With the element of terror playing tricks on us with scary-looking dolls, clowns, insane killers, and evil spirits, the dread of bugs is likely to be one of our worst concerns. After all, nothing beats a horror film about bugs for making you queasy. While many of these films may appear to be seriously humorous, especially by today’s standards, keep in mind that they might be quite a trigger for the queasy viewers. So, if you have a clear or, let us say, a severe phobia of insects, namely human-sized bugs, continue with caution when watching this movie.
Mimic (1997)
A life-threatening new disease called Strickler’s disease has been claiming the lives of several children in Manhattan. The Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Peter Mann, unable to develop a cure for the virulent disease, approaches entomologist Dr Susan Tyler and asks her if she can assist by getting rid of the disease carrier, which happens to be cockroaches. As a result, Dr. Tyler genetically engineers a new species of the voracious insect that she addresses as the ‘Judas’ breed, a cross between a termite and mantis that lets out an enzyme, accelerating the metabolism of the cockroaches.
So much so that it eventually drives them to burn calories way quicker before they can even feed themselves and subsequently starve to death. The cockroaches are apparently eradicated and the children start to recover as well. However, three years later, people start vanishing; mutilated bodies are discovered and bizarre rumours of a colossal insect mimicking human form start emerging. It does not take Dr. Tyler much time to comprehend the fact that her genetically engineered species which was supposed to die off the post a single generation has not only survived but also evolved into a massive vicious monster.
You may be surprised to know that Guillermo del Toro’s sci-fi horror flick was originally supposed to be a 30-minute short before it was turned into a feature-length motion picture in 1997. Inspired by award-winning author Donald A. Wollheim’s 1942 short story, also called Mimic, the movie ended up becoming a recipient of three awards and eight nominations. We have cinematographer Dan Laustsen, co-writers del Toro and Matthew Robbins and Toro’s direction of the course to give credits to for that continuous build-up of dread and suspense.
When you watch this film, you will never really know whether or not any of the leading characters will be able to make it out alive or not; the plotline is convincing enough! The biggest plus point of this film remains the design of the giant insects and let’s not disregard their mimicking design. The mood of the film is intentionally kept dark; Toro making use of the subway and the sewers create just the right sense of claustrophobia, adding some authentic scares and it feels like it’s the humans who have entered the world of the bugs and not the other way round.
Just imagine an insect, which is so huge and progressed that it actually mimics the appearance of a human being! The fact that they have the ability to use dead human faces as part of their cunning disguise, their communication skills via clicking their mandibles, the powerful pincers that let them rip their human preys apart for feeding purposes and their wings – all these are proofs that show what a gem this 90s movie truly is. Toro’s Mimic from his early career days unquestionably deserves a top spot and if you are someone who still has not seen the movie, we highly recommend that you do.
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
Everything seems to be calm and quiet in the mining town of Prosperity until an accident causes a truck carrying a load of chemicals, to knock down a drum of toxic waste in a reservoir. The accidental chemical spill leads to the spiders ingesting themselves with toxins which have made them grow not only bigger in size but also have a gluttonous appetite. The unrelenting army of humongous spiders starts feeding on the unsuspecting locals and the town turns into an endless buffet for the eight-legged creatures. In the meantime, Chris McCormick, whose father owned the mines before he passed away ten years back, has returned back to his hometown to re-open the mines. As the denizens start getting eaten by the gigantic spiders, whose entire clan by the way have made the very mines their abode, it is up to Chris, Sheriff Samantha Parker along with a bunch of other survivors to put an end to the menacing monsters and restore back peace in the town.
Initially, titled Arach Attack, Ellory Elkayem’s 2002 monster comedy action flick features an array of arachnids such as the enormous orb weavers, trapdoor spiders and jumping spiders apart from the giant tarantulas. Reported to have been inspired by the 1998 black and white short film called Larger Than Life, also by Elkayem, it would not be wrong to say that the movie happens to be more like a 1950s kind of sci-fi film with present-day special effects.
Starting from some legit scary sequences to the fact that Elkayem as the director and co-writer actually does a pretty fair job in not only elevating the level of tension but also maintaining a consistent pace throughout the running time of 110 minutes is certainly commendable. Mind you, when it comes to the genre of horror-comedy, it is quite difficult to pull it off but Eight Legged Freaks does it effortlessly. Agreed, there are a few plot holes and some cliches on display too but they are there just to be made fun of.
There are scenes that show people going into empty malls late at night while trying to escape from the spiders or for instance when some of them actually go into their den – you know the characters aren’t supposed to do that but they do exactly what they are not supposed to and that’s precisely what the flick plays on. The highlight of the film is definitely the creatures on display and there’s a variety of these man-eating eight-legged monsters to choose from. Each of the creatures has its own personality and the creature effects were quite effective; their movements were planned in such a way that they actually looked real. Definitely urging everyone to watch this brainless piece of entertainment with a tub of popcorn right away!
The Fly (1986)
Employed by Bartok Science Industries, Seth Brundle is a brilliant yet eccentric scientist, who has come up with his latest invention in the field of matter transportation – a set of telepods. This allows speedy teleportation between the pods. But it is not till Brundle encounters science journalist, Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Quaife at a meet-the-press event held by his company, and gets encouraged by her to correct the system. This leads him to achieve successful teleportation. But things go terribly wrong when the scientist uses himself as a guinea-pig in a teleportation experiment. Oblivious of the fact that a housefly has also entered the same transmitter pod along with him, he gradually finds himself transforming into a cross between human and insect, nicknaming himself as ‘Brundlefly’. What follows next is an aggressive battle within Brundle as his transmuted genes start taking over!
This 1986 sci-fi psychological body horror flick by David Cronenberg is nothing short of a classic and conclusively comes under the category of one of the most frightening body horror movies of all times. The Canadian body-horror specialist redefined horror with this mind-blowing film. Based on George Langelaan’s science fiction horror short story also called The Fly and Kurt Neumann’s 1958 movie of the same name, this movie here is pure horror and pretty much disturbing too. Not only did the movie receive acclamation from the audience but also the critics too.
Given its budget of 9 million dollars, the fact that it actually earned above 60 million at the box office made the film one of Cronenberg’s most successful works to date. In fact, full credits to Chris Walas’ impeccable work on the movie that The Fly ended up being a recipient of an Oscar too – Academy Award for Best Makeup. Speaking of the present-day horror sci-fi flicks, they are big on ideas and special effects. But there’s no denying that they do lack consistency and character development. When it comes to Cronenberg’s The Fly, it’s amazing to see how the movie works around a simple idea and develops it.
Of course, the film is incredible and the amount of excitement that it brings to the screen makes it easily surpass the original movie. Witnessing Jeff Goldblum transform into an enormous fly can be quite sickening. The transformation was actually divided into seven stages; no wonder Goldblum had to spend literally hours on the makeup chair. It’s reported that the most extensive makeup stages required the actor to sit on the makeup chair for close to five hours. Inarguably, an exceptional horror film especially from a decade that’s more popular for movies that had teenagers getting slashed by serial killers.
The Nest (1988)
Nothing exciting ever takes place in the small island town of North Port. In fact, even the sheriff Richard Tarbell seems to have the plainest sailing job there. Well, the only hurdle in Tarbell’s life is to whether get involved with the owner of the local diner or his high-school sweetheart, who by the way also happens to be the town mayor’s daughter. However, things get erratic when post a result of an experiment gone wrong, genetically engineered flesh-eating cockroaches happen to ambush the peaceful community and begin killing the denizens one after the other. This is when Tarbell joins hands with his former girlfriend Elizabeth Johnson and the local pest control agent, Homer, to put an end to the nuisance caused by the killer roaches.
Terence H. Winkless marks his directorial debut with this 1988 science fiction horror flick. Based on Eli Cantor’s 1980 novel also called The Nest, the film manages to astonish its audience with some top-notch gross gore effects in spite of the fact that the cockroaches on display were actually picked up straight from the streets. Putting stress on the film here, the INTEC Company’s original plan was to genetically engineer a breed of cockroaches to get rid of the other pests. But the insects seemed to be uncontrollable and soon start consuming everything that crosses their paths. Only, if these insects would have just paused at devouring!
That is clearly not the case here. These masses of large black cockroaches even begin to alter into the ones that they were eating in the first place. It becomes exceedingly hard to disregard the Catroach, Manroach and the Queen Roach for that matter. The first one looked more like a cat but minus the skin; it had tiny spots of fur, insect-like mandibles, plenty of legs and antennae emerging from the tips of the ears. The Manroach looked more like a skinless skeletal humanoid, having a slimy surface, with hardly any hair and bulging mandibles on its cheeks.
As for Queen Roach, she looked even more frightful – just think of a large creature, one that is made of human corpses but fused together into one body. No, we are not done yet, there is more. All the faces of the corpse actually have insectoid mandibles, say hello to their queen! The simple fact that these INTEC cockroaches were always found in a cluster, made them even creepier than they usually were. Also, highly intelligent, their race was immune to pesticides. Easily regarded as one of the best Roger Corman productions back in the 80s and let’s not forget a rather clever script by Robert King, The Nest is gripping enough to give you a major roach phobia!
The Mist (2007)
Post a severe thunderstorm in Bridgton, artist David Drayton along with his son Billy and neighbor Brent drive into the town to buy supplies. While they are inside a supermarket, the shoppers get alerted of a danger lurking in the thick mist that has by then enveloped the store outside. The managers of the store close off the supermarket and in due course, it becomes quite evident that the fog that has engulfed the store isn’t something ordinary. Within the mist, several unthinkable unworldly creatures have been set loose – all thanks to a military scientific project gone awry and opening an inter-dimensional rift! Trapped as well as barricaded in the store for days, the petrified shoppers are literally forced to fend for themselves and fight for survival against these horrific creatures!
Based on the 1980 novel by Stephen King, also called The Mist, director, screenwriter and co-producer Frank Darabont with this 2007 sci-fi horror flick, brings to life what the Master of Terror is most famous for – a climax that is bound to leave you absolutely horrified. It is reported that even King was frankly scared by this particular adaptation of his novel. After all, one of the primary conditions that Darabont had while making the movie with Dimension Films was that they would keep the scripted ending untouched.
Speaking of the main highlight of the movie, it has to be the creatures on display. Darabont employed artists Jordu Schell along with Bernie Wrightson to aid him in designing the creatures for the film. While special makeup effects creator Greg Nicotero worked on the movie’s creature design and makeup effects, it was Everett Burrell who served as the visual effects supervisor. The main challenge was to come up with unique creature designs. The film features Arachni-Lobster, a lobster-like creature that was 50-foot tall and would simply dissect its prey via its mantis-like claws.
Next, we have ‘the impossibly tall creature’ called Behemoth, a colossal one boasting six legs, followed by deadly spider-like predators known as Gray Widowers, who are capable of producing acidic web strands that can actually burn through fabrics and even flesh for that matter. Then we have the nocturnal pterosaur-like creatures with four wings called Ptero-buzzard; flying wasp-like creatures that are about two feet tall called Scorpion-Flies; squid-like tentacles called Tentacles from Planet X along with Killer Kite, Green Kite and Terror-pede.
Apart from these, there are also these giant, spider-like creatures that are literally the size of a full-grown human being. The creatures on display truly make quite the impression and it’s their voracious appetite for humans, especially the ones that are trapped inside the store that makes the atmosphere of this whole movie quite thrilling.
Slither (2006)
A flaming meteorite crash lands on Earth, straight into the town of Wheelsy in South Carolina. A malicious, extraterrestrial parasite inside the comet ends up infecting the town’s affluent resident, Grant, to the extent of not only taking over his body but also controlling his mind. Grant, gradually begins to transform into a hideous, tentacled monster and ends up infecting a local woman to serve as a breeder for his alien larvae. Now, it is up to Grant’s wife Starla and the Police Chief Bill Pardy to find a way to stop Grant before the whole town gets plagued by the slithering alien army.
James Gunn’s directorial debut might have been a box office failure but that didn’t stop his science fiction black comedy horror flick from becoming a cult film. For those who are wondering how, well, Gunn primarily wrote the movie as some kind of a tribute to all the horror flicks that he absolutely adored watching. Of course, the movie is not going to win any accolades for originality but then again, Gunn is extremely well versed with his audience. Yes, the movie is creepy, gross at times too but it is also hilarious and there’s no denying that! The highlight of the film has to be the creature on display and by that, we mean the mysterious parasitic alien also known as the Long One.
Not many details are shared about its habitat; all we know is the creature comes from outer space. The alien can be categorized into four primary forms – the Needle, Primary Host, Womb and Slugs. The Needle happens to be the initial form of the Long One, it actually resembles a needle but is thicker and hairier. Enclosed inside a small gooey sac that opens up when the Long One is all set to implant itself into a host. Post the implantation, the Needle fuses with the host and transforms into the Primary Host, which is a developing form of the Long One. In due course, it eventually looks like a giant squid.
Next, comes the Womb that is formed by the Primary Host after implanting a part of itself into another host. The Womb keeps consuming and growing in size till it looks more like a massive ball of flesh. It is only after the Womb reaches a particular size post which it just cannot grow any further that the host body simply tears itself apart and in turn releases hundreds of small, worm-like entities called Slugs that either move by slithering or say swimming. Even as we highly recommend this film here, it is certainly not for the faint of heart.
Starship Troopers (1997)
The year is 2197 and in the United Citizen Federation, one can earn citizenship by carrying out activities such as military service. Doing this grants one chance that the basic civilians are otherwise deprived of. Johnny Rico having passed out from high school in Buenos Aires, enlists in the Federal Services after his girlfriend decides to join the military in order to become a class citizen.
However, it does not take Rico much time to understand that he has joined the army for all the wrong reasons and just when he is about to resign, an asteroid originating from the home planet of the hostile, non-technological insectoid species addressing themselves as Bugs annihilates the entire city of Buenos Aires, killing his parents and everybody else there. Driven by the hatred for the Bugs and jealousy of his girlfriend’s new boyfriend, Rico not only aspires to become one of the best soldiers the Federation has ever seen but also gets resolute more than ever to put an end to the bugs once and for all.
Based on a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein also called Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 flick was nominated for several awards, which does include an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The movie became a recipient of Saturn Awards for Best Costumes, Best Special Effects and even won the Chainsaw Award for the Best Makeup/Creature FX category.
We all know Verhoeven is a master when it comes to making science fiction movies and with Starship Troopers, he actually went full-blown satire. It goes without saying that the creatures on display are the real deal. The movie has a variety of species ranging from Warrior Bug, Tanker Bug, Hopper Bug, Plasma Bug, Scorpion Bug, Plasma Grenadier Bug, Bombardier Bug, Control Bug, Arkellian Sand Beetle, Brain Bug, Queen Bug and the God Bug. Having mentioned all of them, the Tanker Bugs happen to be the scariest ones.
They are usually black in colour and are almost as huge as the Plasma Bugs but over the years, they have evolved this ability to spray a stream of flammable, acidic liquid from its head. This particular species serves as a form of armour support and credits to their thick exoskeleton that provides them with unbeatable protection. While most of the bugs that have appeared in the movie are works of CGI, a few life-sized robotic models were also built. In short, the flick happens to be a brilliant work of Verhoeven, backed by Edward Neumeier’s screenplay as well that actually spawned many sequels after the first flick in the series got released.
Infestation (2009)
Cooper is more of a slacker who works as a telemarketer. One day, when he turns up late for work, he gets fired by his boss called Maureen. But shortly after, a very shrill sound is heard and leads to everyone around the office collapsing. Cooper wakes up to find himself cocooned in his office. He immediately tries getting out of it but gets attacked by a huge, beetle-like bug. Post fighting the bug away and helping his boss who is also cocooned, by the way, the duo eventually finds that the whole city has been taken over by giant, monstrous insects all flying around. Cooper embarks on a journey where he manages to revive a bunch of survivors, all cocooned and likely to be devoured by the bugs. The group tries making their way to safety before they start getting picked off one after the other by the creatures.
Written and directed by Kyle Rankin, this 2009 horror comedy flick boasts a gripping plotline, one that actually gives you the chance to pay attention to the characters on display. It effortlessly keeps you glued to your seat and the screen as well and not even for once, will you find a dull moment here. While the movie definitely does not come under the category of a fast-paced one, the action here is consistently maintained throughout its running time of 91 minutes.
Full credits to the effects featured, which makes everything look pretty much real and convincing. There’s no denying that it’s the bug monsters here who steal the show! To all the gorehounds out there, yes, there’s plenty of gore for you to relish but the fact that this particular element was not really overplayed, works best in favour of the flick here. So, if you ever get a chance to lay your hands on this guilty pleasure here, don’t miss this out!
Mosquito (1995)
After an alien pod crash lands in a US national park, the mosquitoes there start sucking the blood of the spacecraft’s deceased alien pilot, leading the insects to mutate close to human size with an insatiable thirst for blood. What follows is a brutal onslaught caused by a swarm of these giant mosquitoes who are bent on eradicating the entire population.
Also called Blood Fever, this 1995 sci-fi horror flick directed and co-written by Gary Jones earned a massive cult following post its very release. You know these films that are so bad that you actually end up liking them? Well, it would not be wrong to address Mosquito specifically under that category. We have killer mosquitoes that are simply colossal in size and are quite capable of sucking their victims dry. Some can even make their victim’s eyes bulge and explode – you get the picture, right? The effects of the creatures were created by blending stop-motion animation and puppetry. Some of the mosquitoes were also generated via the usage of traditional cel animation.
For instance, there is a scene that has the character of Gunnar Hansen shooting a mosquito that explodes. The mosquito displayed was actually a puppet made out of rubber containing the leftovers from the crew’s lunch break. Wondering what happened to the movie’s original special effects artist? Well, it is reported that he supposedly left the set during production for a smoke break and never came back. Now, you know what you are in for and if you are on the lookout for this movie, which is definitely worth a tub of popcorn and a couple of beers, you can watch it on YouTube.
Earth vs. the Spider (2001)
Quentin Kemmer happens to be a young, shy security guard as well as an obsessive comic book fan with dreams of becoming a superhero just like his favourite comic character, The Arachnid Avenger. But after his partner gets killed in a botched burglary at the research lab where he is employed, Kemmer gets fired. Post that, he inoculates himself with an experimental serum, one that is obtained from spiders.
Initially, he develops minor skills such as an amplified strength that allows him to fight the local bullies and criminals. But things start getting weird when he is literally able to shoot webs from his abdomen. His dream of becoming a superhero turns into a nightmare when his body actually starts mutating. Not only is he in constant pain but also grows this unquenchable hunger. Meanwhile, Detective Frank Grillo starts probing deeper into the matter when dead bodies sucked completely dry and covered in cobwebs begin to pile up.
This science-fiction horror tv film directed by Scott Ziehl happens to be the first of a series of films that were specifically made for Cinemax paying homage to the movies of American International Pictures. Full credits to Ziehl for his top-notch direction; there is this particular comic book feel attached to the movie that makes the experience all the better. Thomas L. Callaway deserves a special mention for his incredible work of cinematography.
The film isn’t graphically gore-y but it has its moments. To witness Quentin as the monster in his final stages of transformation is nothing short of cool; Stan Winston does a fabulous job creating a monster that’s both ugly and terrifying to look at. Many have actually compared Earth vs. the Spider with David Cronenberg’s The Fly but we will leave that to you to watch and decide. In plain and simple words, it’s a well put together movie that has quite an unexpected ending. No reason not to recommend this movie here!