Bug

Film: Bug

Year: 1975

Director: Jeannot Szwarc

Writer: William Castle and Thomas Page

Starring: Bradford Dillman, Joanna Miles and Richard Gilliland

Review:

This film is one that I learned about when reading through the Horror Show Encyclopedia. Since then, I do believe this was covered on a podcast that I’m a fan of. This is one that I saw years ago. I remember enjoying parts of it and having issues with others. I was curious as to how a second watch would sit, which I’m doing now as part of my Voyage through the FiVes.

Synopsis: an earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires, which causes destructive chaos in a small town. A scientist conducts studies that reveal an intent with far-reaching consequences.

We start with a woman being dropped off at a church by her husband. She is Carrie Parmiter (Joanna Miles). Her husband is a local scientist and teaches at the university, James (Bradford Dillman). Carrie sits with Henry Tacker (Frederic Downs). They chat and get scolded by a woman in front of them. That’s when an earthquake hits. They flee outside and Henry’s son shows up, telling them that the earthquake has ripped across their field. The son is Kenny (Jim Poyner).

It then shifts over to the farm. Henry’s daughter is having a breakdown, thinking that he died at the church. She is Norma (Jamie Smith-Jackson). Trying to calm her is her brother, Tom (Jesse Vint). They see their truck coming, but before it reaches them, it overheats. It then blows up, killing everyone inside.

Norma is seeing Gerald Metbaum (Richard Gilliland). He’s a student at the university. He comes across some weird cockroach-like creatures that are in the field by where the fault line is. He watches as they start a fire, burning him and killing a cat.

Gerald seeks his former teacher, Prof. James. He inquiries about the possibility of what he saw. James struggles though since there are no known insects capable of this. Gerald brought in the deceased cat. He takes James out to where the insects are found. He can’t believe what he’s seeing. He takes a few specimens. He works with Prof. Mark Ross (Alan Fudge) and they start running tests. These two and their wives are also good friends.

These bugs are more dangerous than they realize though. James learns that these bugs have hitched a ride with him. He has found a way to get them into jars but misses one. With Mark, they learn that these insects don’t have eyes, are built for speed, but for whatever reason, they barely move. They can start fires with a second set of antennas near their butt. It also looks like they eat the ash, but their digestive systems are limited. Tragedy strikes James and his wife, leaving him devastated. He loses himself in his work and makes an even more terrifying discovery as he puts these insects back in their normal state of pressure from deep inside the Earth.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this film doesn’t waste time getting into it. We meet most of the main cast early enough. This earthquake hits, releasing these deadly insects. What I like is that most of this small town is on fire. The logical explanation is that the earthquake and any subsequent aftershocks caused them. No one notices these knew cockroaches. We have a warm setting where the normal variety is more common. People who are attacked don’t tend to last long, preserving the secret. This is enough to hook me to see where it would go both times.

Now that I have that set up, let’s delve more into what we’re getting here. Something I remembered from the opening credits is that this is based on a book by Thomas Page called The Hephaestus Plague. I haven’t read this, but I’ve added it to my list of books to read. It seems like that came out and they rushed it into production the same year. Page did help write this with William Castle, which was an interesting fact. I believe this was his last production. He did want to incorporate a gang with a bush in the theater to simulate insects crawling on patrons, but that was shutdown. I love his showmanship.

Getting more to what we get in the actual movie, I want to start back with the set up. There are threads introduced earlier that I think we lose. Starting in a church where the minister is talking about the evils of the world was an interesting start, especially since that’s when the earthquake hits. From there, it leans more into science. This does have a negative light on what James does. That was an intriguing route to go. I will come back to that later. Another aspect here is the breakdown of communication. People who are attacked don’t tend to survive to tell others. We see families being upset, not knowing what happened to their loved ones. James doesn’t warn his wife. This leads him to his dark path. He also isolates from everyone when he loses himself in his experiments.

Let me then shift over James. This becomes almost a character study of him as he descends into madness over trying to learn more about these insects. He tries to understand them more and what he does makes it work. This made me think of not playing God. Also, the dangers of science. Tampering with nature goes along with this. This loosely is an eco-horror film, but only in the sense that by returning these bugs to their natural pressure, he sees their true capabilities. There is the idea that they evolve fast that could be an element too. This is the part of the film that lost me both times when watching. It doesn’t fully make sense which is my issue. I will say that Dillman’s performance was good though.

I’ll then discuss the rest of the acting performances. I’ve already said that Dillman was good. I do like seeing him researching what is happening and then his descent into madness due to grief. Miles was fine in her role. She is more of a catalyst for his downfall. Gilliland works in his role. I like Fudge along with Patty McCormack, Smith-Jackson, Vint and the rest of the cast to round this out for what was needed. Credit to anyone who gets attacked to show terror as they’re burned.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I’ll say that I love that this came out in the 1970s and went practical. I’m guessing that they used real cockroaches. There were probably little things altered as needed. The only issue that I have are these things later in the film. My guess is that some of it isn’t real. If it is, it is comical. The framing and cinematography are also good for bringing this to life. Something that I have a soft spot for is the soundtrack. They go with synth sounding music that works for me. It adds an eerie vibe.

In conclusion, this is a film that I enjoyed the first time and held up with this rewatch. There are interesting things here. What if an earthquake opens an area under the ground where these insects are free? There are interesting ideas explored here like science vs. religion. The elements of eco-horror are limited, but still there as well. The acting is solid enough. Dillman is given the most to work with and this becomes a character study of him. This is made well enough with cinematography, framing, soundtrack and the effects being good. There is just a cheesy aspect that I think is explained away. I would recommend to fans of films from the 1970s or enjoy killer insect films.

My Rating: 7 out of 10