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Halloween Day by Day: "Them!" (1954)


Horror films often reflect the anxieties and fears that Society feels at various times in history.  After World War II, and the rise of the Soviet Union, fear of nuclear accidents- and the possible side affects found a home in Society's psyche... leading to the "Nuclear Mutated Monster" genre of movies...

The discovery of a lone girl in the New Mexico desert leads Sergeant Peterson and Trooper Blackburn to investigate her origins...

That search will soon take into the path of something hideous... something monsterous... THEM!

The story is pretty simple and straightforward:  Humans tested an A-Bomb, the radiation mutated an ant colony to huge size, mutated ants start attacking humans.  It is enough of a skeleton for a fun little night of entertainment.  There is some depth as it does give insight into the sort of anxieties American people had about atomic bombs, and what the radiation could wind up doing.  When taken in context of 1950's American during the Cold War shortly after the Second World War, this movie's story gives a pretty decent look at the inner thoughts of most of the population.

The characters are enjoyable, though would be considered pretty standard stereotypes by today's standard.  They aren't super deep or profound, but they are still engaging enough to be entertaining and keep you interested in the movie.

Like the characters, the acting is pretty standard for the time period- but it brings a bit of charm to this old movie that I enjoyed.  Of special note is that this movie lead to two of the stars getting later cast in rather notable roles.  It lead to Walt Disney casting Fess Parker (who plays a mental patient in this movie) as Davy Crockett in a episode of the "Disneyland" tv series (which caused a huge upsurge of Davy Crockett hats being sold), and for James Arness (who had been turned down by Walt Disney for the Davy Crockett role no less) being cast as Matt Dillon on the series "Gunsmoke", after John Wayne has seen him in "Them!".

All in all, while "Them!" isn't a film that I'd watch often, I would be willing to pull it out once in awhile to watch.  It's mutated into "The Good".
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