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Year: 1954 Production: Warner Bros. Director: Gordon Douglas Starring: Edmund Gwenn, James Whitmore, James Arness, Joan Weldon Screenwriter: Ted Sherdeman Based on a story by George Worthing Yates 93 minutes; B/W
Unexplained deaths occur, but it is some time before we learn that atomic tests in the US desert have created gigantism in a species of ant. Their nest is located and destroyed, but a queen ant escapes and lays her eggs in a storm drain beneath Los Angeles, which becomes the setting for the final battle between giant ants and humans. Along with The Thing (The Thing from Another World) (1951) and The Beast from 20000 Fathoms (1953), Them! was a template for a series of similar monster movies that followed in the 1950s. It is well made, and handles its absurb subject with an austere but vivid documentary style, thus standing out from most of the cheaper and more sensational variations that followed on the theme. The giant ants were not animated miniatures but full-scale mock-ups. |
| The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |