King of the Ants (2003/I)

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

Charlie Higson (screenplay)
Charlie Higson (novel)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A young drifter discovers his true calling when he's hired by a mobster to stalk and kill a prominent accountant, and then decides to seek revenge when the stingy thugs try to kill him rather than pay him.

Plot Keywords:

Accountant | Drifter | Golf | City Hall | House

Cast

Chris McKenna	...	Sean Crawley (as Chris L. McKenna)
Kari Wuhrer	...	Susan Gatley
George Wendt	...	Duke Wayne
Vernon Wells	...	Beckett
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Carl
Timm Sharp	...	George
Daniel Baldwin	...	Ray Mathews
Carissa Kosta	...	Maureen (as Carissa Koutantzis)
Briana Beghi	...	Maureen's Daughter
Carlie Westerman	...	Catlin Gatley
Ian Patrick Williams	...	Tony
Antoine Joseph	...	Drooling Idiot
Shuko Akune	...	Meade Park
Steve Heller	...	Gary (as Steven Heller)
Ken 'Bam Bam' Johnson Jr.	...	Apartment Kid
Tino Marquez Jr.	...	Apartment Kid
Adam Noble	...	Bartender
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joe Davis	...	Big 69 (uncredited)
Ron Livingston	...	Eric Gatley (uncredited)

Directed by
Stuart Gordon

Writing credits
Charlie Higson		(screenplay) (as Charles Higson)
Charlie Higson		(novel) (as Charles Higson)

Produced by
Laszlo Bene	....	line producer
Stuart Gordon	....	co-producer
Duffy Hecht	....	producer
Charlie Higson	....	co-producer
David Michael Latt	....	producer
David Rimawi	....	executive producer
Shawn Simons	....	associate producer
Sherri Strain	....	executive producer
George Wendt	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Bobby Johnston

Cinematography by
Mac Ahlberg

Film Editing by
David Michael Latt

Casting by
Monika Mikkelsen

Production Design by
Georges Moes

Art Direction by
Shannon Kemp

Costume Design by
Stacy Stagnaro

Makeup Department
Jennifer Albrecht	....	assistant hair stylist
Jennifer Albrecht	....	assistant makeup artist
Ken Culver	....	foam technician
Rocky Faulkner	....	key makeup artist
Dan Gates	....	special makeup effects artist
Brad Hardin	....	makeup effects artist
Glenn Hetrick	....	special makeup effects artist
Kari Murillo	....	special makeup effects artist
Lancel Reyes	....	special makeup effects artist
Reyna Rhone	....	special makeup effects artist
John Vulich	....	special makeup effects artist
Gary Yee	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Laszlo Bene	....	unit production manager
Karl T. Hirsch	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kathleen Roll	....	second assistant director
B. Scott Senechal	....	first assistant director (as Scott Senechal)

Art Department
Eric Eichelberger	....	set dresser
Keleigh Ferguson	....	art department
Anastasia Fite	....	art assistant
Erin Gruman	....	props
Kevin Loo	....	assistant art director
Megan Sherwood	....	art assistant

Sound Department
Randall James Bol	....	boom operator (as Randy Rol)
Aura Gilge	....	sound effects editor (as Aura Belle Gilge)
Dennis Grzesik	....	sound recordist
Karl T. Hirsch	....	supervising sound editor
Alexis Oscari	....	french dubbing mixer

Special Effects by
Chris Bailey	....	special effects foreman
John Bordeaux	....	pyro effects
John C. Hartigan	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Rita Schrag	....	optical printing supervisor
Jim Stewart	....	optical designer

Stunts
Makoto Arakawa	....	stunts
Joe Davis	....	stunts
Keith Davis	....	stunt double
Keith Davis	....	stunts
Tatsuro Koike	....	stunt coordinator
T.J. Rotolo	....	stunts
Koichi Sakamoto	....	stunt coordinator
Chris Torres	....	stunt double
David Wald	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Yogi Allen	....	best boy grip
Glendel R. Bondoc	....	key grip (as Glendel Bondoc)
Tom Burtis	....	grip
Jon Callesen	....	best boy electric (as Jon C. Callesen)
Roger Chingirian	....	best boy electric
Jeffrey Chin	....	best boy electric
Shannon Davis	....	key grip (as Shannon Phillip Davis)
Rick Drapkin	....	Steadicam operator
Kelly Farned	....	electrician
Avra Fox	....	grip
Patrick Gault	....	electrician
Prashant Gupta	....	still photographer
Brady Hallongren	....	camera supervisor
Tom Hejda	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Trevor Houghton	....	gaffer
Andrew Korner	....	electrician
Jonathan Kosik	....	electrician
Brian Lataille	....	Steadicam operator
Marcus Lopez	....	first assistant camera
Steven A. Lundgren	....	additional gaffer
Steven A. Lundgren	....	best boy electric
Onofrio Nino Pansini	....	camera operator (as Nino Pansini)
Noah Peter	....	grip
Sean Piper	....	key grip
Kelly Price	....	key grip
Jonathan Shier	....	second assistant camera
Jayne E. Szollosy	....	second assistant camera
Kristopher Van Over	....	first assistant camera
Peter Villani	....	best boy electric
Byron Werner	....	director of photography: second unit

Casting Department
Michael Schiavone	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Heather Albrecht	....	wardrobe assistant
Deanna M. Saul	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Bob Fredrickson	....	color timer (as Bob Frederickson)
Karl T. Hirsch	....	first assistant editor
Mark Quod	....	dailies colorist
Chris Weber	....	negative cutter
Gary Weber	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Karl T. Hirsch	....	music editor (as Karl Hirsch)

Transportation Department
Randy Mangum	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Pablo Balderas	....	production assistant
André Cato	....	production assistant
Brian Cohen	....	production assistant
William Clark Coit III	....	location coordinator (as William Coit)
Adam Blake Finer	....	market researcher
Brady Hallongren	....	title supervisor
Chris Harvey	....	production coordinator
Duffy Hecht	....	location coordinator
Brigitte Illmeier	....	production assistant
Rommel Invina	....	production assistant
Jeremy L. Jeziorski	....	production assistant
Bishop Knight	....	production assistant
Fong-Xu Ling	....	production assistant
Lois Mendez	....	production assistant
Kaman Minor	....	production assistant
Sandrine Pecmer	....	production assistant
Gunnar Petersen	....	production assistant
Matthew Poisson	....	production assistant
Michael Poisson	....	production assistant
Susana Preston	....	script supervisor
Emmanuel V. Rumph	....	production assistant
Perry Suppa	....	film scheduler
Saskia Vogel	....	assistant to producers

Thanks
Alexander Cann	....	thanks
Bryan Moore	....	thanks
Leigh Scott	....	special thanks
John Strysik	....	thanks
Aaron Vanek	....	thanks
Joe Venegas	....	thanks
John Yuan	....	special thanks
Matt Yuan	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Anthill Productions
• Asylum, The
• Hecht Co.
• Red Hen Productions

Distributors

• Alparslan Yapim (2007) (Turkey) (all media)
• Anthill Productions
• Asylum, The
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Sunrise Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Optic Nerve Studios

Other Companies

• L.A. Casting Group  extras casting
• Stewart Motion Picture Services  titles and opticals

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) | Argentina:16 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Anthill Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in King of the Ants: Behind the Scenes (2004) (V)

Another departure for Stuart Gordon

I guess everyone, including myself, has given up on Stuart Gordon ever matching the success of Re-Animator, and he's done some projects over the years that were just plain unsatisfying (Death Bed, Dolls). Dagon was great, more of a return to the horror stuff he does best, so I had some hope for King of the Ants, and while this isn't a straight horror film, it's certainly horrific enough to catch one's attention. It's more of a revenge flick with horror overtones. An aimless young man is caught up with an unscrupulous developer and his henchmen, and is hired to follow a city worker to find out what he's up to. Eventually things lead up to the city worker getting killed by the young man, and then he finds out that he wasn't going to be paid at all. He's taken to a remote location, locked in a toolshed, and tortured every day until he's at the brink of madness, at which point he's considered too far gone to be of any problem. Which is a big mistake since he attacks and kills one of his captors. His only friend somehow figures out where he is and rescues him, but then leaves him in his underwear wrapped in a blanket on the street. He gravitates to a homeless shelter, where he's taken in a cared for by the wife of the man he killed, and as he recovers, he insinuates his way into her life and the home of the man he killed. Eventually she pieces things together as to why he looks familiar and finds some files he'd taken from her husband, and things fall apart from there. He gets back to the remote desert house where he then takes vengeance on his former captors in wildly grisly fashion. I don't particularly care for "revenge" flicks, per se, but this was pretty decent and has some pretty decent effects too. The young man's hallucinations while lying in the toolshed are weird and disgusting. I found myself liking this far more than I expected, and it's definitely a decent enough film, just not "typical" Stuart Gordon. I'd give this 7 out of 10.