Customer Reviews

Them [VHS]

5 star:		(167)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, the special effects are very much of the 1950s, but those effects are fun to watch--and unlike most other 1950s sci-fi/horror films, THEM! has a lot more going for it than special effects alone: sharp and aggressive performances, a cast of truly memorable supporting actors, a witty and intelligent script, and best of all (unlike many other films of its era) a story that can still generate plenty of suspense.

The grand-daddy of all mutant-monster movies, THEM! concerns a colony of A-Bomb-created giant ants that have lurked in the desert unnoticed until the colony begins to divide. When newborn queen ants take flight, the world is in danger--particularly Los Angeles, where a nest establishes itself in the city's largely forgotten storm drains. Edmund Gwynne and Joan Weldon give strong performances as the father-daughter scientific team sent from Washington to investigate, and James Whitmore and James Arness give able support as the action-heros of the piece. Fess Parker is also very effective in a small supporting role.

The real winner in the film, however, are the clever cinematography and sound effects that build tremendous suspense, particularly when investigators must enter the desert ant nest and later track the ants to their Los Angeles lair. These scenes possess a claustrophobic feel not seen again in any sci-fi/horror flick until ALIEN. Without graphic gore but more than a few serious thrills, THEM! is a film the whole family can enjoy.

In the 1950's the world was testing A-bombs, Hydrogen Bombs, strange results were beginning to appear & Hollywoods imagination was added to the theories. The results a series of movies about radioactive mutated creatures. The first was "THEM".

"THEM" (1954) is a landmark movie about giant radiation-mutated ants that gets better with age and boasts remarkable, Academy Award-nominated special effects.

Summary: Our story begins in a New Mexico desert with a shocked wandering child, destroyed general store & battered corpse full of enough formic acid to kill 20 men. The search begins to find & destroy these menacing insects. The giant mutated ants are on the move and the climatic battle is in over 700 miles of Los Angeles sewers.

An ALL-STAR cast led by James Whitmore, James Arness and Edmund Gwenn.

Special Features include; Behind the Scenes Archive footage, Montage & Operation on the Giant Ants, & film trailer.

This was the first and probably the best movie featuring the worlds & Hollywoods take on the possible results of radioactive mutation.

"THEM" in a great Black & White Standard version (Original theatrical exhibition) digitally restored presenting a very exceptional picture & sound. This sci-fi classic is worth the price of addmission so get out the popcorn and ENJOY!!

Arguably, the original and the best of the "genetic mutation by A-Bomb" movies that surfaced during the 1950's..."Them" can still send a chill down the spine today !

Convincing acting, a creative script, solid dialogue and an eerie musical score contribute to a film that is still viewed today as an intelligent and well made science fiction thriller. The plot of course is fairly well known....destruction and death are occurring in the New Mexico desert and state troopers are amazed to find out that ants mutated by atomic testing have grown to mammoth proportions. James Whitmore & James Arness lead the charge to halt the spread of these beasts and Edmund Gwenn, as dithering entomology expert Dr. Medford, lends his scientific mind to stopping the horror.

Excellent use of both desert and city locations...especially throughout the Los Angelas storm water drains...make this an unnerving and spine tingling adventure. The special effects are a little dated...but it is nearly 50 years ago !!

If you love classic / cult sci-fi....then "THEM" belongs on your shelf !!

I first recall seeing this movie many years ago on "The Creature Double Feature" out of Boston. The scariest moment for me has to be when one of our heroes is attacked by a sneaky ant in the ant's storm drain nest. After many years (and sleepless nights!), I have long since come to love this little gem.

While the idea of giant ants may seem silly, the film pulls it off with surprising flair. The ants are certainly a bit dated, but even so, they are just real enough to make the unbelievable believable. There's great suspense built up throughout, culminating in an ant beat-down beneath a major metropolitan city. One of the most famous action scenes in sci-fi film history occurs here when a giant ant crashes through a wall and attacks a ship's radio operator. One of our heroes even goes mano e mano with a giant ant in close-quarters combat when he's cut off from help by a cave-in. If you aren't on the edge of your seat by then, you must be comatose!

James Arness (Marshal Dillon on "Gunsmoke") plays FBI agent and hero Robert Graham. James Whitmore plays New Mexico police officer Ben Peterson, who first uncovers the mystery of the giant ants. Edmund Gwenn is probably best known to fans as Kris Kringle in the seminal holiday film "Miracle on 34th Street". Here, he plays a dottering old scientist who provides info on ants and their behavior.

There are some lighter moments despite the danger posed by the giant ants. Besides fun banter between the characters, Gwenn has an amusing encounter using a military radio, and later, unintentional comedy occurs when scientists mark giant ant sightings on a map using black flags ("Black Flag" is the brand name of a popular insecticide).

For all of the wonderful extras and menu design, the fan of "THEM!" will be disappointed with the lack of behind-the-scenes info on the film. For example, some production notes explaining that the film was originally supposed to be shot in Technicolor, but could not be due to the high cost would have been nice (the title card is in blazing red, the only use of color in the film). Also, information on the special coloring of the ant props in anticipation of the Technicolor shoot would have been informative (they were painted red and green). There are few if any behind the scenes shots showing how the ants were operated, which would have been nice. I have to go with four stars due to the lack of more info on the film, but the transfer is tack sharp, and the ants sound as spooky as ever (no info on the sound effects in the extras, either).

There are a surprising number of known faces in this film besides Mr. Gwenn, Mr. Whitmore, and Mr. Arness. Leonard Nimoy, forever famous as Mr. Spock on "Star Trek" has an early role here, walking on as a radio man who discusses a "flying saucer" sighting with a secretary. Also look for Fess Parker of Davy Crockett fame as the pilot who reports the giant ant-shaped "saucers". The well-known character actor William Schallert pops up as an ambulance attendant. Schallert appeared in countless cameos in television and films, and is probably best known for playing Patty Duke's father on "The Patty Duke Show". You may also spot Dub Ta ylor as a railway guard. Taylor was a staple of western films, and he's sure to be familiar. If you look quick, you'll also spot Richard Deacon, who went on to play Mel Cooley, the uptight producer (and target for Morey Amsterdam's jokes), on "The Dick Van Dyke Show".

"THEM!" is a landmark sci-fi/horror film, and set the standard by which all other giant radiation-mutated bug movies must be judged by. You'll never quite look at ants again in the same way after watching this film. The effects are still good even today, and the ants can still creep you out despite being fifty years old!

It's amazing how well some of these old movies hold up sometimes--detail for detail much may not compare with a contemporary film: the dialogue may sound a tad antiquated or the special effects might seem a little thrift shop. What works is the whole ensemble: the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Actors seemed to act better--many had stage experience and had a finer sense of themselves before a camera; character actors were richer and more interesting; direction seemed more solid, and the lighting and effects people knew how to generate real suspense and mystery with minimal materials. That requires real talent. Current product is glossy and seamless, but it's also frequently empty.

I also like the fact that decent people back then were presented as just that: decent, and often well-adjusted. These days every decent soul seems to have a tormented background. That's to add a little more drama to the flick. Nobody's just good as they stand; groups and teams aren't well adapted and efficient. There's always the problem person, or the complete jerk, or the worthless or cowardly leader.

I love this as a great sci-fi horror flick--in fact it's the prototype for the second Alien film (there's even a "Newt" here, and Newt's broken doll). But more than anything I love it for its portrayal of people working together--selflessly and without ego--to save the world. The only significant bump occurs when the men try to become gallant with the female scientist and she immediately reads them the riot act and the movie proceeds, in fact proceeds with the woman assuming the team leader position. Think about that. This is a Fifties film. She doesn't get the responsibility because of affirmative action, or quotas, or because she's the biggest b*tch around, or even because she's romancing or manipulating the alpha male, she gets it because she's the best qualified for it. This is potent stuff and it's done completely without moralizing, political correctness, or self-consciousness.

Today's films seem to be about nothing but ego. "Teams," when you can find them, consist of individuals who constantly duke it out among themselves or agonize over their own predicaments despite the immediacy of dire threats that should have them sticking all that nonsense on a back burner. Sadly, it's an accurate depiction of the real world, especially the corporate world. This movie was made back when plenty of people had pretty recent memories of a war where teams learned how to work together for SURVIVAL. Today you can't even get a bunch of special interest groups to ditch their individual agendas for the few moments it would take to pull together and get one half-baked frat-boy out of the White House.

So compare this movie in this regard to Alien II sometime. It's quite an experience. I wish our kids got more exposure to this kind of stuff.

Just thinking about the film "Them!" gives me the willies. My father, who loved this film, recommended it to me in my "kid" years. It scared the hell out of me. From the ominously rumbling piano glissandos that are played over the Warner Brothers logo at the beginning to its fiery finale, "Them" is a taut, tense doomsday prophecy on the monstrous results of nuclear testing. "Them" is, of course, THE 50s classic about giant ants, the result of nuclear testing in the Arizona desert. Director Gordon Douglas handled the film as if it were a crime drama, as opposed to the hysterical, comic-book treatment that this genre is usually treated. Filmed in noirish black-and-white, with a strong cast, an extremely literate script (someone did their homework about ants and their behavior), an effectively chilling score by Bronislau Kaper, and a memorable sound effect for the giant ants, "Them!" is a memorable science fiction nightmare. I may also add that lovely Joan Weldon, who plays an entomologist, is very believeable-she doesn't look like a "Miss Florida Grapefruit" contest winner leaning her 38DDs over a microscope. Detractors of this film kvetch about how "fake" the giant ants look in this film-give me a break! If you can get past the fact that these are mechanical ants (in 1955, long before computer-generated special effects), enjoy the film-It won't hurt, honest! In closing, I recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a literate, spine-tingling sci-fi thriller with a good storyline and performances, as opposed to a loud, special-effects-packed cinematic theme-park ride. It really does make you think, "What IF this really happened?"

I make the comparison to Charlie Wilson's War (Widescreen) only conceptually. The Gov. experiments with the A-bomb have led to giant radiation mutated ants and now they have to fix a problem they created. This isn't The Blob - Criterion Collection or The Thing from Another World that is threatening man kind but man. It's our bad basically.
Them is a horror film that's basic premise could have been the influence for countless others in the genre, for example Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (2-Disc Edition).
Ranking 72nd on Bravo's Scariest Movie Moments list (good special, the 30 scarier movie moments not so much) and mentioned in Stephen King's Stephen King's Danse Macabre as one of the best horror films between 1950-1980. Them is a must see for Sci-Fi horror fans. Besides searching for deeper meanings and making a mountain out of an ant hill Them is an all around fun time which doesn't hesitate to push the limits for it's time. Also worth mentioning is Edmund Gwenn who won an Oscar for his role as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition). Gwenn provides the Sci Fi angle and some humor as Dr. Harold Medford while stealing the scenes he is in.
[4.5]

DVD FEATURES:
Has a great old school horror/ comic dvd menu worth noting.
Behind the scenes archive footage montage on the design and operation of giant ants
Interactive menus - case film highlights - theatrical trailer - scene access

Gordon Douglas triumphs with his directorial work in "Them!", the quintessential giant monster-on-the loose movie. Extremely well paced and taughtly directed, "Them!" boasts an eerie, moody atmosphere that permeates the film. This movie has been so well made that it rises above its surprisingly unconvincing special effects and pulp science fiction roots and becomes a classic of the genre. Director Douglas has fashioned a stripped-down movie that sets a powerful mood without wasting a single frame of film. His characters are very believable and well developed.

The film opens in the eerie, lonely, wind swept Joshua-tree forests around Victorville, California, substituting for the New Mexico desert in the White Sands region. A police car comes across a lone little girl in the desert who, deep in shock, can only shout "Them!". Soon the police officers discover the wreckage of a lone trailer where the girl resided. What follows is more a detective story than anything else, with the menace of the giant ants being slowly revealed. Gordon Douglas handles the exposition of these ants so well that it is very easy to suspend disbelief. A certain sense of repulsive, uneasy wonder develops throughout the film and climaxes very effectively in the storm drains and sewers of Los Angeles, where the ants make their final stand.

The movie begins and ends with a theme of children being threatened, from the little girl who has one of the first encounters with the ants to the two little boys who are trapped in the storm drains with the ants at the end of the film. Normally, I find using threatened children as a plot device to be a cheap way to build audience sympathy, but here it is so well handled and tastefully done that I wasn't bothered by it.

Music and especially the sound effects are all equally well handled, becoming contributors to the highly effective whole that is "Them!". See this movie and see the craft of well made story telling at its best.

The video transfer is very competent and crisply done. The glorious black-and-white print used in the tranfer is clean with no obvious splices. The sound, though mono only, is clean and clear.

These days it is common for parents to take young children to all kinds of scary movies. It was different long ago. No parent would take a young child to an evening movie. What they did was send them to the Saturday horror movie matinee with their older brothers and sisters.

This happened to me in 1954 at the tender age of seven when I was sent with my older sister to see "Them," a science fiction classic about giant mutant ants created in atom bomb testing. The giant ants invade LA, breaking into box cars filled with sugar and killing screaming people left and right, crushing them in their horrific jaws.

I spent most of the movie in the lobby, watching through the curtains they had in those days, too frightened to be in the dark. The WORST thing was that the giant ants made a sound sort of like giant crickets and for several years after I had to talk myself into going to sleep -- "It's just crickets, not giant ants, not giant ants, not giant ..."

It's still a great movie, but I make sure to watch it with the lights on and holding on to my wife.

Them! is on my short list for top billing among the 50's classic sci-fi movies. Even after more than half a century I think you will find the story is still engaging and the characters memorable, thanks to a well written screenplay and strong performances from some first rate actors.

The film opens as a kind of `who done it' mystery revolving around the exact nature of the title characters, and evolves into a well developed "man against nature gone wild" piece. I won't say more than that because, on the off chance you have never seen this film, you should NOT read the spoilers contained in most of these reviews, because the mysterious way in which the title characters are introduced is part of the charm of the film.

Yes, the film is shot in black and white, and yes some of the special effects are a bit dated by today's standards, but the cinematography, art direction, sound design etc. are all first rate as befitting a release from a major studio. To be perfectly honest I thought some of the effects looked a bit cheesy even 40 odd years ago when I first saw the film, but it didn't detract one bit from my enjoyment of the movie then and still doesn't today. In fact, as some others have noted, they are part of the charm of the film. The "Fan-belt coming loose" sounds that someone here so aptly described is an example of how a simple element was used very effectively. To this day, that sound sets my teeth on edge and sends a shiver up my spine. As noted above, the cinematography, staging, lighting etc, are exceptionally well done, and I consider the opening shot of the search airplane panning down to the little girl walking in the desert in the opening sequence to be one of the all time classic images in the genre.

Contrary to some comments here, I did not find the plot to be thin or simplistic at all. Plot wise (and production value wise), Them! Looks like Doctor Zhivago, compared to some of the other '90 minute wonders' filmed in the fifties. I think the producers felt that with giant radioactive bugs to keep the action going, the film did not need any of the lame artifices used to `punch up' plots in some of today's movies. So you won't find shallow self-involved characters sniping at each other in nauseating interpersonal conflicts. You won't find a ridiculously over the top arch-villain who is so evil that he makes milkshakes out of pureed body parts. You won't find a pimply light-saber wielding gen-X'er whining because folks just don't understand him. Nor will you find bad Soap-Opera thinly disguised as an SF storyline [ala all this "Who's having who's alien baby?" crapola we see these days on the sci-fi channel].

What you WILL FIND is a CLASSIC 50's style sci-fi yarn, which is one of the finest examples of an SF film of that era.