IMDb plot summary: The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Directed by Gordon Douglas. Starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, and Joan Weldon.
Them! tells the story of a small town in the desert plagued by mysterious deaths, and the team of scientists and researchers who come in to investigate. While it's pretty well-known in pop culture what the cause of all this is, the movie doesn't reveal it until much later in the film, so I'll keep it a surprise in my review. The opening scene with the police picking up a terrified silent young girl wandering along in the desert sets a haunting tone that the rest of the movie doesn't quite hold -- but the movie is still very good. While the dialogue occasionally gets heavy-handed, the movie excels in crafting a sense of mystery with how skillfully it's paced. And it was delightful to see a female researcher given as much expertise as her peers, despite being objectified by other men around her. This was the first in a series of movie recommendations given to me along the theme of "horror movies with social commentary," and it fit that bill perfectly. Definitely worth watching!
How it entered my Flickchart:
Them! > The Gray Man
Them! > Dark Passage
Them! < Secretary
Them! < Jeopardy
Them! > Kismet
Them! > Au Revoir Les Enfants
Them! < Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Them! > Don't Drink the Water
Them! > Picnic at Hanging Rock
Them! < Mildred Pierce
Them! > Split
Final spot: #749 out of 3817, or 80%.
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