THEM!
My good friend Kellee Pratt, writing for the CMBA Fabulous 50′s Blogathon, spotlighted one of my all-time favorite sci-fi/monster flicks from the 50s. Both the film and the review are so worth the read.
It’s the dry, sandy desert of the New Mexico landscape of the 1950’s. A small plane circles above in radio communication to the two state patrol officers driving in the squad car below. The pilot has alerted the officers there’s a little girl wandering the desolate area alone and agrees to follow above until they reach her. When Officer Ben Peterson calls to her, she continues to march along completely unaware of his presence, even after he tries to talk with her. The little girl in braids and a plaid robe stares blankly ahead as she numbly clutches her porcelain baby doll with a cracked head. She appears to be in shock.
Further down the road, they discover a campsite in complete disarray… a station wagon with doors flung open, a trailer littered with damaged belongings, including money and a recently blood-stained cloth. Nearby, sugar cubes are scattered about, as…
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It Rains... You Get Wet 
5 Responses to “THEM!”
Thanks for this exceptional re-blog, Michael:
One of the best “Big Bug” films of the 1950s.! Kellee did a fine laying it out and pointing out its major highlights. Great cameos of future talent and viaducts not seen in films until the extended shoot out in ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’.
Superb pairing and team up with Whitmore and Arness.
Never bought into ‘Tarantula’. Even if it does have Clint Eastwood briefly as a lab tech. The giant spider looked fake. Almost laughable. While ‘Them!’ are only glanced and are truly scary with their chittering sound effects.
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Wonderful Big Bug flick and write-up by Kellee. Good point about our viaducts. We’re quite proud of these 😉 Seriously, I love this movie since childhood. And yes, this has it all over Tarantula! Thanks so much, Kevin!
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Love Love Love this film to no end. So nostalgic for me and I think I still have the old VHS copy I bought when I was a kid. (I eventually graduated to dvd, lol) Best big insect flick of the 50’s. Had mood, style and was very ambitious for it’s day with it’s message and FX. I don’t mind Tarantula but Them! set the bar very high. Great job, Kellee and Mike!
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We’re all fans here for this 50s monster flick, here! Saw it as a kid on TV, and have introduced it to my own children. Needless to say, they’re now into it. Many thanks, Vic 🙂
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[…] at the tail end — The Next Generation this, Deep Space that, etc. No doubt nurtured by the classic Sci-Fi/Monster flicks of the 50s I’d watched on my grandmother’s black & white set in her living room whenever […]
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