Bug Month II Quick Picks and Pans

Curse of the Black Widow (1977) An amiable private investigator (Tony Franciosa) and cranky police detective (Vic Morrow) clash while attempting to learn more about a series of strange deaths in which the victims suffered two large puncture wounds on their chests, with their bodies completely drained of blood. Meanwhile, a mysterious dark-haired woman lurks in the shadows, luring men to their doom. It almost feels like an extended Kolchak the Night Stalker episode, minus Kolchak (no big surprise, since director Dan Curtis worked on the second Kolchak TV movie, The Night Strangler). While far from perfect, Curse of the Black Widow features some suspenseful scenes and a sense of playfulness, making this one a cut above the usual made-for-TV fare. 

Rating: ***½. Available on Prime Video

 

Earth vs. the Spider (aka: The Spider) (1958) Bert I. Gordon, who’s no stranger to depicting enlarged creatures with his usual home-grown subpar effects, brings us his bargain basement answer to Tarantula (1955) After Carol’s (June Kenney) father goes missing, she starts a search with her boyfriend Mike (Eugene Persson). They learn the awful truth when they discover his desiccated corpse inside a nearby cavern. The culprit turns out to be an enormous spider, which almost makes them its next meal (oddly enough, no one seems to pay much attention to the skeletons of former victims littered around the cave floor). After a truckload of DDT fails to kill the supersized arachnid, the authorities rack their brains for another solution. Some highlights include the oldest “teenagers” you’ve ever seen, a high school dance around the spider’s not-so-dead corpse, and spelunkers who can’t be bothered to bring a flashlight (Who knew caves were so bright?). 

Rating: ***. Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Tubi 

 

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977) When ill-fated business partners Buddy and Fred (Tom Atkins and Howard Hessman) crash land their DC-3, carrying coffee from Ecuador (along with a bunch of killer spiders) in a small California town, mayhem ensues. Yet another flick that rode the wave of tarantula-sploitation movies (perpetuating the myth that the much-maligned spiders are far more venomous than they really are), Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo boasts a strong cast, including TV movie stalwart Claude Aikens as a fire captain and Pat Hingle as a small-town doctor. Thanks to the aforementioned pests, a big plot point is whether or not the latest orange harvest will go to waste (No, really!). You could do worse than to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon watching hordes of spiders, shaky science and a pat ending (hint: It’s bad for spiders but good for oranges). 

Rating ***. Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

 

Mosquito (1994) An alien spacecraft crashes into a swamp in rural Michigan, and mosquitoes feast on the remains of the extraterrestrials’ bodies, resulting in giant mutant creatures. A park ranger, her alpha male boyfriend, and an Air Force scientist team up to combat the monster mosquitoes, along with a pair of crooks (Gunnar Hansen and Mike Hard). The effects range from quite good (the full-size mosquito) to terrible (animation depicting the swarm). One highlight is seeing Mr. Hansen wield a chainsaw again (20 years after a certain movie from Texas). Unfortunately, most of the movie is uninspired, with lackluster acting and mostly lame attempts at humor. 

Rating: **½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Ticks (1993) Seth Green stars as Tyler, a disaffected youth sent to a camp to straighten out his life. Soon, he finds himself fighting for his survival, along with his fellow campers and counselors when some giant mutant ticks (resembling a bad first draft of an Alien facehugger) are inadvertently unleashed in the wilderness by pot growers (including Clint Howard as the first victim) using a new potent fertilizer. It’s not the worst way to spend 90 minutes, although there are better bug films out there.     

Rating: **½. Available on Blu-ray, Prime Video and Tubi

 Ants! (aka: It Happened at Lakewood Manor) (1977) A construction crew unwittingly stir up a colony of deadly ants, which spread to an adjacent property, the 100-year-old Lakewood Manor. A construction foreman, fire chief and coast guard race against time to save the remaining guests before the ants take over the place. A good cast (including Robert Foxworth, Lynda Day George, Bernie Casey, Brian Dennehy and Myrna Loy!) are mostly wasted in a movie that, despite the lurid subject matter, manages to be surprisingly tedious. 

Rating: **½. Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

Mesa of Lost Women (1953) Reportedly cobbled together from an unfinished film with scenes added in (It’s two, count ‘em, two confusing movies in one!). From his hidden desert laboratory, mad scientist Dr. Aranya (Jackie “Uncle Fester” Coogan) attempts to create a master race of superwomen, fortified by spider hormones. He also experiments with supersized spiders, just to spice things up. It’s a big mess, good for some unintentional laughs, a Chinese character who only seems to speak in trite aphorisms, and a repetitive score that hoped to do for flamenco guitar what zither music did for The Third Man. You’ve been warned. 

Rating: **. Available on DVD and Tubi 

The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) For reasons unknown, a wormhole to another galaxy forms a portal on a rural Wisconsin farm owned by a hateful bumpkin and his self-esteem-challenged wife. Some rocks resembling geodes appear with diamonds and spiders inside. The spiders start to grow rapidly, threatening to take over the town (as freakishly large spiders will do). A NASA astrophysicist and a local cosmologist try to figure out a way to close the wormhole before more spiders are unleashed. Other than some goofy dialogue and Alan Hale as the sheriff (he even calls someone “Little Buddy”), there’s not much to recommend. 

Rating **. Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Tubi

The Bees (1978) The Bees tries to do for bees what Phase IV did for ants, but without the introspection. John Carradine (attempting a German accent) plays a researcher studying a new strain of intelligent South American killer bees. Co-star John Saxon does his best, given the flimsy material, but even he seems lost. There’s also a brief scene with a Jimmy Carter impersonator and an assassination/conspiracy subplot that comes out of left field. Add one of the worst film scores in recent memory into the mix (with wacky TV movie-caliber action music that does nothing to punctuate the horror), and you have a movie that’s guaranteed to raise eyebrows and make you question your life choices. See The Swarm (1978) instead. 

Rating: *½. Available on Blu-ray, DVD, Tubi and Kanopy

 

 

Squirm

(1976) Written and directed by Jeff Lieberman; Starring: Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R.A. Dow, Jean Sullivan, Peter MacLean, and Fran Higgins; Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

Rating: ***½

“I searched around until I found the yellow legal pad I first sketched out the idea on with title scrawled at the top; Skworm! With a fresh eye, the first thing that struck me was the way I spelled Squirm. Skworm. Too cutesy. The idea was weird enough without needing to put a spin on it. So Squirm it was.” – Jeff Lieberman (excerpted from Day of the Living Me) 

Worms are basically the Rodney Dangerfield of the bug world – like the famed comedian they don’t get a lot of respect. Their mere presence often evokes disgust, along with an “ewww” or “ick” from the beholder. What’s more, the word “worm” is sometimes used colloquially as a pejorative, to describe an unsavory or slimy person. Thanks to writer/director Jeff Lieberman, however, the lowly worm finally had its day in Squirm.* Originally set in New England, novice director Jeff Lieberman and crew took a trip down south, to film around the Savannah, Georgia vicinity. Shot in 24 days, the film featured a mix of professional actors and non-actors (who added some local color to the dialogue). 

* Fun Fact #1: When Lieberman brought up the initial idea of the movie to his wife JoAnn, she replied, “That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard in my life.”

The opening crawl, in true exploitation form, proclaims the story we’re about to see is based on a real incident in rural Georgia, in which downed power lines sent “hundreds of thousands of volts surging into the muddy ground.*/** Our protagonist, Mick (Don Scardino) arrives by bus, but due to flooding, sets out on foot to meet his girlfriend Geri (Patricia Pearcy) in nearby Fly Creek (expect lots of jabs at New York City and “city boys”). His first encounter with the locals starts off on the wrong foot when he orders a drink from the diner, only to find a worm in his drink. Thinking it’s some sort of prank, Sheriff Reston (Peter MacLean), who would probably arrest him for breathing if he felt he could get away with it, accuses Mick of being a troublemaker. The sheriff’s esteem for Mick goes downhill from there. Meanwhile, back at the farmhouse, Mick does his best to ingratiate himself to the rest of the family, consisting of Geri’s recently widowed mother Naomi (Jean Sullivan) and her younger sister Alma (Fran Higgins, in her only theatrical role). Adversity looms on the horizon in the form of his would-be rival Roger (R.A. Dow) who runs a worm farm with father (Carl Dagenhart). But things are about to go from bad to worse for Fly Creek, when a horde of angry, carnivorous worms*** take over the town. 

* Fun Fact #2: Okay, so Lieberman omitted the fact that the incident in question stemmed from his childhood, when his brother (inspired by an article in Popular Science) used a toy train transformer to send an electrical charge through the ground, causing multiple worms to emerge. 

** Fun Fact #3: The footage of an electrical tower collapsing in the storm was lifted from Oceans 11 (1960). 

*** Not-So-Fun-Fact: The weird squealing sound of the worms was actually the sound of pigs being slaughtered.

As befits a movie dedicated to killer worms, expect to see lots of the squiggly critters. For the shoot, Lieberman used common earthworms with some marine bloodworms (glycera)* thrown in the mix (along with some terrifying close-ups of their pincers), and approximately 1 million fake rubber worms.** In a fun little bit of foreshadowing, when Mick and Geri interrupt the sheriff on a dinner date in an Italian restaurant,*** we’re treated to close-up shots of them sloppily devouring spaghetti, appropriately reinforcing the central theme. 

* Fun Fact #4: Yes, these things are real. Although generally not considered dangerous to humans, a magnified view reveals some genuine nightmare fodder: extra-strong, venom-injecting pincers for grasping prey, reinforced with copper. Sleep well, folks! 

** Fun Fact #5: In the scene where the floor of Geri’s house comes alive with the writhing critters, Lieberman and company employed a low-tech solution, enlisting 50 kids from a boy scout troop. Stationed in the false floor below the fake worms, at various intervals, the boys would jump up from one corner to another to simulate movement. 

*** This is followed by one of the film’s more curious scenes, in which Sheriff Reston has sex with his date in one of his jail cells (Is it a kink or was he just too cheap to rent a motel room? You decide).

Like any worthwhile horror thriller, Squirm takes its time introducing us to some surprisingly three-dimensional characters,* starting with veteran actress Jean Sullivan as the haunted matriarch of the family, crumbling inwardly through suppressed emotions, but still proud. Lieberman remarked that if he had been a more experienced director at the time, he might have had Sullivan tone down the “Tennessee Williams,” but I think it works well for the character, as well as reinforcing the sense of dread. Geri’s younger sister Alma could have been depicted as a brat, but thanks to Fran Higgins’ nuanced performance, she displays more depth than meets the eye. The requisite sibling rivalry is on display, but it’s also clear that they care about each other. After their mothers’ implied breakdown, both had to step up to take on a larger role in the household. But Alma’s not simply following in her older sister’s footsteps – she’s a bit of a rebel, as revealed in the scene where she lights up a joint and offers Mick a puff. While it’s not exactly a love triangle, her interest in Geri’s boyfriend seems motivated by a combination of envy and curiosity. The other key player in this melodrama is Roger (R.A. Dow) who’s held a torch for Geri for years. He may not be the brightest bulb, but he has aspirations beyond his browbeating father’s worm farm. When he finally confesses his love for her, it goes about as well as could be expected. (SPOILER ALERT) Mercifully, we don’t have much time for second-hand embarrassment, since he becomes worm food.** 

* Fun Fact #6: According to Lieberman, film history might have gone a different way if he had ended up casting some other actors that were also considered at the time. Martin Sheen was originally cast for Mick, but he and Lieberman had creative differences about his character. Then-unknown Kim Basinger auditioned for Geri, and (before his ship sailed in with Rocky) Sylvester Stallone wanted the role of Roger. 

** Fun Fact #7: The facial prosthesis on R.A. Dow, graphically depicting the worms burrowing into his face, was created by budding effects master, Rick Baker.

Squirm’s low budget works to its advantage, painting an intimate portrait of a small town under siege, and one family’s attempt to meet a disaster head-on. Rich with Southern Gothic atmosphere, the film evokes an air of mystery, epitomized by antebellum ivy-covered houses gone to seed,* repressed family secrets, and unrequited love. Jeff Lieberman promised worms, and you get more of them than you can shake a fishing rod at. Unabashedly a B-movie through and through yet much better than its admittedly sensationalistic name suggests, Squirm delivers the goods, and then some. 

* Fun Fact (or Folklore) #8: Lieberman commented that one of the homes used for filming had a reputation as one of the most haunted in the South. It didn’t take much searching to learn that Savannah is apparently ground zero for ghostly occurrences.

  

Sources for this article: Day of the Living Me, by Jeff Lieberman; Kino Lorber Blu-ray commentary by Jeff Lieberman; Wikipedia entry, Glycera (annelid) 

 

 

Kingdom of the Spiders

(1977) Directed by Don “Bud” Cardos; Written by Richard Robinson and Alan Caillou; Original story by Jeffrey M. Sneller and Stephen Lodge; Starring: William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, Woody Strode, Lieux Dressler, Marcy Lafferty and Roy Engel; Available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

Rating: *** 

“Look, it’s not just a bunch of spiders, it’s a migration caused by some kind of imbalance – probably because a lot of ignorant people like yourself have killed off all their food with your stupid DDT. And I’ll tell you something else, sir, there’s not just a few spiders out there, there’s millions of them, and your town is right in their path.” – Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) 

“Jeff Sneller and I were sitting in a restaurant across the street from CBS Studio Center, and he said, ‘How would you like to write a horror picture?’ And I said, ‘Well, what’s the thing that scares you the most?’ And we both thought for a minute, and both of us at the same time said, ‘spiders.’ And so, we went to a library and checked out a book on spiders, read it as quick as we could, and by the next morning we were writing.” – Stephen Lodge

If there was a golden age for nature-out-of-balance movies, the 1970s certainly fit the bill. Featuring more killer bug movies than you could spray a can of Raid at (Phase IV, Bug, Empire of the Ants, etc…), audiences were left perennially wondering what sort of creepy crawlies awaited them in the dark. Original story writer Stephen Lodge cited Jaws, The Birds, and a steady diet of ‘50s horror flicks as his (and co-writer Jeffrey M. Sneller) inspiration for Kingdom of the Spiders. With many (if not most) people accustomed to fearing the eight-legged creatures,*/** the filmmakers had a built-in audience. 

* Fun Fact #1: Only about 0.1 to 0.3 percent of spiders are considered dangerous to humans (“Why So Many People Fear Spiders and Snakes,” Psychology Today). 

** Fun Fact #2: According to psychologist Vanessa LoBue, her research with young children suggested fear of spiders (and snakes) isn’t something that’s ingrained, but socialized (ibid). 

Terror comes to the formerly peaceful small town of Verde Valley, Arizona (filmed in and around Sedona, Arizona), when a poor farmer’s (Woody Strode) prize calf suddenly keels over dead. Veterinarian Dr. Robert “Rack” Hansen (William Shatner) is perplexed by the death, so he contacts the local college for an expert to investigate. Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling)*/** arrives to a mystery, discovering not only a species more venomous than previously known, but the normally solitary arachnids coordinating in groups.*** After overcoming Rack’s initial cynicism about the threat, they combine forces to warn the rest of the town, but they meet resistance in the oblivious Mayor Connors (Roy Engel), who seems to have been cut from the same cloth as Amity’s mayor in Jaws. Connors has the upcoming county fair on his mind, and he’s not about to let some spiders ruin his town’s biggest annual event. But the spiders have different plans. 

* Fun Fact #3: Before Bolling joined the project, two other actresses, Donna Mills and Barbara Hale were considered for the role of Diane Ashley, except both were terrified of spiders. Since Bolling didn’t mind working with them, she clinched the part. 

** Fun Fact #4: Prior to Kingdom of the Spiders, Bolling appeared in another arachnid-adjacent role, in Sid and Marty Krofft’s Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976), as the crimefighting duo’s archnemesis, Spider Lady. 

*** Despite being an “expert,” she refers to the spiders as insects. But perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of the story was how she managed to afford a new Mercedes convertible as a (presumably) state employee.

William Shatner is no stranger to playing smug characters, but Rack Hansen */** might have been specifically sent down from the heavens to harass women. When Diane checks into a motel, a brief exchange with the proprietor implies he’s at least dated (if not slept with) every female resident of legal age. As written (and portrayed by Shatner), he’s a cartoonishly sexist character who thinks being condescending is his idea of flirting. In the most egregious scene, he pursues her in his pickup truck, cuts her off the road, throws her in the passenger seat of her own car and takes the wheel (Our hero, folks). If this is typical Rack behavior, one has to wonder how or why he hasn’t been slapped with several restraining orders. To state Rack and Diane don’t share the greatest chemistry is putting it mildly, since he starts off on the wrong foot and continues to tread with said foot in their interactions. Eventually, he wears her down, although she seems more resigned to her fate than smitten by Rack. 

* Fun Fact #5: Bo Svenson was the filmmakers’ first choice for the role of Rack Hansen, but he turned it down. 

** Fun Fact #6: Shatner was offered $20,000 for the part, as well as a percentage of the profits, but his agent was adamant against him accepting the role for what he considered a paltry sum. Shatner ending up saying “yes” to the part, subsequently firing his agent.   

*** Fun Fact #7: According to co-star Bolling, Shatner kept hitting on her, despite the fact that his then wife Marcy Lafferty was on the set.

Let’s face it. We don’t give a hoot whether Shatner and Bolling hook up in the end – we’re just here to see spider-based mayhem, and oh, does it deliver. The real acting kudos belong to the movie’s unsung performers, several thousand tarantulas. The filmmakers brought in several different species, some of which were more “people friendly” than others, using the more docile varieties (such as the Mexican red-kneed tarantula) for interactions with the human actors and more aggressive species (Haitian brown tarantulas) for long shots. According to spider handler Jim Brockett, spiders can’t be “trained,” so they needed to be coaxed (often a blast of compressed air did the trick). It was quite a daunting task managing the tarantulas during the shoot, while ensuring that as many as possible survived. Despite the cast and crew’s best efforts, you can clearly see there were some casualties along the way, especially when there are multiple cars and people.

Kingdom of the Spiders’* concept of spiders co-existing in a colony was later recycled in Arachnophobia (1990), but recent discoveries proved it’s not entirely fantastical. The behavior was recently observed in Madagascar, with a previously unknown species, so the premise isn’t entirely wonky. The plot’s recipe is simple yet effective: introduce killer spiders, watch them multiply, repeat. While the film score is far from original (Twilight Zone fans will appreciate or be annoyed that the filmmakers chose to repurpose some of Jerry Goldsmith’s musical cues from the TV show), it’s eerily effective when used sparingly. Kingdom of the Spiders tests the mettle of its audience. Even those who don’t mind a spider or two,** might find the hordes of arachnids in the film to be unsettling. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself checking your clothes and bedding for unwanted guests. 

* Fun Fact #8: Shatner had originally planned to direct and star in a sequel to Kingdom of the Spiders with Cannon Films producing, but the deal fell through when Cannon went out of business. 

** Fun Fact #9: Yours truly kept a Chilean Rose tarantula named “Bela” (much to the chagrin of visitors) for about a decade. 

 

Sources for this article: DVD commentary by John “Bud” Cardos, Igo Kantor, Spider Wrangler Jim Brockett, and Cinematographer John Morrill; “Interview with Writer Steve Lodge” (2010); “Spider Solidarity: Scientists Discover New Species With Unprecedented Social Behavior,” by Carolyn Bernhardt, M.A., Entomologytoday.org (March 30, 2023);  “Why So Many People Fear Spiders and Snakes,” by Vanessa LoBue Ph.D., Psychologytoday.com 

 

 

The Diabolical Dr. Z

 

(1966) Written and directed by Jesús Franco; Adaptation and Dialogue by Jean-Claude Carrière; Starring: Antonio Jiménez Escribano, Estella Blain, Mabel Karr, Howard Vernon, Fernando Montes, Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui, Cris Huerta, Guy Mairesse and Jesús Franco; Available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Rating: ***½ 

“I don’t think I have a definitive film. Such a thing is not possible for me. But if you’re curious about which film I would save from a fire, I should tell you Necronomicon (Succubus), Black Angel (Venus In Furs), and Miss Muerte (The Diabolical Dr. Z). They are the most sincere. They are the most close to my previous idea to do it, you know what I mean? I like the style of black cinema. I like the style of expressionisimo, and they are the most of myself. I don’t say that I love it, though, because I don’t...” – Jesús Franco (from 2009 A.V. Club interview) 

Jesús (“Jess”) Franco was an incredibly prolific filmmaker, credited with directing more than 200 movies (considering how many titles he directed under a pseudonym, we may never know the true count). Franco was so prolific that it’s easy to see how rumors spread about shooting more than one film at a time.* The Diabolical Dr. Z (aka: Miss Muerte) an unofficial adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s 1940 novel, The Bride Wore Black, was itself re-made by Franco (sort of) several years later as She Killed in Ecstasy (1971). The French/Spanish co-production was filmed in and around Madrid.   

* Fun Fact #1: Although Tim Lucas perpetuated this rumor in his DVD commentary, Franco himself denied ever directing more than one film at a time, stating in an AV Club interview, “I never made two or three films together. This is impossible! I only have one head. It is impossible for me to think about two films at the same time…”

Set in Austria, the film takes place in the same universe as Franco’s earlier film, The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962). Dr. Zimmer (Antonio Jiménez Escribano),* who’s a disciple of the eponymous mad scientist (sharing his theories about good and evil residing in the nervous system), meets with the International Neurological Congress to present his findings. Unbeknownst to his fellow scientists, Dr. Z has already taken the step from animal to human experimentation. Presumably subscribing to the adage, “Ask for forgiveness, not permission,” Dr. Z requests clearance to use a human subject, which goes about as well as you’d expect. The subsequent shock of rejection by his peers is too much for him to take, but before he dies, he implores his daughter/assistant Irma (Mabel Karr) to continue his work. In Irma’s case, that means using her father’s experiments to take revenge against the men who discredited him. After faking her own death using a hitchhiker (Ana Castor)** as a stooge, Irma sets out to eliminate Dr. Z’s detractors. Using her father’s invention (a cool-looking but impractical device with flimsy mechanical arms), she brainwashes Miss Death (Estella Blain), an unassuming exotic dancer with freakishly long nails, to carry out her bidding.   

* Fun Fact #2: Despite being the title character, Dr. Zimmer only appears in the film’s first 12 minutes. 

** Fun Fact #3: According to film historian Tim Lucas, Castor was Franco’s first pick to play Irma.

Thanks to Alejandro Ulloa’s* gorgeous cinematography, The Diabolical Dr. Z is quite possibly one of the best-looking films Franco has ever made. Although Franco reportedly lamented the fact that many of his earlier films were filmed in black and white, it’s hard to imagine color enhancing the overall experience. Ulloa imbues Dr. Z with a noirish appearance, typified by long shadows, fog-drenched streets, and imposing low-angle shots. One of the film’s highlights is Miss Death’s sexy/creepy dance sequence on a spiderweb, foreshadowing her lethal mind-controlled escapades in future scenes. 

* Fun Fact #4: This film would prove to be Franco’s only collaboration with Ulloa, who would go on to lens Horror Express (1972).

As with many of Jesús Franco’s films, The Diabolical Dr. Z is akin to a waking dream, with logic taking a backseat. But considering the excesses of Franco’s later efforts, Dr. Z shows surprising restraint, most likely enforced by the censors of the time (Miss Death’s revealing costume notwithstanding). Besides the film’s neo-noir leanings, Dr. Z features some excellent performances by Mabel Karr’s as the icy Irma and Estella Blain as the aforementioned Miss Death. Franco himself has a nice semi-comic turn, in the (uncredited) role of the perpetually exhausted Inspector Tanner, who constantly complains about his triplet babies keeping him awake at night. Is The Diabolical Dr. Z proof to the Franco naysayers that he could make a good movie? Well, some naysayers are going to “nay,” no matter what. Those with an open mind (Francophiles and horror fans alike), however, might be pleasantly surprised by this stylish horror thriller.   

 

Sources for this article: Tim Lucas DVD commentary; JessFranco (interview), by Sean O’Neal, AV Club (2009)