Them!

No science-fiction library is complete without this 1954 classic, probably the best of the mutant creature craze. Sure, the special effects have long been eclipsed by digital, but the suspense holds up as LA mobilizes to defeat the giant killer ants in a battle of the sewers. The opening scenes are among the best of any era. I don't know how director Douglas got little Sandy Descher to emulate wide-eyed speechless shock, but from that moment on the tension rarely lets up. Then too, her single word eruption in the van may be the single scariest moment and a genuine inspiration on somebody's part. I guess it takes a big man to defeat big ants and thank goodness James Arness has switched to our side since menacing the North Pole in The Thing (1951). He, Whitmore, and Gwenn prove to be great pest exterminators though their methods are a little unorthodox, while poor pretty Joan Weldon sort of tags along after the guys in typical 50's style. Note the many nice touches from both the producer and director-- the well-stocked press conference, the army units deploying in the background, the humorous aside from the ugly guy in the hospital. These are the kind of additions that turn a good movie into a memorable one. It's certainly one I've remembered fondly since its enthusiastic 1954 reception, and so will you if you haven't seen it.

This is the kind of stuff I grew up on as a kid, watching science fiction and horror movies on TV which had been originally released in the 1940s and 50s. The 1950s was a golden age of science fiction movies, and THEM! was one of the very best. Good casting, dialog, and storyline, and commendable special effects for the time. Although the "atomic-radiation-causing-terrible-mutations" was a standard device in 50s sci fi (THE DEADLY MANTIS, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, and others), it was a workable one, and given that the ants were from the same area of desert where the first atomic blast occurred, it had just enough plausibility. I also like the little touches of humor and banter between characters. There was even a little bit of cheesecake when the young Dr. Medford (Joan Weldon) gets her skirt caught when descended from the plane, revealing a pair of shapely legs. This is one I keep going back to on rainy Saturday afternoons! A gem of its kind.

I was about 6 years old when i first saw this movie in 1962 or 63. My neighbor, Bill, and my brother watched it with me. I lived in Montrose MI at the time and when it was over my mother told us to go out and play. We resisted her and almost got in trouble for arguing but hey, how can you send three young boys out to face the world after they just watched how giant ants almost took it over? We were scared to death, and hid behind the trees and bushes just watching for them. Where have I lived for most part since 1984? Good old Alamogordo NM, home of the giant ants! How destiny does intrude on life. I love the desert and mountains out here (retired from USAF in 1999) and I am very happy to say that there have been no reports of giant ants since I have been here. People always call this the home of Atomic bomb (though they are off by some distance)and I always look them straight in the face and say "What? You mean you never heard of our giant ant problem?"

This was the very first horror flick I ever saw (at age 7), and retains the distinction of being the ONLY film after which I had to leave a light on to sleep. It's just basic scary monster and, with its black-and-white tones, continues to evoke that eerie sense of impending attack. When you add in that in the mid-fifties fears generated by the new "atomic age" were very real, you can appreciate that the threat of giant mutations was not as far-fetched as it may seem. Parenthetically, we should note that the presentation and treatment of a female scientist in a primary role, at a time when very few science PhD's went to women, is laudable. Also, it's fun to see James Arness as such a dashing young man, and Fess Parker in a pre-Crockett bit part. Well worth watching even after half a century.

It "annoys me that some people call the special effects in this film "bad" or "good for its time". For its time, they were state of the art and personally I can't imagine any better ants on the screen. They look and act real. and they're pretty creepy, enough to keep you looking over your shouldar But what I really love about this movie is the script, which is unusually good for a sci fi of this period and the fact that it all sounds so scientifically possible. I have since learned that it's impossible for insects to grow to a large size even with radiation because they lack lungs to support their bodies, but who knew back then? We didn't know what atomic energy could do and this movie expresses our fears in such a homey way. And it may just be the only sci fi where the woman does more than scream and get rescued. She is a scientist and she's no one's fool and she manages to put James Arness in his place when he tells her the ant hill is "no place for a woman". I love it! And every time I watch it, I just feel so bad when James Whitmore dies saving those two kids. He's been with us since the beginning of the movie and he gives his life to rescue them, finally able to right the scales a little over the death of his partner. I just hate that he dies. It's horrifying. A great flick.

Them was the best giant bug movie. It was about giant ants and started a horde of pathetic clones that followed it, but none have even come close to matching this movie's effectiveness. Atomic testing in New Mexico that went on in 1945 creates a horde of giant ants. It is up to a group of scientists, a police officer, and the military to stop these creatures from spreading throughout the USA and killing off the human race. This movie is not only a horror movie, but it also makes a point about the dangers of atomic testing. Much like Japan's Godzilla, Them finds nothing good in radiation testing or atomic bombs. There is even a monologue at the end of the movie which explains that things have changed now that we have entered the Atomic age. James Whitmore, James Arness, Joan Weldon, and Edmund Gwenn give good performances as the heroes who are out to save mankind, along with the U.S. military police. The pacing was rather good as well, slowing down when things need to be explained, and then picking up when the giant ants are on screen. Though the special effects seem cheesy by todays standards, I thought they were rather effective in this movie and memorable for 1954. This movie definitely looks best in black and white because it adds a haunting feeling to the desolation of the desert where the creatures are first found, and it also makes other scenes in the movie seem darker and sinister. Definitely a thumbs up in my opinion.

One of the greatest of Fifties science fiction features came from the Warner Brothers Studio in 1954. Them! is one of the best examples of the paranoid Fifties and all the things that we were afraid of that could result from the new atomic age. Ever since J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team exploded that first atomic bomb on the desert in White Sands, New Mexico radiation has spawned a new breed of giant ants nine to twelve feet in length. It's taken a decade for them to be discovered, the desert being a solitary place, but when these big guys come out of their holes, it's with a feeding frenzy vengeance. First on the scene is deputy sheriff James Whitmore, who first brings in FBI man James Arness and then a father and daughter team of scientists, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. The trail eventually takes the four to Los Angeles where an escaped queen from New Mexico is building a nest in the sewer system of Los Angeles. The tension and the action is brought to a fine pitch in Them! Though the human cast does give a good account of themselves, it's the special effects creating those giant ants that is the real star of the film. Other than a big of male chauvinism shown by James Arness towards Joan Weldon, the romance is non-existent. My guess is that those who survived the experience went on about the serious business of finding out what other kind of mutated creatures might be spawning as a result of atomic testing. Which was a very real fear in the Fifties. Edmund Gwenn comes off the best as a most intelligent and civilized scientist who knows the dangers and explains the situation to the military and civilian authorities without any condescension. Them! gave many nightmares to movie goers back in the day. The film is still capable of doing just that.

Them stars James Whitmore as New Mexico Police Sgt. Ben Peterson who discovers a little girl wandering in the desert. He finds her trailer ripped apart and her parents missing. Casts of the strange footprints found at the crime scene are sent to a lab where they catch the attention of father/daughter doctors Medford (Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon) who come to New Mexico along with FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness) to investigate. Dr. Medford has a theory but won't tell Peterson or Graham until he has more proof. If you are a fan of sci-fi films, Them is one of the four essential sci-fi films of the 1950s along with The Thing, Day the Earth Stood Still, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It's part crime story, part sci-fi, part horror with crisp dialog and it moves along at a brisk pace. Veteran director Gordon Douglas put together a solid cast of actors and the characters are totally believable. The story is interesting and the sets are outstanding. Them was a box office hit in 1954 and it still holds up today if you can forgive the special effects. Them is a movie where any remake would always pale with the original. Highly recommended.

Them! is the best giant bug movie of the 1950's and one of the best, if not the best monster movie of the decade. The acting is excellent with good performances from James Whitmore (The Relic) and James Arness (The Thing From Another World). The movie includes haunting desert settings and the giant ants look great. The sounds they make makes the movie even more eerie. This is 50's monster movie action at its very best. Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

This movie builds your anxiety to a minor frenzy. I think the old black and white did not hinder this sci-fi drama that still holds up well today. The creepy sound of the desert wind really sets the mood. The other effects seemed pretty darn good to be in a mid 50s movie. Of course the giant mutant ants don't look as scary as they did when I was a kid; but they still provide something to cause a squirm or two. Mutant ants crawl up from their burrows in the desert of New Mexico. Another product of nuclear testing. They are hungry and are attacking humans as they search out food. Sounds like a movie that would be full of stupid dialog and over acting. Guess again. Understandable, but predictable script with some decent acting. Great example of early sci-fi and can be enjoyed by young and old alike. The cast includes James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, James Arness, Joan Weldon and a smaller part for Fess Parker.