Phase IV Reviews

Nice idea for a science-fiction film, but it just doesn't (and probably couldn't) work. Due to pollution and other various vague factors, all the ants in Arizona have banded together to strike a blow against mankind. The ants manage to devour livestock and humans in seconds and have built huge, elaborate tunnels under the earth. Puzzled scientists Davenport, Murphy, and Frederick investigate and set up a complex post in the desert. After a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo and endless close-ups of ants climbing all over the place, the little critters attack. They kill Davenport and grab Murphy and Frederick "for what purpose, we don't know." Neither do we. One would think that director Saul Bass, whose credit sequences for such films as Hitchcock's PSYCHO are nearly as interesting as the films themselves, could pump some energy into this potentially interesting premise, but all he comes up with is an overly intellectual bore. This film won the Grand Prix at the 1975 Trieste festival of science-fiction films.