Squirm (1976)

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out...and to their ravenous intent, they leave no doubt! A truly frightening account of an infestation of biting worms, Squirm is guaranteed to make you dojust that (Los Angeles Times)! When a powerful storm knocks Fly Creek, Georgia's power lines down onto wet soil, the resulting surge of electricity drives large, bloodthirsty worms to the surfaceand then out of their soil-tilling minds! Soon, the townspeople discover that their sleepy fishing village is overrun with worms that burrow right into their skin! Inundated by hundreds of thousands of carnivorous creatures, the terrorized locals race to find the cause of the rampagebefore becoming tilled under themselves!

More Like 3 And 1/2 Or Maybe 3 And 3/4 Stars.

City boy Mick comes all the way down to Fly Creek from New York to visit his new girlfriend. Instead of getting some hot Southern nookie, he finds himself playing detective when folks end up missing and dead(this would piss me off royally considering the long drive down south and gas prices the way they are). Seems as though a nasty storm had knocked a power line down and the line is sending lots of juice into the ground. Naturally this brings thousands of worms to the surface. They bite! They also scream and roar!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SQUIRM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just when you thought the "Nature Strikes Back" well had run dry, now we got ravenous worms on the loose. The worms go about attacking the townspeople while Mick and his girl, Geri, put the clues together. Mick also tries to score brownie points with Geri's family, though he doesn't do so good with the sheriff, who thinks he's a big city weasel. Being a PG film, there's little bloodletting to speak of(though an early scene has a dead man with his chest cavity overflowing with worms), so the "squirm" factor comes from many icky shots of globs of worms oozing through windows, grates, faucets, etc. The scenes where the worms fill entire rooms look a little like spaghetti or lo mein.
So, is Squirm fun? You bet it is. It does takes a while for the action to get going, but other than that, it's quirky and cornball enough to keep a smile on your face. One thing I liked about this was the leading couple. I'm so used to movies having picture perfect, hot, attractive leading actors. This is different. Geri is a pale, skinny, waif-like kind of girl. Not terrible attractive. Mick is also a skinny, redhaired, dorky Woody Allen type. Not the kind of people who end up being the central characters in films like this, and I think it's pretty cool.
Squirm is supposedly based on a true event, but I certainly can't help but think that's quite over embellished. I'm sure there was probably a town where a downed power line brought a bunch of worms to the surface, but I doubt they roared and ate people. But true story or not, it's worth a look if you've got the balls. October 19, 2008

The worm turns

I suspect it was The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock ,rather than the giant bug movies of the previous decade,that really triggered the wave of creature features in the 1970's in which virtually every species on the planet took it in turns to threaten humankind.We had Frogs in the movie of the same name,bees in the absurd The Swarm ,giant rabbits in the pathetically unscary Night of the Lepus etc .In Squirm it is the turn of the humble worm to give the human species a tough time and the result is a splendid minor classic of the eco-horror genre .
The setting is Fly Creek,Georgia in the year 1975 .Power lines are dislodged in a storm which also sees many back roads flooded .The fallen wires are sending vast amounts of electricity into the earth and this transforms the worms into ravenous ,carnivorous little monsters who herd together to take on the humans.
The hero is a New Yorker ,Mick (Don Scardino)who is visiting an old friend ,Geri (Patricia Pearcy)and he is among the first to notice that all is not as it should be -there are worms in his chocolate soda;when he goes fishing he is bitten by a worm . Roger (R A Dow )the mentally challenged son of the local worm farmer Willie Grimes (Carl Dagenhart)is then atacked by a number of worms who burrow under his skin and Grimes is shortly thereafter killed by worms .When Mick tells the local Sheriff Boston (Peter MacLean)of his suspicions he is disbelieved .
In a very short while Mick and Geri are being besieged at home by millions of the devouring and slimy creatures .
The worm effects are by Rick Baker and they are excellent with the close up shots of people being engulfed by the brutes especially realistic looking (I do not recommend seeing this movie within an hour or so of eating spaghetti!)Performances are good all round and Jeff Lieberman directs admirably ,pacing the movie especially well .
What helps the impact of this movie is the ordinary nature of what triggers proceedings.In an eco-horror the usual cause of the bestial rampage is something like pollution or radioactivity .Here it is a simple accident involving something we use daily-electricity .You can be a victim of nature's imbalance without living anywhere near a power plant or large factory -so says the picture -and it is a sobering notion.The idea is planted in our minds that what we are watching could take place at any place at any time

This is thoroughly recommendable and should be enjoyed by all lovers of good sci-fi/horror movies December 28, 2007

GROOSSS!!!! SICK!!! HORRIFYING!!!...I LOVE IT!!!!

MAN!! THIS MOVIE CREEPED THE HELL OUT OF ME!!!!

IT WAS BEAUTITUL!! Theses freaking mutant worms are all around town eating and crawling into people, appearing wherever you are not looking and they can even turn people into mutant worm-people.
Not only that!...There's to many of them that the floor looks like a sea of worms! COOOL!!!! The make-up was AWESOME and SOOO CREEPY, the video quality looks preety clear and the story is easy to follow.
I haven't seen a graphic insect movie like this since Creepshow and Slither.

The only bad things were the acting (which wasn't that good) and the storyline which was a little slow at the begining. BUT THAT'S IT! the rest is pure HORRORSHOW!!!

P.S: This movie has like 31 years old and is still creepy. Im gonna look for more 70's horror movies like this. THEY RULE!!!!!

Adios. October 15, 2007

The Best Horror Flick about Hostile Worms Ever Made!

After the incredible success of Jaws in 1975 "nature runs amok" flicks became real popular for the next decade or so; in fact, they're still being made. "Squirm" was released one year after "Jaws" in 1976.

THE PLOT: A storm downs power lines in a small Georgia town, electrifying the wet mud and unleashing millions of 10-18 inch sand worms of the area. City slicker John Scardino (Mick) comes into town to visit redhead Patricia Pearcy (Geri), eldest daughter of widow Jean Sullivan. A slow-witted local hick (Roger) is attacked by the worms and goes mad as he aids the slimey creatures in their "attack" on the citizens. Supposedly based on an actual event that occurred September 29, 1975.

The first time I saw "Squirm" I was about 13 or 14 years old and high as a kite (something I don't do anymore) and, man, it scared the you-know-what out of me! I was completely taken in by the story, the eerie mood and deep-South atmosphere. I was ENTRANCED. Seeing it again as an adult (and sober), it's understandably not as scarey or captivating as when I first saw it, but that first viewing won my utmost and eternal respect.

"Squirm" was actually filmed in the deep South, in Port Wentworth, Georgia (just North of Savannah), and all the actors go overkill with the whole "Southern" bit, so the film definitely has a real authentic Southern feel.

It's generally slow-paced but that's okay because it's only 92 minutes long. It has loads of atmosphere and a few really good frightning scenes, like when the worms attack Roger's face while fishing in a rowboat with Geri. The story is not campy at all; it's pretty much presented in all seriousness; and the acting by the main characters is believable and good (not so much with the peripheral characters). Roger will strike you as a highly likable genuine country boy before he goes looney.

Because of all these factors I was able to get swept up in the story and take it seriously (at least as serious as such a story can be taken). It may not be an "A" class film like "Jaws" or "Orca" but it's certainly a worthwhile "B" film, that is, if you have an occasional taste for "nature runs amok" flicks. Don't listen to those that say this is a Grade "Z" film. It's not. This is a well-made "B" picture.

How you will take a film like "Squirm" depends on your personality. Some will think it's unintentionally funny or cheesy, etc., while others will take it seriously (like me) and enjoy the eerie atmosphere, Southern locations and a few good frights.

Make no mistake, for the type of film it is, "Squirm" is certainly worthy of 4-Stars (or at least 3-Stars). In fact, I'd give it 5-Stars but I'd feel too guilty about it.

Check it out if it sounds like your cup of tea. September 26, 2007

I love this movie

I live in the small Georgia town of Port Wentworth and remember when they were filming this movie. It brings back alot of memories, they gave away alot of the worms to us. I am fixing to purchase my second copy of this movie since I loaned my first one out and never got it back so they must have loved it also. If anyone is into older scary movies try this one. March 25, 2007

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