EMPIRE OF THE ANTS was Bert Gordon's return to the giant insect genre, exploring the events which plague a resort island and surrounding farming community after a colony of ants is exposed to a leaky barrel of toxic waste (which was a trope as familiar to 70's/80's genre pictures as atomic radiation was to the previous two decades). As you can see, the ants sprout to monstrous size as result of their exposure. They also become super-intelligent and learned in the ways of mind control, enslaving an entire town into serving them. Fortunately, Robert Lansing is around to fight back. Noted for the presence of Joan Collins, the film is interesting if imperfect. The effects are, for the most part, not bad, but the mixing of photo-enlarged real ants against and location background plates often looks more whimsical than terrifying. The full-sized monster ant props look okay, but they're used almost entirely in quick cuts. You get a much better look at them in production photos like this one. Very loosely based on an H.G. Wells story, the film might've been more effective had it been made back in the 50's. Certainly, the film's effects would've looked a bit better in black and white. The pacing is also uneven, and it lags here and there. All in all, though, not a horrible way to spend an hour and a half if you're looking for some 70's drive-in fare. It's certainly no KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS, but it's not a total dud either.
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