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Them! (1954)

Director
: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi

Nine years after the first atomic test at White Sands, New Mexico, giant mutated ants terrorize the locals. When it's learned two breeding ant queens have escaped, humanity is put at risk!

Make no mistake about it, 1954's Them! is no B-budget movie. Warner Brothers studio went all out with an expensive production that used real military equipment and personal. There's a real military helicopter, plane and a number of jeeps too.


Left to right: James Arness, James Whitmore, Joan Weldon, Edmund Gwenn.

Most impressive are the real flame throwers, that were operated by actors who had been in WWII and used them in combat. Add to that the on-location filming in a real California desert where the temperatures were 110 degrees!

We get authenticity not often seen in giant mutated insect movies. Plus we're treated to a unique view of the underbelly of LA, when the military go under the city into the actual water basins and viaducts of LA. This is an A list movie with a lot of money spent on it and it shows!




One of the strengths of this movie is the attempt to add science and explain the life cycle of the ants, which adds a lot to the story. We not only see a very believable military hearing on the dangerous ants, we get to go deep inside a giant ant nest to find what dangers lurk there.

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