{"id":12274,"date":"2023-07-15T19:40:06","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T19:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattshorroraddiction.com\/?p=12274"},"modified":"2023-07-15T19:40:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T19:40:06","slug":"bug-the-food-of-the-gods-kingdom-of-the-spiders-and-mosquito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/?p=12274","title":{"rendered":"Bug, The Food of the Gods, Kingdom of the Spiders, and Mosquito"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bug – 1975, US, 99m. Director: Jeannot Szwarc. Streaming: Kanopy <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Food of the Gods – 1976, US, 88m. Director: Bert I. Gordon. Streaming: Tubi<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingdom of the Spiders – 1977, US, 95m. Director: John “Bud” Cardos. Streaming: N\/A<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mosquito – 1994, US, 92m. Director: Gary Jones. Streaming: AMC\/Prime, Shudder <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BUG<\/strong> (1975) <\/em>An earthquake in a desert town unleashes hordes of electrically-charged, prehistoric roaches that, when threatened, set fire to anything they touch. This proves disastrous for the small settlement when the bad bugs begins torching homes\u2014and people. Bradford Dillman plays a science teacher who, in his quest to try and understand the bugs, inadvertently helps them evolve. Way to go, Dillman! This William Castle production (the last before his death in 1977) has the look of a polished studio film, and is well directed by future Jaws 2<\/em> helmer, Jeannot Szwarc. Yet at its core, Bug<\/em> is just a silly B-movie taken way too seriously. Several of the bug attack\/fire scenes are fun (especially when poor Joanna Miles goes up in flames in her kitchen), but the middle half drags considerably and relies too much on Dillman’s scientist-turned-madman subplot. The downbeat ending helps stabilize the film, but just slightly. C <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE FOOD OF THE GODS<\/strong> (1976) <\/em>H.G. Wells would be rolling over in his grave if he saw this “adaptation” of his 1904 novel, The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth<\/em>. While on a hunting trip on a British Columbian island, a trio of friends stumble upon gigantic chickens, wasps, and rats\u2014which don’t waste any time in taking over their new place on the food chain and making dinner out of the locals. It seems the animals and insects grew to extraordinary size after ingesting a mysterious substance emanating from the ground on a nearby farm, which its owners believe is God’s way of punishing the sinners of the world. The rats become the dominant species on the island, eventually trapping the survivors inside the farmhouse where they fight to the death. The special FX are very hokey but fun, especially when the rats are chowing down on the humans\u2014the film’s PG-rating is very suspicious! Despite its limitations, this is an enjoyable low-budget romp that was a surprise hit in the drive-in circuit. Pamela Franklin is a hoot as a scientist who, in the face of death, wants macho hero, Marjoe Gortner, to have sex with her before they die. Followed by a 12-years-later sequel. B<\/strong>– <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS<\/strong> (1977)<\/em> It must have been written into star William Shatner’s contract that he gets to ride horseback and<\/em> lasso a calf. All this is displayed in the opening scene of Kingdom of the Spiders<\/em>, a clever little B-movie that’s actually very good. Shatner plays Dr. Hansen, a small town vet\u2014and all around cowboy stud\u2014who’s stumped when livestock in the area start dying from what appears to be spider venom. Things get worse when Hansen’s neighbors start turning up encased in webs. Hansen believes things will settle down once arachnid expert and love interest, Diane (Tiffany Bolling), shows up. But the discovery of several massive spider hills on a local farmer’s property bodes badly for a Hansen\/Diane love story when the spiders form a deadly army. The structure of the screenplay has more than a passing resemblance to The Birds<\/em>, including a scene where Hansen and gang seek shelter inside a luncheonette while hordes of tarantulas drop in through the chimney. In the end, Kingdom of the Spiders<\/em> is a suspenseful and well-made flick with a likable hero in Shatner, and a downbeat ending that works. A must-see for the “When Critters Attack” lover. B<\/strong>+ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MOSQUITO<\/strong> (1994)<\/em> In an homage to 1953’s The War of the Worlds<\/em>, Mosquito<\/em> opens with the arrival of a crashed spaceship. As the door opens, a lifeless alien arms extends out, and a mosquito happens by and bites it. A short time later, the mosquito population has mutated into ginormous monsters, which waste no time in making a buffet out of the nearby state park residents. Various campers and forest rangers are impaled and sucked dry by the flying creatures, leaving a trail of desiccated bodies in their wake. It’s up to a pack of survivors\u2014including Leatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen, as a God-fearing bank robber\u2014to try and stop the giant bugs from taking over the world. The movie’s low-budget FX and gore are a welcome addition to the intentionally campy nature the filmmakers were obviously striving for, and as a result, Mosquito<\/em> works fairly well. The pacing (which is at times relentless), a good cast, and an overall sense of enjoyment also help to make Mosquito<\/em> a fun little Michigan-shot monster movie. Don’t miss the scene where Hansen breaks out a chainsaw found in an abandoned house: “I haven’t handled one of these in 20 years.” B <\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bug – 1975, US, 99m. Director: Jeannot Szwarc. Streaming: Kanopy The Food of the Gods – 1976, US, 88m. Director: Bert I. Gordon. Streaming: Tubi Kingdom of the Spiders – 1977, US, 95m. Director: John “Bud” Cardos. Streaming: N\/A Mosquito – 1994, US, 92m. Director: Gary Jones. Streaming: AMC\/Prime, Shudder BUG (1975) An earthquake in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals-attack","category-capsule-reviews"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}