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Author
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Topic: Squirm
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James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1375
From: Washington, DC
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted September 26, 2008 03:42 PM
The year was 1977. I was 14 years old. My school buddy was getting his first super 8 sound projector (I had gotten mine a year earlier). With it, he was offered a FREE 200 foot "Star Wars". Since we had watched mine a thousand times by then, he asked if he could choose another 200 foot title. Being the horror fan that he was, he chose "Squirm". He'd never seen it, but the box looked scary enough. Within an hour, I received a phone call- "You gotta get over here- RIGHT NOW! What was wrong, I wondered. He's never sounded so upset. As I arrived, he told me "Just sit". He then started his threaded projector, and I proceeded to watch one of the grossest, coolest, horror movies I had ever seen. And in sound and COLOR! We watched it numerous times that evening, and it instantly topped Star Wars as the greatest 200 foot digest ever (at least to warped minds like ours).
A few months later, there was WONDERFUL news. "Squirm" would be returning to our local grindhouse cinema, as a 'second feature' to "The Incredible Melting Man". We had missed "Squirm" on its first run, so we were glad we'd finally get the chance to see it.
We loved it. After that night, I was determined, no matter what happened, no matter what it took, I was going to save up for the longer, 400 foot version of this masterpiece!
And now, on with the review........
"SQUIRM" , 200 foot (8 minute digest)
Released by Ken Films.
After a quick "American International Pictures" logo, a thundering storm is in progress, as the title 'wiggles' onto the screen. As we witness havock from the storm, the infamous Ken Films narrator cuts in- "Late one night, a sudden electrical storm strikes a small town in Georgia, sending thousands of electrical volts into the muddy ground, creating one of the most bizzar freaks of nature, ever recorded". We see a close-up shot of a real worm, forcing little hook-like teeth out of its face.
The next scene is the most famous 'worm face scene- The three main characters- Mick, Gerri, and Roger, are on a canoe. Mick is bitten in the arm by a worm. He's taken to shore for first aid, and Roger and Gerri continue fishing. As Roger makes unwanted advances toward Gerri, she knocks him down in the boat, where a whole box of bait (worms) has just spilled. As he gets up, screaming in pain, Gerri covers her mouth in shock. Then, we see it. The worms were attached to Roger's face, and they start plowing upward, under his skin. He manages to pull one out, and falls into the water. He runs ashore, screaming.
We then see more electricity going into the ground. Suddenly, a large tree falls onto a house. Mick and Gerri see what caused it- thousands of worms, crawling around in the base of the tree.
As clean up begins, a shower is turned on. No water, but while no one's looking, worms begin to crawl out of the shower head.
Its now night time. Alma (Gerri's sister), goes up to see if water is coming out of the shower yet. With a creepy, slow, point-of-view down the dark hallway, Alma stops at the bathroom door. She hesitates, then turns the knob. The door flies open, as tons of worms pour out of the bathroom! Quick fade out.
Are you still with me?? ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Mick is walking through the house with a candle, looking for survivors, and finds Gerri's mother, completely covered with worms.
Roger, who hadn't been seen since the boat incedent, jumps down from the atic, and begins fighting with Mick. After a short fight, Mick tosses Roger over the stairway banister, into a river of worms, that now appear to be about 5 feet deep on the first floor of the house.
As Mick and Gerri attempt to escape from a second floor window into a tree, Roger, who now appears to be part-worm himself, crawls up to them and bites Mick on the leg. Mick knocks him out with a flash light, and they escape.
Daylight fades in, and our two survivors are asleep in the tree. They are awakened by a power repair man, who seems to be oblivious to the horrific events from the previous night. He assures the two that power has been restored, and everything's "good as new".
The camera then pans to the dry ground, where thousands of little holes are visible, so we can assume the worms have returned home.
The End.
Like I said, the coolest digest ever! Well, to wierd kids who loved horror movies, anyway.
Oh, what about that 400 foot version that I slaved all summer for? O.K.- here's a BRIEF review-
400 foot digest (16 minutes)-
I must say, I was quite dissapointed. Unlike most 400 foot digests that contrast the 200 footers, there are actually NO EXTRA SCENES. The extra time is just added to each scene that was already in the 200 foot version. In the first boat scene, which was so neatly edited in the short version, now has TONS of extra dialog added, very unnessessary. That alone added five minutes to the digest. The same for the rest of the digest, extra dialog, no extra scenes.
With that said, its still a good digest, with some great shocker-scenes. But they could have done so much more with it.
Now here's another interesting thing- the colors on the 200 foot digest are much better than the 400 footer. Even new, the 400 footer had a red tint, especially the boat scene. And the colors have held well on the 200 footer, too.
I would highly recommend this title to any fan of good 70's "B" movie sci-fi. Of course, the DVD is available as well, and is excellent, with a dialog track by the film maker Jeff Lieberman.
And please....could somebody add a review for the 3 x 400 foot version that was available from Germany. I only found out of its existence a few years ago and would love to know about the editing. Thanks!
James.
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