By 1954, radiation paranoia had become real enough that Hollywood started cashing in. The first and best of these “what-if” films was “Them!,” in which nuclear testing in the New Mexico desert mutated an ant colony into giant but believable proportions with the “chirping” sounds to go with it.
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When the authorities discover murders and mayhem, they summon campy Dr. Medford (Gwenn), a government scientist, who immediately suspects ants because one victim is filled with “enough formic acid to kill twenty men.” Gwenn's explanations, based on well-researched entomological facts, add to the movie's intelligence and professional detail.
As the professor further clarifies the ants' behavior, we enter their hive with FBI man (Arness) and fatherly Sergeant Peterson (Whitmore) who represent an unusually clever law-military alliance. They bring out the big guns, (“burn them all,”) only to learn that flying queens have spawned, potentially jeopardizing the entire world. One such queen has nested deep within L.A.'s forgotten storm tunnels, where the good guys become surrounded in the dark.
The review of this Movie prepared by Angry Jim Magin
