ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Producer William Castle, the man responsible for "Rosemary's Baby" (with a little help from the Devil) and many other horror films, wrote the screenplay for "Bug", based on Thomas Page's novel "The Hephaestus Plague".

An earthquake opens a fissure in a farmer's field and releases a swarm of three-inch beetles which have the strange ability to start fires.

Scientist Bradford Dillman mates the big beetles with cockroaches and produces large carnivorous cockroaches (an experiment of questionable scientific value).

Worse yet, the roaches are intelligent, and groups of them can spell out messages with their bodies, like a marching band during half-time at a football game.




* Note to Wayne: See how much fun it can be to add pictures to your posts? Photobucket sucks, but Imgur is your friend!

Be prepared for some unpleasant moments. Patty McCormack, the little girl who was hit by lightning in "The Bad Seed" in 1956, doesn't fare so well in this movie either.

This was the last film William Castle was associated with, and it's surprisingly well done! Directed by Jeannot Swarc.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I have GOT to watch this movie! Between my highly entertaining post above and the terrific trailer below, it looks like a hoot-and-half, movie wise!

I mean . . . damn! Fire-starting bugs that emerge from a giant crack in the Earth and get a free upgrade from a scientist who makes them bigger AND smart?

This sounds too good to dismiss just because everybody else says is sucks! What if everybody is wrong!

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_______________________ BUG (1975) Trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I watched this movie tonight, and I was impressed by how good it was. This is one of the most intelligent science fiction movies I've seen in years. It's both smart and creepy as hell!

Despite the fact that the climax is marred by FX that don't quiet measure up to the rest of the film, I highly recommend this movie.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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Well, I will admit that when the bugs came marching out with their little bitty drums and their teeny tiny tubas while playing "Hold That Tiger", it did tend to lesson the fearful mood of the film.

But the scene on the miniature football field when they saluted great movie themes was quite impressive. Here's a clip from the movie. Watch this amazing display of the bugs' intelligence!

___ BUG clip - forming complex geometric shapes


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bogmeister]

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The swan song for producer William Castle, who died a couple of years later. He was famous for his gimmicks, and the gimmick here is that the bugs — mutated cockroaches — besides creeping people out, can also set people on fire.

Though this was in the middle of the eco-horror trend of seventies films, involving nature striking back at mankind in some fashion, this film develops into more of a psychological study of the main character (Bradford Dillman) descending into madness and into his own personal hell while dealing with these grotesque insects.

The story structure is a bit unusual and facilitates this turn for the character. His wife (Joanna Miles) — presumably the other main character — is unexpectedly killed (set aflame) by one of these bugs midway through the story. Dillman, as a scientist, does not take her death very well. But, being on the eccentric side, he also has an affinity for these bugs — a new, exciting form of life from his p.o.v.

___________ Best Scene From 'Bug' (1975 Film)


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And so, the 2nd half of this pic is very enclosed, concentrating almost exclusively on the off-kilter scientist and his relationship with these bugs.

Patty McCormack (The Bad Seed) also has a role as a friend and ends up as another victim — the insects do not deal anymore gently with human females than they they do with men — a sobering comment on the remorselessness of the insect world.

This was based on the novel, The Hephaestus Plague, a much more creative title by Thomas Page. The story also has references to Biblical prophecies of doom, which don't really fit. It's pretty slow, especially in the first half.

______________________ Bug - Phone scene

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_____________________________ Bug 1975


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BoG's Score: 5 out of 10

Bug Trivia:This was released to theaters on the same day as Jaws. Obviously, it was very much ignored in favor of the shark film. The director of Bug, Jeannot Szwarc, went on to direct Jaws 2 (1978). He is best known for Somewhere in Time (1980).



BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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I read this IMDB trivia item and was very glad I did!

According to producer William Castle, director Jeannot Szwarc approached him with a problem; Joanna Miles was "deathy afraid" of cockroaches and obviously didn't want them crawling on her. When Castle tried to demonstrate how harmless they were by having one crawl on his own arm, he was bitten.

I'm not "deathy afraid" of cockroaches, but they do creep me out to an unreasonable degree. I'm not overly afraid of spiders, and I'm only cautious of bees and wasps. Ants don't bug me () unless they start biting.

But on the rare occasion when I encounter a cockroach in my house, I can't bring myself to just slap it with my hand before it runs for cover. The idea is repugnant. Besides, even a good slap with an object doesn't always kill the little bastards and they get away!

Recently I decided I should just "man up" and grab the damn thing so I could throw it into the toilet. But after reading the above IMDB item, I looked up the question about cockroach bites. I found this.
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What happens if you get bitten by a cockroach?

Like most insect bites, cockroach bites cause the skin to react by swelling up and becoming itchy. In the rare case that a cockroach bite becomes infected, the area will become inflamed and fill up with pus. The bite may then become as large as your hand.
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I guess I'll just continue to keep my big can of Raid handy. But if they start burning messages like the one below into my counter top, I might have to try diplomacy!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

They didn't just use cockroaches, they used Madagascar hissing cockroaches! These monsters are typically 2 to 3 inches long. Zoos use them as feed for some animals.

They are also popular on TV and movies that need large insects. Remember the "Killer Cockroaches" in "Damnation Alley"? They are regulated, and when used outside of labs, they use only males to prevent a pregnant female from escaping and infesting the outside environment. After one movie that used them ("Damnation Alley"?), they were finding them in the rafters for weeks afterward. They are excellent climbers, even on glass.

For people that want them as pets (WHY IN GOD'S NAME WOULD ANYONE WANT TO DO THAT? ), most places require permits to prevent infestation.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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If I ever encounter a genie who grants me three wishes, here's what they'll be.

(1) Make me young again.

(2) Make me rich.

(3) Drop all the cockroaches on Earth into the sun.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[ralfy]

Here's one high-def copy of the feature:

https://ok.ru/video/2300098513661

I signed up using a burner Google account instead of giving a phone number, then got a copy of the video using Jdownloader.