Empire of the Ants

1977
PG
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

4.3/10

5.7K

YOUR RATING

Joan Collins, John David Carson, Robert Lansing, Robert Pine, Albert Salmi, Jacqueline Scott, and Pamela Susan Shoop in Empire of the Ants (1977)

Play trailer2:14

1 Video

82 Photos

Adventure Horror Sci-Fi

Con artist Marilyn Fryser tries to sell bogus real estate deals in an area overrun by giant ants.Con artist Marilyn Fryser tries to sell bogus real estate deals in an area overrun by giant ants.Con artist Marilyn Fryser tries to sell bogus real estate deals in an area overrun by giant ants.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.3/10

5.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Trivia
According to Pamela Susan Shoop, the film's sound man had a fight with director Bert I. Gordon towards the end of the shoot and threw all of its audio tapes into the swamp. They lost everything, so the entire film had to be looped. Because of this, their voices and actions never quite mesh.

Goofs
Before the captain jumps into the ocean to try and save the boat, he takes off his shoes. After he burns the boat, he jumps into the water and you can clearly see his shoes.

Quotes
Coreen Bradford: Oh my God! They're herding us like cattle!

Alternate versions
The original UK theatrical version of this film was heavily cut to both receive an "A" (PG) certificate and reduce scenes of screaming and violence, including attacks and bloodied bodies. These cuts were restored to it for the 2002 ILC release and the certificate was upgraded to a "15".

Connections
Featured in A Century of Science Fiction (1996)

User reviews121

Review

Featured review

5/10

Runs Too Long

Based very loosely on the short story "Empire of the Ants" by H. G. Wells, the film involves a group of prospective land buyers led by a land developer, pitted against giant, mutated ants.

This was one of Bert Gordon's final films, and from a technical standpoint it is among his best. The production value looks much higher than his earlier work, and the star power of the cast is evident. The ants, while still relying on a few cheap effects, are overall pretty effective -- though why must they be screeching the entire time? But really, what makes this only a "good" film rather than a "really good" film is the length. This is clearly a 60 or 70-minute film stretched out to 90 minutes, and that allows for the ultimate sin to creep in: boredom.