MGM Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
Having
only seen Jeff Lieberman's SQUIRM on TV
thanks to the truncated, "let's-goof-on-the-low-budget-flick"
pipeline that is 'Mystery Science Theater
3000' I wasn't sure what to expect from
this recently-released DVD. As it turns
out, my Saturday morning viewing over a
pork roll egg and cheese sandwich had grossly
misinformed me.
A vicious storm thumps the
town of Fly Creek, GA. Rain batters the
bait and liquor stores, wind whips the rickety
lean-tos and even some power lines get downed,
cutting off power and sending a current
of powerful electric energy through the
mud-soaked ground.
Geri (Patricia Pearcy) is a nice country
girl from Fly Creek waiting for Mick (Don
Scardino), a city-boy antique collector
(dealer?) that she met at an antiques show.
Not wanting downed trees and other storm-related
damage to delay Mick's visit, Gerry borrows
a truck from Roger (RA Dow), a dim-witted,
muscle-bound handyman with an obvious thing
for her. When Gerry and Mick return the
truck, the hundred thousand worms that had
been packed in the back are missing!
Things get even stranger from
there: skeletons appear and disappear; Mick
plays Quincy, Jr. and compares a skull to
dental records; worms turn up in the oddest
places (kitchens, shower heads, chocolate
sodas); and Mick and Gerry make the ill-advised
decision to go fishing with the obviously
unstable, undeniably horny Roger.
Part of the post-JAWS "nature
gone wild" craze of the 1970s (GRIZZLY,
EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, FOOD OF THE GODS, PIRANHA),
SQUIRM gently spoofs the horror genre and
features some pretty effective jolts thanks
to its slimy co-stars, and I'm not talking
about Peter MacLean who portrays the pompadoured,
mistrusting sheriff. Several extreme close-ups
of pulsing, slimy, screetching insects produce
the intended heebie-jeebies and down and
dirty effects scenes of a worm-filled gut
and the flick's money shot of the vicious
buggers burrowing into the face of a victim
are old school drive-in all the way (thanks
to early make-up effects by Rick Baker).
If all you've ever seen is
an old videotape or the hacked-up MST3K
version, do yourself a favor and grab this
DVD.
