01
Empire of the Ants
Why this pick
Another Bert I. Gordon nature-runs-amok feature, pairing remote-island isolation with oversized creatures and the same cheerfully lurid 1970s eco-horror energy.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1976 1h 28m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
The Food of the Gods
HorrorScience Fiction
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved The Food of the Gods, try these.
01
02
The Deadly Spawn
Why this pick
Its homemade creature effects, relentless monster attacks, and ordinary people improvising survival preserve the rough-edged, practical-drive-in fun of The Food of the Gods.
03
Frogs
Why this pick
A swampy ecological-revenge thriller in which a wealthy estate is besieged by hostile wildlife; it shares the ominous wilderness mood and pre-blockbuster creature-feature spirit.
04
Night of the Lepus
Why this pick
Giant killer rabbits and straight-faced scientists make this an especially close match for the film's outsized-animal premise, low-budget sincerity, and eccentric 1970s monster-movie appeal.
05
The Giant Spider Invasion
Why this pick
For similarly unpretentious regional exploitation charm: giant arachnids menace a small community amid conspicuous practical effects and earnest disaster-movie escalation.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
The film reduced Wells' tale to an "Ecology Strikes Back" scenario, common in science fiction movies at the time. The "food" mysteriously bubbles up from the ground on a remote island somewhere in British Columbia. Mr. and Mrs. Skinner (John McLiam and Ida Lupino) consider it a gift from God, and feed it to their chickens, which grow larger than humans as a result. Rats, wasps, and grub worms also consume the substance, and the island becomes infested with giant vermin. One night, a swarm of giant rats kill Mr. Skinner after his car tire is punctured in the forest.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Marjoe Gortner
Morgan
Ralph Meeker
Bensington
Jon Cypher
Brian
Chuck Courtney
Davis
Ida Lupino
Mrs. Skinner
Pamela Franklin
Lorna
Belinda Balaski
Rita
John McLiam
Mr. Skinner