still just a story about a giant spider. In most cases a real one too, used with great effectiveness. Some neat practical effects are used, for example to create scenes in which the eponymous arachnid peers into a bedroom window. However elsewhere it's filmed in a way that means the sillouette of the live spider can be composited against the desert scenery. Certain scenes don't cut away to ensure the cars being driven and the landscapes seen are in the same shot as the monster. There's a great sense of scale as a result, despite some obvious transparency and matte errors in a few shots. But it's fun and occasionally gruesome.
However that question of consistency remains. The film spends too much time with the obligatory clash between a male and female scientist, in this case country doctor Matt Hastings (John Agar) and medical graduate Stephanie Clayton (Mara Corday). The spider set pieces are fun, but the effects limitations are very clear. This is no more apparent than during the rushed conclusion in which the monster is destroyed in mere seconds by the airforce. Where's the third act in which they fail, forcing the scientists to find a radical answer as the spider destroys the town? What about the final warning to the viewer? All missing entirely. The elements that work are effective, but there's some obvious filler in a film just eighty minutes long. The results are often well made but it's often just as frustrating.
3/5
