Phase IV (1974)

Desert ants suddenly form a collective intelligence and begin to wage war on the inhabitants. It is up to two scientists and a stray girl they rescue from the ants to destroy them.

Director:

Saul Bass

Writer:

Mayo Simon

Stars:

Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Nigel Davenport	...	Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs
Michael Murphy	...	James R. Lesko
Lynne Frederick	...	Kendra Eldridge
Alan Gifford	...	Mr. Eldridge
Robert Henderson	...	Clete
Helen Horton	...	Mildred Eldridge

Storyline

Desert ants suddenly form a collective intelligence and begin to wage war on the inhabitants. It is up to two scientists and a stray girl they rescue from the ants to destroy them.

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Plot Keywords:

arizona desert | bio dome | arizona | grenade launcher | grenade | 

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Taglines:

The Day The Earth Was Turned Into A Cemetery!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to actor Michael Murphy, actress Lynne Frederick was required to wear a sort of corset during filming so that she would appear more flat-chested. Kendra, the character she played, was supposed to be about 16 years old (four years younger than she really was at the time), and the director wanted to minimize her voluptuous figure.

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Goofs

During one of the scenes inside the dome, Lynne Frederick speaks with a English accent instead of the American accent she uses during the rest of the film.

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Quotes

Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs: You did your major work applying game theory to the language of killer whales.
James R. Lesko: Well, it seemed cheaper than applying it to roulette
Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs: Did you actually *succeed* in making positive contact with the whales?
James R. Lesko: Only with the emotionally disturbed.
Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs: How were you able to determine that?
James R. Lesko: We talked!

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Crazy Credits

The title is not revealed until the end credits. It is divided into segments "Phase I," Phase II," and "Phase III," and only at the very end when Phase IV is reached is the title ever given.

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Alternate Versions

In the book "Future Tense" by John Brosnan, an alternate ending to the film was described: "Bass originally filmed a spectacular, surreal montage lasting four minutes, showing what life would be like in the 'new' Earth, but this was cut by the distributor." A preview version with this ending intact was shown to some audiences in 1973-4; clips of it showed up in film's the theatrical trailer, and in Saul Bass' title sequence to Martin Scorcese's Cape Fear (1991). The alternate ending and preview version did not resurface until 2012. The 35mm original footage of the ending was scanned and color corrected (it had faded to magenta) by the Academy Film Archive. Beginning in 2013, repertory showings of the film (for instance at Cinefamily and Anthology Film Archives) have shown a DCP of this alternate ending after the main feature. Because Paramount would not license the footage, the 2015 Blu-Ray release by Olive Films doesn't include this alternate ending (or the theatrical trailer). It hasn't been until 2020 that the alternate ending has been made available officially outside theatrical revival showings. It is included as an extra on the Apple TV release of the film, and on 101 Film's Blu-Ray release in the UK.

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Connections

Featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Phase IV (1989)

User Reviews

Phases of Horror and Psychedelic Art

When one hears of a sci-fi film about the massing of hyper-intelligent ants one immediately constructs a mental imagine of something akin to Them! (1954) with its ridiculous, though iconic, monster ants barely functioning well enough to move. However, Phase IV is an entirely different movie…and ant for that matter. Phase IV is nothing short of a sci-fi film for the "thinking man". While being fully aware of the genre's motifs its cinematic approach is that of the art-house – a 70s psychedelic sci-fi trip shrouded in hordes of ants directed by the famous Academy Award winning graphic designer, Saul Bass. For all this, its status in film history is nothing but a tragedy. It's the only feature film directed by Bass and it's almost completely forgotten and certainly isn't readily available for viewing.

The story is fairly simple: some undefined cosmic event occurs and augments ant evolution. This particular desert colony ascends to an intelligent collective consciousness making the ants capable of communication and great terror. The colony, per its aggressive expansion, drives out the local human population. A scientific lab is established with our main scientist protagonists. The proceedings eventually lead to a division between the two scientists and some inevitable chaos.

The brilliance of this film is the visual component. The cinematography by Dick Bush (not kidding) is in line with the best of the 70s. Furthermore, there are also a lot of interestingly beautiful shots of the colony and ant behavior. Straight away at the start of the film we are presented some truly striking images of the ant intelligence movement for several minutes – no dialog, no humans, just cinematic language.

In short one could say, If you're the type of person annoyed by a Space Odyssey or even Blade Runner, then you're the type of person that shouldn't watch Phase IV. However, if you're a total film buff and/or sci-fi nerd I highly recommend you seek out this hard to find, underrated, masterpiece – you will not regret it.

Review from Beguiled: http://brianbeguiled.blogspot.com/

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Phase IV

Filming Locations:

Rift Valley, Kenya

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alced Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1