In Your Pants

 

 (imdb)

EMPIRE OF THE ANTS-1977-Con woman Joan Collins tries to interest a boat load of prospective suckers into buying Florida swamp land. 

Unfortunately for the party, giant ants (contaminated by radioactive waste) decided to invade and munch on the cast. The phony insects superimposed on the screen is a riot. They're too big. “Oh my God, they're herding us like cattle!” says one disgruntled character. Robert Lansing holds things together as the grizzled boat captain (with an earring). John David Carson (THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE) helps out. Brooke (daughter of Jack) Palance gets killed. When Albert Salmi (also in THE COMING for the same director) shows up as a sheriff it develops into a conspiracy story involving a sugar factory and slavery lead by the queen ant. 

Bert I. Gordon (who died in 2023 at the age of 100) made this giant bug movie which seems influenced by his earlier projects, FOOD OF THE GODS and VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS. Gordon from Wisconsin made TV commercials before making his first feature KING DINOSAUR in 1955.

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Mr. Big's Ants

 

 (themoviedatabase)

EMPIRE OF THE ANTS-1977-After an introduction that says ants are as smart as men, real estate scammer Marilyn (Joan Collins) takes a bunch of prospective suckers on a yacht piloted by Capt. Stokey (Robert Lansing). Unfortunately, her swampland is overrun by ants who have been contaminated by radioactivity. Group includes John David Carson (THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE (1974), familiar TV actress Jacqueline Scott, Pamela Shoop (later in HALLOWEEN 2 (1981)), Robert Pine (who was a regular on the TV show “Chips” at the time), Irene Tedrow (another familiar TV actress), familiar TV actor Harry Holcombe and Brooke Palance (daughter of Jack). The ants grow very big and start killing. After munching and menacing, the survivors meet a weird couple who call the sheriff (Albert Salmi). It turns a nearby town has been enslaved by the ants and hypnotized by their queen. Some flares and a gasoline truck help put an end to the ant party. 

Who else but director Burt I. Gordon would have made a modern-day movie about giant ants and then say it was based on a novel by HG Wells? (he did the same thing earlier with FOOD OF THE GODS in1965) The SFX aren't so good but the strange turn the story takes is kind of surprising. Salmi was in Mr. B.I.G.'s next film BURNED AT THE STAKE in 1982. Gordon died in 2023 at the age of 100!

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Eye of The West

AN EYE FOR AN EYE-1966-A former bounty hunter named Talion (Robert Lansing) wants revenge on outlaw Ike Slant (Slim Pickens) who killed his wife and son. Along the way he meets young bounty hunter Benny Wallace (Patrick Wayne) who's also after Slant. In an early shootout with Slant Talion's gun hand is crippled and Wallace is blinded. Somehow they try to combine Wallace's sightless draw with Talions's gun-less sight. 

This is an ok low budget western with Pickens at his slimiest. Paul Fix is the local Sheriff and his daughter is played by Gloria Talbott (in her last role). Clint Howard is her son and Clint's old man Rance also has a small role. Strother Martin nearly steals the show as creepy Turnbull the fink.

AEFAE was directed by Michael Moore (Not the fat documentary film guy) who later made THE FASTEST GUITAR ALIVE with Roy Orbison. And it was co-written by actor Bing (father of Kurt) Russell. Lansing was in a TV series THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS at the time.

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4 D Indeed!

THE 4-D MAN-1959-This Technicolor sci-fi presented by the producer/director team who made THE BLOB (from the year before) is undermined by long stretches of talk and a love triangle sub-plot. Robert Lansing stars as Scott Nelson, a good workaholic scientist corrupted by his brother Tony’s invention, which allows him to walk through solid matter. When he goes through people they turn old and die while he gets younger. Lee Merriwether co-stars as Lansing’s assistant/fiancée who is stolen away by his bro (played by future soap opera actor James Congdon).

Edgar Stehli and Robert Strauss play a pair of conniving scientists. Interestingly, Stehli’s character is killed while Strauss’ just disappears before the climax! A pre-Helen Keller Patty Duke appears as well but the fairly good (for the time) SFX are no match for the tedious talkfest plot.

Director Irvin S. Yeaworth and producer Jack H. Harris weren’t finished though. Just one year later they re-teamed to make the wacky DINOSAURUS! Harris later produced movies that were expanded from amateur shorts like EQUINOX (1970) SCHLOCK (1971) and DARK STAR (1974) and helped launch a few careers.

He produced a sort of sequel BEWARE! THE BLOB in 1972 which actor Larry Hagman directed. Incidentally, Hagman’s character’s name on TV’s I Dream Of Jeannie was named Tony Nelson...........

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