Them! (1954)

(On Cable TV, February 2020) The 1950s, as the clichés go, were the defining decade for monster B-movies — one step removed from Science Fiction and one step closer to both gentle horror and unintentional comedy. But the 1950s were also the decade in which the Science Fiction genre leaped from the page to the screen. While Them!’s silly title and premise (giant ants invade!) suggest that it’s going to be a silly creature feature, the film proves to be much closer to true Science Fiction than to accidental horror-comedy—an interesting hybrid of those two streams of 1950s SF. The film’s first half, to be sure, is pure and genre-defining big-bug monster stuff: Nuclear tests produce giant ants, and the world at large gears to fight the menace. It’s in the second half—and specifically its well-handled execution thanks to director Gordon Douglas—where Them! becomes closer to a higher grade of Science Fiction: once mobilized, the armed forces and scientists react cleverly to stamp out the menace. The special effects aren’t too bad, considering the period. If there’s a single point to be made here, it’s that Them! is not like the later flood of schlocky monster features that copied its high points without belabouring the details: it’s rather good, well-made and works as serious Science Fiction more than unintentional horror-comedy.