Runtime: 84 minutes
Directed by: Saul Bass
Starring: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson
From: Paramount
A movie you might not like if you have trypophobia…then again, the movie’s original poster (not the one I'm using on Letterboxd right now) at least presents that warning in visual form and there's only one moment which will disturb you if you have that phobia.
One nice aspect of 2024 is that I’ve already seen a few films I’ve been meaning to for literally years now, cult classic Phase IV included. The theatrical version of the picture (why I’m making the distinction will be elaborated upon at the end) is in the Criterion Channel collection Surreal Nature Films for obvious reasons--between the awesome 70’s synth score from Brian Gascoigne and some trippy visuals. I understand why the movie flopped at the box office even with 70’s crowds as even half a century later this is rather weird and arch… that said, it’s a shame that legendary graphic designer Saul Bass only got the chance to direct this one movie.
After all, the film is about ants becoming hyper-intelligent after an eclipse-like event (in hindsight, this should have been seen about two weeks ago…) and a pair of scientists reside in a sealed Arizona dome to study them. Hilariously, it’s outside the town of… Paradise City. No, the grass isn’t green but there is a pretty young lady… Lynne Frederick—I’ve mentioned her before: final wife of Peter Sellers, incredibly controversial due to her alleged “gold digger” mindset and how MANY did not like her for whatever reasons. I won’t defend her-her Wikipedia page doesn’t paint the most flattering picture anyhow.
Back to the ants; they have a hive mind, it’s quite the challenge. Nigel Davenport is Hubbs, who becomes obsessed as if the enemy is his Moby Dick while Lesko (Ernest, not Matthew) specializes in Game Theory so he attempts to decipher their “language” by correlating their noises to their movements. The film sounds like total B-movie in plot and execution, yet it is also cerebral in an increasingly unsympathetic Hubbs and the focus on macrophotography of the ants scheming to troll the scientists. It is a cold, austere film (despite the desert exteriors) yet all the attributes listed already plus some killer sound design made this odd journey worth it by the end. Of course, it’s ironic that this movie did not feature either memorable opening or closing credits, but alas…
I referred to which cut I saw as naturally there was a longer preview version before it was edited down for release. None other than Vinegar Syndrome in a 4K release pieced together what was available to include the theatrical and a longer version, the latter on a Blu disc. This includes an ending that was a few minutes longer… and many degrees more bizarre. I saw that online; literally, someone recorded a theatrical presentation of that scene with their phone.
For those that celebrate 4:20, the common version of Phase IV can still be enjoyed while you’re totally baked.
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