GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Wuchak Released to TV in 1977 as a knock-off of the theatrical "Empire of the Ants," which came out several months earlier, "Ants" is (obviously) a 'when-animals-attack' film featuring the little critters in full attack mode. Although the insects were huge in the theatrical movie, here they're normal-sized but with a toxic bite due to chemicals in the ground or whatever.Robert Foxworth, a favorite of mine, plays the protagonist with his sidekick Bernie Casey, another favorite. Lynda Day George plays the girlfriend at the old hotel where the ants are uprising and Myrna Loy her crippled mother. Barry Van Dyke plays a stud working at the pool and cutie Karen Lamm his girlfriend, Linda. Suzanne Somers is also on hand as the associate of a businessman interested in buying the hotel.I've heard some criticize the movie as high camp when it's not campy at all. It's a straight forward creatures-on-the-loose flick with the requisite drama. There's nothing artificial or goofy about the acting or story, which defines camp. This is not to say, however, that there aren't giggle-worthy parts, like when the boy falls into the dumpster.There's nothing extraordinary about "Ants," but it's certainly decent enough to give an okay grade. Although Somers isn't fat by any means, she's not in good shape like she was early-on in "Three's Company" and over a dozen years later as a hot fitness guru. This can be observed in a couple of scenes where she's wearing a one-piece bathing suit. Karen Lamm works better as the requisite babe. As for Day George, she's dressed to the hilt with loose clothing the entire film.The film runs 95 minutes and was shot at Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island British Columbia.GRADE: C+

Jason Daniel Baker The charm of an old-fashioned inn is momentarily disrupted by a nearby demolition crew gutting the property next door. Mike (Foxworth), the foreman of the crew has trouble keeping his men from going on impromptu breaks and can't account for several of them.Sleazy gambling czar Tony Fleming (Gordon) is also there trying to purchase the inn so he can turned it into a resort/casino. He, his associate Gloria (Somers) and the various other guests and staff are, like the demolition crew under the grave threat of killer ants with poisonous bites. Not only do the ants kill but they have the sense to flee the scene without leaving any trace that they were there.In a half-hour plus of screen time the characters finally clue in that something is wrong. Of course it takes them considerably longer before they agree what it actually is and how they can escape.The acting is not spectacularly bad but only up until they have to interact with swarms of ants and pretend they are afraid they are going to die. Anyone who lives on the side of a hill can tend to get the ant swarm horror in their basements during the summer.Producers rounded up a huge cast of ants to appear as extras in this film (If I had been their agent I'm sure I could have at least gotten them scale) and the result is what looks like millions of the little buggers. Sometimes realism is cheaper than special effects or staging tricks.It makes for fairly entertaining high camp and great 1970s B-movie fun. Improbable and illogical but no more so than any Hollywood movie. It is still enjoyable horror/suspense kitsch with a highly predictable ending even for a TV movie.

Poseidon-3 For a while in the mid-70's, "animals on the rampage" films cluttered the cinematic landscape, most due to the success of "Jaws" and most ending up being far inferior product. Not to be outdone, TV movie producers started getting in on the action, utilizing some of the less impressive (and also less expensive) members of nature to do the evil bidding. Here ants, which have been embedded in contaminated soil for decades, get riled up and begin to bite the unlucky humans who are in their way. Foxworth plays a construction manager who's working on a site next to his girlfriend Day George's family-owned resort hotel. The entire area is being reinvigorated as a new tourist spot. However, a couple of his men have the misfortune of incurring the wrath of the killer ants and, before long, the ants have made their way into the old hotel, run by Day George's mother Loy. Gordon plays a hard-hitting developer attempting to buy the place, accompanied by his curvy, blonde girlfriend and partner Somers. Also hanging about are Van Dyke as a lifeguard and Lamm as a nomadic hitchhiker who coaxes him into letting her stay with him for a night. As the body count begins to tally up, authorities are called in, though no one can be sure what exactly is causing the deaths. Foxworth begins to test his theory that it's the ants by endlessly (and ridiculously) stirring them up, causing a major assault by them that traps several folks in the increasingly dangerous hotel. It would be difficult to imagine a cheesier, more ludicrous plot line than this one, though surely worse exists in the world. Characters act with so little sense or realistic motivation that it's hard to care what happens to any of them. The authority figures are amusingly inept as well. A fireman extends a ladder to just near a victim up on a high floor instead of right to her and then barely holds his hand out to get her. A helicopter blows the deadly ants all over a passel of extras posing as rubbernecking bystanders and then the firemen hose them all down with water! The rescuers take forever to do anything while the trapped people must fend for themselves inside the building, then they build a ring of fire around the building, ensuring that the ants will remain inside it! Foxworth was in an awkward career stage at this time, playing small roles as jerks in such films as "Damian: The Omen II" and "Airport '77." Fortunately, "Falcon Crest" would be along soon to rescue him. Day George rarely acted in anything of substance and can always be counted on for a few deranged expressions and overstated reactions. Kudos to both of these actors, however, for agreeing to be covered in real ants at the climax of the movie! Loy plays her role in a wheelchair and seems resigned to the fact that she's stuck in a piece of garbage. Gordon is appropriately jerky. Somers is reasonably appealing in her smallish role (the telefilm would later be repackaged as "Ants" and pretend to feature her as the star!) Van Dyke is nice to look at, if nothing else. Lamm was married to Beach Boy Dennis Wilson (twice!) Other notable names dotting the cast include Gillette in an annoying performance as a health official and Franken as a fellow associate, Casey as one of Foxworth's workers, Dennehy as the fire chief, Keach as a local doctor and "Hill Street Blues'" Enriquez as the world most oblivious (and sandal-clad!) cook. It's quite an idiotic movie, but audiences were far less demanding at the time it was made and often settled for claptrap like this if it contained a few popular names as this one does. Despite the endless idiocy, choppy editing, horrid special effects (consisting of terrible matte painting and plenty of chocolate jimmies!) and simplistic storytelling, it remains entertaining on a campy, kitchy level.

Woodyanders This nicely creepy and enjoyable 70's made-for-TV killer animal horror item centers on a nest of lethal and poisonous ants which are unearthed by a construction crew working on a posh lakeside resort. The ants proceed to attack a few folks and trap a handful of others inside. Among those trapped in the resort are feisty elderly owner Myrna Loy, her comely daughter Lynda Day George (who also dealt with a larger array of deadly critters in "Day of the Animals"), rugged construction foreman Robert Foxworth (who later faced off with a murderous misshapen mutant bear in "Prophecy"), jerky sleazeball businessman Gerald Gordon and his lovely partner Suzanne Sommers of "Three's Company" sitcom fame, health inspector Steve Franken, and sexy drifter Karen Lamm. Trying to rescue the people trapped inside are construction worker Bernie Casey and fire chief Brian Dennehy. Capably directed by Robert Scheerer, with a tight script by Guerdon Trueblood (who wrote "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" the same year), several truly skin-crawling ant attack scenes (the sequence where Sommers gets munched is a definite highlight, plus a little boy has a close call with the ants as well), a nice snappy pace, and uniformly sound acting from a fine cast, this baby makes for a most satisfying and occasionally harrowing little scarefest.