Despite the dated quality of some elements, particularly the costumes this picture is, in my book, the best killer bug movie of all time. Through the use of an almost nature documentary style of photographing the ants, we really get a new perspective on the film's six-legged antagonists. There's something totally raw about the way these ants act and are shot alongside the inexorable, almost plodding pace of the piece that makes Phase IV seem amazingly, terrifyingly real.
The performances by the human actors are very much in the wooden, gee-whiz style of older sci-fi but here it works. The ants are a silent, almost invisible, killer. Their creeping terror, when cut against the classic characterization of the chisel-chinned hero and the bearded professor, illustrates that the best that humanity has to offer against the threat might not be enough.
A hard-to-find favorite.
The performances by the human actors are very much in the wooden, gee-whiz style of older sci-fi but here it works. The ants are a silent, almost invisible, killer. Their creeping terror, when cut against the classic characterization of the chisel-chinned hero and the bearded professor, illustrates that the best that humanity has to offer against the threat might not be enough.
A hard-to-find favorite.