THE NEST (1988)

OVERLOOKED HORROR FILMS PART 5

I saw this "cockroach classic" from infamous producer Roger Corman, directed by Terence H. Winkless for the first time a long time ago when I was watching satellite TV at my fiends' house after we'd had a few cold ones. That particular day, that channel was showing a slew of horror films with "bug" themes. I remember I also saw "The Swarm" the same night, that's the famous bee horror movie (no pun intended) directed by Irwin Allen (which, by the way is currently in line to be re-made by the cretins of Hollywood by 2008)

Anyway, back to THE NEST. This is just an enjoyable film that scared the piss out of me back then so bad that I had trouble sleeping for about a week. I genuinely hate cockroaches, and most bugs and creepy crawly things in general, so if you're like me and you freak out at the sight of one, I suggest you put this one back on the shelf.

The movie has a reasonable script and OK acting, so the film's already got that for it. There's a fair amount of suspense, quite a fewscenes that will really make you squirm, and some surprisingly good special effects that you would typically expect from a Roger Corman flick during the final act, and you have a pretty effective horror film. Believe me, it's not actually not as cheesy as the cover shown above.

The story takes place in a small bumfuck US town that could very well be Maine or somewhere like that. Anyway, doesn't matter, really. A corrupt corporation is in battle with The Mayor because they have fucked around with nature and as a result the town is overrun by cockroaches. But they're not just regular roaches, they devour people, cats, dogs etc. in a matter of seconds, they have been specially bred to withstand just about any conditions, no matter how harsh they may be.

The sheriff, the mayor's daughter, who's just come back from a 4-year stint in LA, and the town hobo & exterminator are on the job to get rid of the roaches. This is pretty routine until the end, when the roaches mutate into the shape of whatever they happen to eat. So we get this cat/roach hybrid thingee that eventually eats the mayor. I won't spoil the ending and how they get solve the roach problem, or even IF they do.

Anyway, it's not a masterpiece or anything and doesn't belong beside ROSEMARY'S BABY but it's definitely worth watching a few times. I don't think there is a decent version of this on DVD, you're just as well off to find a cheap used VHS copy, I've seen the DVD and it looks like it was just burned onto DVD with no clean-up.