Day 13: Them!

Day 13: Them! (1954, Dir. Gordon Douglas)

The threat of Nuclear exposure and the red menace proves to be as much of a threat as giant ants in this creature feature; effectively praying on Cold War fear and paranoia whilst providing some genuine scares.

Whilst the ant effects might not cut it by today’s high tech standards, this film still manages to be a pretty creepy watch. A tense plot is held together with fear and suspense, developing from a police drama into a sci-fi horror, with a bit of a science lesson thrown in for good measure. The backdrop of the Cold War gives this film an interesting setting and lets us look at how national threats could be dealt with at the time; well at least if those threats were giant bugs. The fact is this film never gives in to being a campy or silly B-movie but carries itself with real drama and suspense, and doesn’t merely rely on the creatures themselves for cheap scares. It is interesting to consider how much horror conventions have changed today, and how a modern film would often struggle with the subtlety of suspense to deliver an unnerving scene or a fright.

Of course despite these real world comparisons the film is still a lot of fun; and it is pretty amusing seeing the dodgey giant ants for the first time, but you’ll probably get a bit creeped out along the way too!

Them! easily stands the test of time by not merely relying on retro cheesiness to appeal a modern audience, but delivers a strong and gripping story of terror in 50’s America. A film that effortlessly takes its place amongst the classic monster movies of all time.

7/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

Extra: Apparently when this movie was first released in Sweden, it was strangely named "Spindlarna" (which translates as 'The Spiders')