Seldom seen review PHASE IV
Prompted by Collin's review of A Cold Night's Death I wanted to tell people about a great little, very seldom seen, 1974 sci-fi flick about smart ants and man's feeble attempts to stop them. That film is Phase IV.
Saul Bass is best known for his movie poster work and title design for Alfred Hitchcock but his only feature film is Phase IV, a wonderful low budget film with a silly plot but features some amazing photography of ants that I have never seen before or since.
Because of some strange astronomical anomaly ants seem to be getting smarter and do not take man's advances in to their territory lying down anymore and attack full force, destroying their homes, livestock and threatening their lives.
Two scientists attempt to discover what is going on with an ant colony in a desert community by studying them day and night and even try to communicate with them. Dr Hobbs is sure they are smarter than they seem but James Lesko is skeptic about the whole deal, even though these ants make highly geometric anthills that look like man made.
But the skeptic is soon put in his place when attack after attack from the science team are thwarted by the tiny troublemakers who make themselves immune to every attack that is brought to them. Dr Hobbs soon starts to lose his mind after a rather nasty bite from one of the creatures making the team self destruct and James is forced outside their compound where certain death awaits.
The plot of the film might be a little convulsed and moves along a little slow at times but Bass handles the material seriously and manages to make it look gorgeous at the same time. It's wildlife photographer Ken Middleham who steals the show however with simply amazing ant sequences. How he manages to make the ants do what they do is stunning and he builds creepy looking ant colonies, lighting them in strange colours to make them seem almost alien. The acting from Michael Murphy and Nigel Davenport is a bit hammy but that's part of the charm I suppose. The film also has a funky score by Brian Gascoigne, experimental electronic sounds that reminded me a little of the music weirdness from The Forbidden Planet.
Sadly this film is only available on VHS and Laser even with Bass's stature as a legendary figure in the film industry. I managed to see it the illegal way by downloading a fine looking laserdisc rip that featured the film in widescreen. It would be nice to see a good presentation on DVD, HD especially with those ant sequences. It's a curious little gem that deserves more recognition but is dismissed because of its silly premise. Shame really.
