We’ve had them all – alligators, piranhas, anacondas, killer bees and most famously birds and sharks. So what’s left? Insects, of course. In 2000’s They Nest (aka Creepy Crawlers), the time is the present, the scene is the island of Maine off America’s east coast, and the action kicks off when a swarm of cliched, unbelievable and laughable B-list actors assemble and draw lots to see who’s going to suffer the first low-budget extermination at the hands, mandibles, whatever, of crazed crawling creatures. Meanwhile a brave, resourceful, wise and intelligent doctor (Thomas Calabro) is battling to get it through the skulls of the locals that they’re in more peril than they can possibly imagine.
What’s gratifying about this remake of the 1988 Roger Corman original, The Nest, is that someone somewhere in the production process has actually decided to lavish a bit more care on the film than anyone has a right to expect. So one minute you’re drinking your Coke, making calculations as to who’s going to die next and laughing at the hopeless predictability of it all. A minute later you’re straining forward, shouting “Someone save the hamster, for pity’s sake” and half a litre of ice and sugar-water is all over your trousers.
Perfect Friday night fare.
I am an Amazon affiliate
© Steve Morrissey 2001
