Them!: 31 Days of Horror
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Outside of the cult fanbases obsessed with this kind of stuff, and, well, Godzilla and King Kong, there aren’t many people actively watching monster pictures of yesteryear anymore, especially ones involving massive insects. If there is one small exception, that may happen to be Gordon Douglas’ iconic Them!: a film about massive ants that need to be stopped (and the first film of its kind). The result of atomic testing, these ants keep breeding and are clearly bothered enough by humanity to cause havoc. In this way, Them! almost feels like America’s Godzilla, even though there are a number of major differences. We don’t see the ants in Them! for a while, causing a lot of mystery as to what we will see in this peculiar film. Godzilla was more of a reaction to what nuclear bombs did to its country; Them! was about fearing what it could do to America.
All things considered, the effects in Them! are some of the best of monster pictures for its time. However, this film is a part of the big bug genre after all, so the effects that followed in its wake were never amazing to begin with. Still, there’s a certain charm that is carried in a film like Them!, which is so ambitious with its visuals. I suppose raising a bar so high — even in a niche field like B big bug pictures — is enough, and the story is developed to the degree that the effects just seem to work. All things considered, the practical bugs still look great for their time. Tied to some eerie sound effects (particularly what I can only describe as the ants chirping), and you have an illusion that works well enough to withstand time.
The ants in Them! are still fascinating, despite how dated they might be.
Them! is a rare instance where a film of this particular category has ticked all of the boxes: care, budget, and talent. A proper story arc makes a film with a concept this ridiculous fascinating. Great techniques make great moments even better, and not so great effects still seem good enough. This much effort made a new genre altogether: a monster film where cities are attacked by insects. Sure enough, like many great ideas at the time, Them! was ripped off by many imitators, hoping to cash in on this whole large bug thing. None were remotely as good: they didn’t even come close. That’s because Them! wanted to discuss American nuclear politics through a horror lens in a way that wasn’t done before. Trying to just make large bugs scary is lazy. Them! holds up as a unique idea that, surely enough, still feels unique despite all of the pale imitators.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.