Empire of the Ants (1977)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

Bert I. Gordon (screen story)
Jack Turley (writer)

Release Date:

July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

For they shall inherit the earth... sooner than you think!

Plot:

Sleazy scam artist Joan Collins tries to sell phony real estate deals down in the Florida everglades...

Plot Keywords:

Ant | Florida | Florida Everglades | Beautiful Woman | Ant Attack

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Joan Collins	...	Marilyn Fryser
Robert Lansing	...	Dan Stokely
John David Carson	...	Joe Morrison
Albert Salmi	...	Sheriff Art Kincade
Jacqueline Scott	...	Margaret Ellis
Pamela Susan Shoop	...	Coreen Bradford (as Pamela Shoop)
Robert Pine	...	Larry Graham
Edward Power	...	Charlie Pearson
Brooke Palance	...	Christine Graham
Tom Fadden	...	Sam Russell
Irene Tedrow	...	Velma Thompson
Harry Holcombe	...	Harry Thompson
Jack Kosslyn	...	Thomas Lawson
Ilse Earl	...	Mary Lawson
Janie Gavin	...	Ginny, the car rental agent

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' Empire of the Ants (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG (Certificate #24828)

Filming Locations:

Belle Glade, Florida, USA

Company:

Cinema 77

Trivia:

As a promotional gimmick for the film theaters would display ant farms in their lobbies - though they weren't allowed near the concession counters.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before the Captain jumps in the ocean to try and save the boat, he takes off his shoes. After he burns the boat, he jumps in the water and you can clearly see his shoes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in It's Tough to Be a Bug (1998)

Worth a look...but nothing to take seriously.

This is my favorite giant insect movie. I don't know what it is about this one, but every time I see it on AMC or where ever I have to watch. The effects are bad and the plot isn't the best in the world, but not every movie has to be great to be fun to watch. Usually, in movies of this type the monsters (in this case giant ants) are rarely seen cause they look so bad. In this one, though, they don't care what they look like and they are more than happy to show us this cheesy ants...sometimes the old regular ants projected on the background, while at others really bad puppets. The plot has these people looking at vacation plots...you know timeshare stuff. While touring the facility, some members disappear and then the ants attack. They have to get away from them and go down a river on a boat to do so. This is my favorite part of the movie, going down the river. Lots of the cast are taken out here. Unfortunately, it ends rather weak as they all get to this town that has some sort of connection to the ants, but what? I would have preferred this one to stay with the river and wood scenes rather than the town part of the plot, but overall this movie is good fun.