Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

2.7/10   

Directors:

Jim Charleston
George Manasse

Writers (WGA):

Linda Palmer (written by) &
Wink Roberts (written by)

Release Date:

24 June 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Killer ants from South America that eat the flesh of people attack a small town.

Plot Keywords:

Ant | Alaska | Small Town | Ant Attack | Skeleton

Cast

Eric Lutes	...	Dr. Jim Conrad
Julia Campbell	...	Laura Sills
Mitch Pileggi	...	Police Chief Jeff Croy
Jeremy Foley	...	Chad Croy
Bill Osborn	...	Officer Dave Blount
Dallen Gettling	...	Bob Hazzard
Patrick Fugit	...	Scott Blount
H.E.D. Redford	...	Maynerd Perth
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rob Greyhill	...	Hunter #2
Kim Landry	...	Sarah
Rick Lichtenhan	...	Resident at Pass
Jeanette Puhich	...	Margie
Kevin Rahm	...	Glenn
Christine Romeo	...	Fran
Ron Sarchian	...	Glenn
Don Shanks	...	Greywolf
Duane Stephens	...	Hunter #1

Also Known As:

Marabunta

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Heber City, Utah, USA

Company:

Producers Entertainment Group

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first shot where they find the moose, there is no arrow in its ribs, but it's very obviously present in the next shots.

It outstays its welcome.

A large number of killer fire ants have awaken and start to consume people and animals in a remote area of Alaska. So it's up to a small group of people to figure out how they can stop these dangerous predators before they reach a major town.

Yep, that pretty much sums up this dour TV feature. It's bad. Again, did I tell you that it was bad!? I recorded this thinking that it might be cheesy fun, but really, there's no fun to be had. Gee, I should have gone fishing instead. True, it's a nature vs. man story, which that genre flooded the 50's, but for recent times this one is utterly boring and hardly enjoyable. Even a bad film made back then on this topic, at least it was unintentionally humorous, though sadly it isn't the case with this one. The opening sequence proves it! Most of the time I was thinking how did that happen or you got to be kidding me. This is because there is SO many things that lacked consistency and how many coincidences can you get, plenty! These one- dimensional characters are plain senseless and seem to forget too often that there are killer ants around, after battling them just a second ago and they don't seem to know ants can climb! What are terrifying are the ants themselves, the CGI effects are awfully staged and rather shoddy. That really goes for the lame explosions and patchy flamethrower too. But these ants can supposedly strip the skin off a human body within 30 minutes, although with out an ounce of blood. There's really only one drop! Just how big are they supposed to be because the rubber ones used to stick on someone when they are being attack is about twice the size of the CGI designs! They even take the lazy option of by providing a lot of deja vu moments involving scenes of the ants being used over and over again.

The plot goes for some intellectual speeches that bore you to death with its scientific mumbo jumbo. No way is this predictable hokum entertaining with its galore of clichés and mind numbing dialogue. A lot of the things you hear just make you cringe in disbelief. Please stop the bad pun! The corny acting was rather standard for this type of production, but there are some recognisable faces. Like Eric Lutes and Mitch Pileggi from X-files fame. Julia Campbell was lovely too. Just expect the usual enthusiastic performances. The acting might have been better than expected but also the cinematography was rather breathtaking in bringing the Alaska's wilderness on the screen. The backdrop was elegant. Too bad the direction and pacing was shamelessly lethargic and handled in a flat manner and plenty of the sequences show it. The telegraphed score is terribly worked in, but not as bad as the use of the stunt doubles (, the white water raft sequence where they decide suddenly to wear hats for the occasion). But like everything does in these shamble TV features, all the things work out in the nick of time… yeah right!

"Marabunta" is nothing but sour grapes. At least a hinted sequel won't see daylight, well I hope so.

"…flush them back to South America…" You tell 'em!