The 2022-2023 Film Journal #57: "Them!"

The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #57: "Them!"

The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #57

By Xavier E. Palacios

"Them!"

3.5 out of 5

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Rated TV-PG

A colony of giant ants, created by mutations from the nuclear radiation of the 1945 atomic bomb tests in New Mexico, begin spreading across the western United States, wreaking chaos and death; now, a team of scientific and military professionals must track down and destroy the latest colony if humanity hopes to stave off inevitable extinction.

In 2005, Disney released a direct-to-video sequel to one of my all-time favorite films, the childhood classic, Lilo and Stitch, which was subtitled, Stitch Has a Glitch. I have not re-watched this film in a long time, but unlike the majority, if not all, of the infamous Disney direct-to-video "sequels", I remember liking this flick for two specific reasons. The filmmaking quality was better than those other lousy cash-grabs and, consequently, the story focused on Lilo and Stitch living together as a family after they became one at the end of the original. Thus, there is an early sequence where the cast of characters attend a family movie night with custom snacks and a TV screening of a black-and-white 1950s film featuring giant, man-eating ants: Them!

Ever since seeing Stitch Has a Glitch for the first time eighteen years ago, I have been trying to see this film one of the characters, the redeemed and extra-terrestrial mad scientist, Jumba, tearily described as being "so beautiful". Well, at long last I have been able to see this '50s sci-fi classic and I am very happy to say I enjoyed the film very much.

Unfortunately, the ant animatronics are stiff and require a stronger sense of disbelief due to the obvious technological era and budget restraints. In the third act, two boys are, for the most part, illogically allowed to survive the ants' pincers; blame the Code, I suppose. There is an obnoxious thread, albeit brief, of sexism against the one woman character, despite her being a professional scientist; gosh dang old timey flicks. The piece also drags a bit in the middle, and the technical specifications of the plot's goals and requirements become a bit too convoluted after a much stronger, simpler first half. Otherwise, this film continues to show me that many old timey films are a lot better than I have come to believe due to prior bad experiences. One should just watch movies, any movie, just because, and for no reason that concerns satisfying an identity of any kind.

Them! is very entertaining and includes a likeable cast of performers, including Kris Kringle himself as seen in the original Miracle on 34th Street, Edmund Gwenn. I am impressed by how unpresuming and human the characters are, regardless of being without any traditionally notable characteristics that make for roles fit for the theatre. The plot is also well-told and, surprisingly, has a modern edge of interest and execution. Indeed, the film also features some of the most suspenseful sequences I have seen all this cinematic year.

Much of this excellence comes from the believability of the piece. The scares do not come from giant bugs attacking screaming civilians like any other creature feature. Instead, the scares come through just logically showcasing the scientific nature of ants as they go about their daily routines honed from millions upon millions of years of practice on a macroscopic scale. The resulting simplicity and accuracy are creepy. The characters treat the material seriously, and so does the audience. Also, the subtle inclusion of mounting panic from the public is not explored as much as the idea perhaps should be but is nonetheless riveting and even thematically resonant.

While the giant ants do not move with the speed and believability as the Bugs in 1997's Starship Troopers do, and the violence here is infinitely less brutal than that iconic satire, the cheaply realized insects provide an eeriness that is consistently woven throughout the flick. I do not need to see any corpses, maiming's, or be witness to any terror for most of the film; hearing about what happens when the ants encounter humans is scary enough. Or seeing the consequences of these devouring events, like with that poor, traumatized girl from the film's beginning who provides the film's title. In the climax within the L.A. tunnels, I was frozen with dread: truly not knowing if the soldiers would find those two missing kids or giant, killer ants at the end of a large pipe! My father once told me that, as a kid, the sounds the ants frightened him, and I absolutely concur. Their communicative sound is always a harbinger of terrible things to come that made me always squirm. When the predictable end for such a '50s sci-fi B-movie finally came along, I felt relief mixed with weariness and worry.

Great stuff, man.

Coincidentally, Them! premiered in 1954; the same year Gojira first appeared in Japanese cinemas. While Gojira is sharper than Them! in both technical execution and dramatic power, I certainly consider this American film a worthy cousin to that gargantuan piece of cinema. Both pictures are certainly testaments to the fact that sometimes there really are oldies but goodies at the movies. I have waited longer to see Them! than most youths have been alive, and I did not leave the film disappointed. Quite the opposite: I was smiling by knowing I had found a new, exciting sci-fi spookable flick to call my own.