Empire of the Ants

1977 "For they shall inherit the earth... sooner than you think!"
4.2| 1h29m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 29 June 1977 Released
Producted By: Cinema 77
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A Florida real estate developer and her captain lure investors to a property in the Everglades called Dreamland Shores, under false pretenses that the swampland will soon be developed. After the group arrives on a small island, they find it has been overrun by giant mutated ants, brought on by the dumping of toxic waste in the area.

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Reviews

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Freaktana A Major Disappointment
MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
buckikris When a ship containing radioactive barrels are dumped into the ocean, trouble begins. The barrels wash ashore, and start to leak. The next day a group of tourists arrive to take a tour to see a new land development. Little do they know that this tour is nothing but a rip-off. The land developer is Marilyn Fryser(Joan Collins). She is nothing more than a snake in the grass. She is nothing but a money grabbing sleaze. The land is nothing but empty promises, filled with fake construction work. Once the group arrives they take a tour of the Island. When couple starts to look around, they are attacked by these huge ants. The group wonder where they could have wondered off to, but nobody knows. So, everyone starts to look around for them. That's when people notice these huge ants, and in order to survive they have to get off the Island. Some soon become prey, while others are able to escape. They find the local sheriff and tell him what is going on. Unknown to the others, he is aware of the problem. When the survivors get to the sugar refinery, they realize what all the secrecy is about. I am surprised by the low rating this movie got. I thought it was kind of cool, but I'm a sucker for movies about radiated bugs. This movie also stars Robert Pine( Chips) and Pamela Shoop( Halloween 2).
Uriah43 "Marilyn Fryser" (Joan Collins) is a crooked real estate agent who is trying to convince a small group of people to invest in a shady land deal in Florida over-looking the ocean. So she charters a yacht and takes them to some recently reclaimed swamp land in order to make her case. What none of the people realize, however, is that a canister of radioactive waste was dumped nearby and a colony of ants have feasted on it. This has caused them to grow to monstrous proportions and ready to feed on anything they happen to come into contact with. And that's just the beginning of the nightmare for this small tour group! Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was clearly a Grade-B horror film all the way with the special effects being the primary reason for this. Even so, having grown up watching films of this type I suppose I am more disposed to overlook obvious flaws like this. Likewise, having both Pamela Susan Shoop (as "Coreen Bradford") along with the aforementioned Joan Collins certainly didn't hurt this film in any way. That said, while I admit this movie isn't anything special, I didn't think it was necessarily all that bad and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.
BA_Harrison Twenty years after over-sized mutant killer ants went on the rampage in classic 1957 creature feature Them!, Bert I. Gordon, an old hand at giant monster movies, gave the enormous insects another chance at world domination with Empire of the Ants, a schlocky big bug eco-horror apparently based on a short story by H.G. Wells.Joan Collins stars as scam artist Marilyn Fryser, who convinces a bunch of potential investors to accompany her on a boat trip to view her latest project, a coastal real estate development in the Everglades. After a few drinks, a couple of sandwiches, and a tram ride around the site (Marilyn sure knows how to spoil her guests), the group find themselves under attack from giant ants that have been exposed to leaky barrels of radioactive waste dumped in the sea by unscrupulous industrialists.Empire of the Ants is supremely silly stuff, especially when it is revealed that the insects are controlling the humans (via hypnotic ant farts!) and intend to take over the planet. Sadly it is also a surprisingly leaden affair, with uninspired direction, dire performances, and any potential tension or excitement hindered by weak special effects: most of the giant ant action is created by superimposing photographically enlarged insects over footage of the actors or through the use soft edged mattes to combine imagery, none of which is very convincing. Full-sized models of giant ants are occasionally used during close-up attack scenes, but Gordon ensures that the camera is wobbling frenetically to prevent the viewer from getting a good look at his shonky creatures.
Michael_Elliott Empire of the Ants (1977)** (out of 4) Mr. Big delivers another "big bug movie" with this one dealing with ants. Joan Collins plays a real estate con woman who takes a group of people to the future sight of a "great" beach front property. What they don't know is that a company has been pouring toxic waste in the ocean and unfortunately for them one barrel has found its way on shore and cute little ants have gotten into it. Soon these little creatures are now huge and eating humans. EMPIRE OF THE ANTS got the green light, I'm sure, because Gordon's previous film THE FOOD OF THE GODS turned out to be a decent hit. You really could have called this thing THE FOOD OF THE GODS PART II because they're quite similar but then again both are quite similar to the type of "big" movies Gordon was making in the previous two decades. There's certainly nothing new or original here but if you enjoy Gordon's films then I really see no reason why you won't enjoy this one. As you'd expect, the special effects are quite laughable with Gordon using the same technique in 1977 that he was much earlier in his career. Often times it seems as if the ants are walking in thin air and at other times you can obviously see the rear projection. Most films would be dead in the water with such bad effects but I think it adds some charm because of how serious Gordon treats them. Most directors would know these effects are bad and try to downplay them or hide them but not Gordon. He shows these bad effects with his head held high and it at least gives the viewer some entertainment. Collins and the rest of the cast do what they can with the material they're given but the humans certainly aren't the high point of the film. I think the film would have benefited from being at least ten-minutes shorter as things really start to drag during the final act.