Empire of the Ants (1977)

Sleazy scam artist Joan Collins tries to sell phony real estate deals down in the Florida everglades. What she and her unsuspecting buyers don't know is the area has been taken over by ... See full summary »

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

H.G. Wells (story), Jack Turley (screenplay),

Stars:

Joan Collins, Robert Lansing, John David Carson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Collins	...	Marilyn Fryser
Robert Lansing	...	Dan Stokely
John David Carson	...	Joe Morrison
Albert Salmi	...	Sheriff Art Kincade
Jacqueline Scott	...	Margaret Ellis
Pamela Susan Shoop	...	Coreen Bradford (as Pamela Shoop)
Robert Pine	...	Larry Graham
Edward Power	...	Charlie Pearson
Brooke Palance	...	Christine Graham
Tom Fadden	...	Sam Russell
Irene Tedrow	...	Velma Thompson
Harry Holcombe	...	Harry Thompson
Jack Kosslyn	...	Thomas Lawson
Ilse Earl	...	Mary Lawson
Janie Gavin	...	Ginny

Storyline

Sleazy scam artist Joan Collins tries to sell phony real estate deals down in the Florida everglades. What she and her unsuspecting buyers don't know is the area has been taken over by giant ants!

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Plot Keywords:

florida everglades | giant ant | florida | ant | real estate agent | 

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Taglines:

It's no picnic!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Studios [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' Empire of the Ants

Filming Locations:

Belle Glade, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema 77

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Bert I. Gordon created some of the special ant-effects by shooting magnified images of the Panamanian bullet ant.

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Goofs

Before the Captain jumps in the ocean to try and save the boat, he takes off his shoes. After he burns the boat, he jumps in the water and you can clearly see his shoes.

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Quotes

Joe Morrison: This turned out to be one hell of a free vacation.

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Connections

Featured in It's Tough to Be a Bug (1998)

User Reviews

Worth a look...but nothing to take seriously.

This is my favorite giant insect movie. I don't know what it is about this one, but every time I see it on AMC or where ever I have to watch. The effects are bad and the plot isn't the best in the world, but not every movie has to be great to be fun to watch. Usually, in movies of this type the monsters (in this case giant ants) are rarely seen cause they look so bad. In this one, though, they don't care what they look like and they are more than happy to show us this cheesy ants...sometimes the old regular ants projected on the background, while at others really bad puppets. The plot has these people looking at vacation plots...you know timeshare stuff. While touring the facility, some members disappear and then the ants attack. They have to get away from them and go down a river on a boat to do so. This is my favorite part of the movie, going down the river. Lots of the cast are taken out here. Unfortunately, it ends rather weak as they all get to this town that has some sort of connection to the ants, but what? I would have preferred this one to stay with the river and wood scenes rather than the town part of the plot, but overall this movie is good fun.