One of my favorite giant monster movies of all time! Them!
tells the story of giant mutated ants terrorizing a small town first in New
Mexico and then Los Angeles. This is an atomic age movie so the ants are
mutated by the bombs detonated in the New Mexico desert. Some fun facts about
this movie: they first filmed it in color but decided that the ants were “too
pretty” and changed it to black and white to make them seem more menacing.
Watch out for a pre Spock Leonard Nimoy as random soldier…
Like the book it’s based on, I’m not sure about this scifi
horror movie. It’s certainly a lot more creepy than the book is and the visuals
are more graphic. In the movie they call the phenomenon the Shimmer. As the
scientists explore the Shimmer they determine that it distorts and transforms
everything including their own DNA. They can refract into other beings and
there are some truly horrific scenes involving a transformed bear and humanoid
plants. Truly a creepy addition to any Halloween madness.
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this
book, but it fits into my current theme of SciFi horror for Halloween so here
you go.
The story begins with four women entering an area known as
Area X. No one is ever named in the story. When the “biologist”, who is our
main character, inhales some spores in a tower she begins to mutate into
something else. Everyone slowly starts to go mad and kill one another while the
biologist slowly turns into something not quite human. It is the first of the
Southern Reach Trilogy.
On Halloween of 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a chilling version of the War of the Worlds. The script closely resembled real radio broadcasts about World War II that was currently raging in Europe. Many listeners tuned in after his disclaimer at the beginning and thought that Martians were really attacking the world. It caused mass panic as people tried to escape the nonexistent aliens. The broadcast is really great. Just the right amount of terror for a Halloween episode. I have listened to the original Welles’ production as well as a remake featuring Lenoard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, and Gates Mcfadden. I suggest listening to it for your Halloween pleasure. Listen to the original broadcast here:
