Them!

If this was in color, I bet these ants would be RED

"When Man entered the Atomic Age, he opened the door to a new world." Here this fairly entertaining classic 50's atomic sci-fi, giant bug, monster-movie just spells out the thematic question of the day, and asks what will the future "Atomic Age" hold for the world? It was clear mankind was entering a realm that was unusual. Maybe it's magic, or contains some kind of monster. The second one. (It's almost always some kind of monster) Prepare yourself as Mankind enters, 'The Scary Door'.

Surprisingly more entertaining than other similar movies of the era. It's still a product of its times, but through the shadow of apocalypse, the massive government conspiracy, and the claustrophobia of the ant tunnels, it manages to be somewhat exciting.

A very fun giant monster movie, with that unmistakable 50s charm. Apart from its obvious commentary on nuclear war, it's also notable for its undeniable influence on Aliens (the queens, the little girl at the beginning that formed the basis for Newt, the flamethrowers, etc.). This isn't as good, but since Aliens is one of the best movies ever made and this is "merely" great fun.

I miss the simpler age, when we feared communism, nuclear war, and giant mutant ants...

Rather well crafted genre classic with a solid structure & predictably flat storytelling. Not quite as comically dated or godawful as some of these big bug pictures. It has a good balance in content between the scifi, investigation, action & drama. All of which are more or less ridiculous but it keeps it all moving pretty well & I appreciate that it tries hard not to waste my time. Could've used more spectacle but I guess those campy ant props were a real bitch to operate back in the day.

It's striking how much of this is echoed by Aliens, to the point where Joan Weldon even sounds like Ripley. Though it just shows why nuking the entire site from orbit is a bad idea - clearly that only makes things radioactive and way bigger. You gotta love the fervor of the scientist dropping ant facts like he's been waiting years for this kind of platform to make somebody take him seriously.

Surprisingly sophisticated and slick for a 50s monster sci-fi: The camerawork is noticeably artistic, the dialogue engaging without being overly dramatic, and the acting solid. The giant ants are a little cheesy, and the sound they make gets annoying, but with a story grounded in straight-forward mystery instead of sci-fi sensationalism, the movie still manages to maintain an appreciably mature tone. The tempered pace causes a few scenes to drag, but it's worth it for the overall lack of cheese.

cool effects that haven't aged too badly. ant scenes were awesome, but their screen time is about as big as a real ant so the padding in the script, especially around the 2/3 point of the movie, is much more noticeable.

One of of the first (and many) creature features to come out of the 50's and 60's, I can't really say that I enjoy many or any of them. This is one of the few that isn't entirely unenjoyable, but that's only because it features giant ants. I can honestly say that this is of an extinct breed, they really don't make them like this anymore.

This isn't a horror movie, it's 'Reefer Madness' for nuclear testing

I'm sympathetic to its skepticism of the nuclear age, but I couldn't help being bored. Too much idle chatting, not enough giant bugs.

Needed more ants.

I thought there would be more, oh, I dunno, MUTANT ANTS in the movie. It seemed like they were hardly on-screen at all. The story is fun and, obviously, it was trying to cash-in on the public's atomic fears, but not a great movie overall.

A lot of fun and much less campy than you might expect from a 50s film about giant ants. It plays things pretty straight and for the most part succeeds in building tension and the ants don't disappoint. Could have done with a better ending, but you can't have it all.

It is what it is.

Is this the best killer radioactive ant sci-fi movie ever made? Yes.

A primary example of B movie not meaning Bad movie, as this is a very entertaining one. In the giant insect genre, it's leagues better than others. I think as a film it's even better than Godzilla, though maybe not quite as entertaining. It smartly doesn't overuse the monsters, which increases their impact when they do appear. The elderly doctor character steals the show from an acting perspective. Very competently made and makes the most of limited resources. Very good stuff.

Fun little creature feature that knows that less is more, so the ants are more often feared than seen. The middle's plodding police procedural starts to get a little dull when you know you're just watching this for the monsters, not the social commentary.

THEM, starring Leonard Nimoy (for about 30 seconds), feels in part to be of a higher calibre than a lot of its peers. It's nicely shot with decent performances and fun practical effects; but is sadly pulled lower down the scale by an incredibly dry second act, packing large chunks of expository dialogue and a tedious investigatory plot-line. If you're not going to fill every moment with giant ants, at least make sure the rest is bad enough to tickle funny bones.

Em honra do centenário de James Whitmore. Não chega a excelência das ficções científicas do Jack Arnold, mas ainda é um dos melhores filmes de monstro dos anos 50. BlurayRip RARBG.

Well, it delivers on pretty much everything the concept promises. Good for a watch if you want to see exactly three(3) giant ant puppets which sound like birds and frogs, some very restrained violence, and several Wilhelm screams.

Holy shit, it's Aliens.

Probably the best American giant monster movie of this era I've found so far. The monsters aren't incredibly exciting but the story is interesting to follow and the characters are decent. Ending feels slightly anticlimactic/abrupt though.

B-

I appreciate that the movie never veers into "so bad it's good" territory. It's gotta be the most restrained, grounded giant monster movie I've seen. It makes for a pretty naturalistic experience, relatively speaking. The scenes with the ants, though few in number, are wonderfully executed. And the script and acting are fantastic. Although I wish there was more ant action, I realize this is par for the course for these 1950s creature features.

Asking why there aren't more scenes with the ants is like asking why there aren't more zombie scenes in a (pre-2000s) zombie film; it's not about the damned bugs, it's about how ordinary people react when confronted with the frailty of their own species. People are still talking about this black-and-white early '50s monster movie from an era in which rubber-suit monster movies were a dime a dozen... stop a moment to ask yourself why, then watch it again.

Man, I just keep watching this thing every decade, hoping I'm going to find it engaging enough not to nod off this time, but I never do. Tremors (which I'm not a great fan of) makes Them redundant by at least sketching a small desert community stocked with locals for the creatures to inconvenience. Watch The Thing From Another World instead, as it has what this film lacks: good dialogue and a bit of character.

Not bad.

Sci-Fi das Antigas #5

Surprisingly watchable and enjoyable, even 60 years after it was made. Overall, it's simple but effective. Sure, the special effects look silly now, but for the time, they're quite impressive. It has a serious tone (no tongue-in-cheek cheesiness here), but it's never overly serious to the point where it becomes too much.

86.500

Better than what I expected, especially first half an hour.

Couple minor annoyances like the ant sounds but all-in-all, a fun 50s giant bug movie that really isn't that campy (or at least not as campy as one would think). It does a good job of building up ants as legit badasses, to be honest. I remember seeing that there were only 2 minutes left in the movie and thought, "Damn they're gonna rush the ending," and they did... but this was still a hell of a lot of fun. Great atmosphere, especially in the tunnel.

I remember there being more scenes with the ants.

When will our society learn that our exuberance to make more and more powerful weapons has farther reaching effects than we could possibly fathom?!

Very entertaining and exciting, some things were so badass. The ant sounds were annoying, but I can look past that

I'm not a huge fan of the giant bug subgenre, but this one is really well done. Good performances and a nice mood.

Som 11-årig, set på NDR, på tysk engang i 70'erne, jeg var skræmt.

Okay Movie

Atomic Age Horror at it's finest

Surprisingly atmospheric little SF chiller with a great cast.

Giant mutant ants terrorise america??? I'm there

What a boring, tasteless, stupid film.

Interesting to see Santa Claus in a different role, though...

it is what it is

Classic sci-fi horror of the golden age with that real drive-in feel to it. By today's standards, it is of course, poorly done and will probably be remade in the next few years, but this is definitely worth watching, if even only as a cautionary tale.

Yeah yeah yeah square-cube rule. Still fun