140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
One of the first atomic age monster pictures and still one of the very best. It was released 60 years ago but actually still is scary…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Them!:
I grew up loving this movie. My father loves it and it was one of the first films he got on VHS (ask your parents, kids). It’s an absolute classic, one of the greatest creature features and still plays surprisingly well.
The main reason that the movie has aged so well is the same as that of other classic monster pictures; slow-building suspense trumps special effects wizardry. Although Them! employs rather simplistic techniques for the monsters, this is a good thing. There’s a menacing quality to the slow approach of the ants that makes them frightening. The filmmakers also wisely don’t overreach with the shots of the creatures, displaying their falseness, but instead judiciously focus on the terrifying sounds of the ants (tree frogs) and the dark underground settings to ratchet up the suspense. I’m serious – this film is far more suspenseful, thrilling and actually scary than you might expect considering it’s about giant killer ants.
It would have been brilliant to see this movie when it came out. These movies get spoofed like crazy, and deservedly so, but at the time they were not so credulous. This was the dawn of the atomic age. People truly did not know the full effects of these incredible weapons. It may not seem plausible today to assume that weapons testing in the desert could cause the type of mutations that these 1950’s monster pictures reveled in, but there was just enough doubt in peoples minds at the time that it’s easy to understand why the public ate these things up.
Unbelievably, the movie was supposed to be in color and in 3D, but they had technical problems. So there are entire shots that are clearly meant to play up the 3D effect. I can’t imagine this film in color – it would have severely cheapened it. The atmosphere evoked by the dark, black & white scenes, particularly in the desert is magical and adds so much atmosphere that you excuse any eye-rolling dialogue.
(For the best movie about this time, check out Joe Dante’s marvelous 1993 film Matinee, a comedy picture set during the Cuban Missile Crisis wherein John Goodman plays the director of these atomic age creature movies. Brilliant.)
For all of the times you’ve heard someone go on and on about how great Jaws is because they keep up the suspense and don’t reveal the beast until well into the picture, have you ever wondered where Spielberg learned that technique? Them! is the original – one of the all time great monster pictures.
Fun fact: Look for a young Leonard Nimoy as a soldier reading out some wire copy.
Fun fact #2: Has a number of Wilhelm screams from back before it was an inside joke.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
The Representation Test Score: D (2 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | James Whitmore Police Sgt. Ben Peterson, Edmund Gwenn Dr. Harold Medford, Joan Weldon Dr. Patricia ‘Pat’ Medford, James Arness Robert Graham |
| Rating | Approved |
| Release Date | Sat 19 Jun 1954 UTC |
| Director | Gordon Douglas |
| Genres | Horror, Sci-Fi |
| Plot | The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 94 |
| Tagline | The Amazing New Warner Bros. Sensation! |
| Writers | Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Russell S. Hughes (as Russell Hughes) (adaptation) |
| Year | 1954 |
