The Swarm (1978) by Irwin Allen

Director: Irwin Allen

Year: 1978

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Nature-Run-Amok

Plot:

After escaping into the wild, an entomologist joins up with an Air Force captain and other civilians to track down and destroy a ravenous swarm of bees flying around in the southwestern United States before they consume the entire country.

Review:

This was quite a decent if flawed effort. One of the film's few bright spots here is the rather fine action scenes, which is quite fun with some great scenes along the way here of their initial attack on the helicopters and managing to take them down, the thrilling attack on the picnicking family in the woods as the son observes this from the car and the attack on the friends who came back to seek revenge on them which is all quite fine action scenes here while setting the stage here for the big action scenes from their general swarming found on the small-town which is all highly fun and enjoyable here with the different attacks on the populace through the town, from schools, fairs, diners and more in a frantic, absolutely enjoyable sequence.

Others include the big train attack, the power station destruction, and their appearance in the control room, where the need to spray the area with a flamethrower gives this a really impressive feel. Meanwhile, the film's other big action scene here is the containment attempt in the big city, as the flamethrowers spit streams of flames on the buildings, blowing things up and generally making everything feel quite grand and epic, giving the film quite a large number of positives against a few flaws.

The biggest flaw here is the absolute overkill here in terms of allowing scenes to go on for way too long or are just unnecessary being here, starting with the introductions of his credentials from the very beginning, the romance between the elderly townsfolk, the father taking his dead son home or the continuous scientific minds sitting around debating everything which grind the film to a literal halt at times while effectively exploiting the other problem apparent in this section here in making the film seem overlong and purposefully epic for no reason. The other flaw here is some rather lame special effects for the swarm here, never seeming like the bees are there but rather just a mess clumsily inserted with buzzing noises thrown in to make it seem like those are bees. These here lower this one somewhat.

Overview: **.5/5

A particularly fun, but flawed cheesefest, this one comes off better than its reputation but still manages to be goofy and silly enough to be a problematic feature for most out there. Give it a shot if you're fine with the style or approach attempted here, who enjoy this era of genre fare, or who are fans of the creative crew, while most others out there should heed caution.