Ants!

Aka: It Happened at Lakewood Manor

(Toxic/Ants)                                                   5*****skulls

*No Blood* *Not Violent* *No Strong Language* *No Sexual Situations* *No Nudity* *Not Gory*

1977/Color/88 Min./U.S.A. Home Video & Alan Landsburg Productions/Not Rated

Director..........Robert Scheerer (Hans Brinker, World's Greatest Athlete)

Screenplay....Guerdon Trueblood

Music.............Ken Richmond

Producer........Peter Nelson

Executive Producer.....Alan Landsburg

Special Effects by Roy Downey

Ants Coordinator......Warren Estes

Dramatis Personae

Mike................Robert Foxworth (Deathmoon, Frankenstein, Prophecy)

Miss Adams.....Lynda Day George (Beyond Evil, Casino, Mortuary, Pieces)

Tony................Gerald Gordon (Force Five)

Vince..............Bernie Casey (Spies Like Us, Starsky and Hutch)

Richard...........Barry Van Dyke (Casino, Foxfire Light)

Linda..............Karen Lamm

Ethel...............Myrna Loy (The End, The Jazz Singer, The Thin Man)

Lionel.............Steve Franken (Can't Buy Me Love, Terror Out of the Sky)

Fire Chief........Brian Dennehy (Tommy Boy, II, First Blood, To Catch a Killer)

Gloria.............Suzanne Somers (Bullitt, Three's Company,Yesterday's Hero)

Tommy...........Moosey Drier (Laugh-in)

Tom................Bruce French (Pipe Dreams)

Marjorie..........Barbara Brownell

Doc.................Stacey Keach. Sr.

Peggy.............Anita Gillette (Marathon)

Critique: The enthusiastic exclamation point of the title is misleading. Welcome to the least potent of the ABC "Movie of the Week" horror entries. Like the others, it's quite watchable and features steady direction and acting, but the ants, as uncomfortable as the idea makes the viewer, never mount a real scare. Scarier is the icky 70's relationships between the characters. Gerald Gordon in particular makes you think ants are crawling inside your shirt when he puts the moves on Susanne Summers. Like in Cruise into Terror, expect to have plenty of scenes with stars standing about in rooms hashing out problems in what amounts to a beached Love Boat episode. Does that make "Cruise" a real Love Boat episode? The young lovers don't generate a lot of heat, nor do their more experienced counterparts. Watch Linda inexplicably kick for effect as rescuers try to save her with the ladder. The unemployment line at the screen actors guild must have been short the day they filmed this one.

Plot Summary: At a construction site, Charlie is in distress in an area that is about to be bulldozed. Another worker comes to his aid as the area is covered with earth. Real estate agent Gloria and client Anthony Fleming are off to look at some waterfront properties, and Gloria doesn't want to mix business with pleasure. They arrive at the Lakewood Manor. The construction work continues near the hotel where a drain pipe is swarming with ants. In the kitchen of the hotel, there is also an ant problem as they congregate about a drain. When Gloria sees the charming Lakewood, she insists they change their reservations to stay there. The buried workers are finally discovered, and the foreman is baffled about why they were in the ditch. The doctor asks about a worker's irritated skin condition and whether a snake was in the ditch. Foreman Mike is hassled by the inspector about the accident, but the area was clearly posted as off limits. Pre-teen Tommy collects deposit bottles, and to this end hops into a dumpster. Tommy slips into the ants that have congregated there and soon he is covered with ants and just barely makes it to the pool. When he's pulled out of the pool, he is in shock. The sleazy Fleming meets with the owner of Lakewood and shmoozes. Mike hypothesizes that Tommy and the construction workers have a condition caused by the construction work. They poke around in the ditch and Vince gets bitten by the ants and feels paralyzed. Back in the kitchen, the sandal-clad cook is having his own ant problems. He suddenly slumps to the ground yet another victim. Mike collects a sample of the ants, thinking they might have something to do with the deaths and irritations. The kitchen has been quarantined and the inspector suspects a virus. Mike argues strenuously for the ant theory, but must admit there are no ants in the kitchen. The inspector shakes Mike's sample of ants onto his hand and isn't bitten. Mike goes out and begins demolishing the digging. Mrs. Adams, the proprietor, is informed that the guests must leave in two hours. An entomologist suggests that the ants might have found a way to use the toxins that man has produced as a weapon. It is also suggested that colonies attack larger animals only when they have sufficient numbers to overcome the intruder. Fleming says as soon as he gets hold of the place, he'll demolish it and build a casino. However, the ants have already entered his bedroom. When Mrs. Adams hears Fleming is still willing to buy, she offers and he pounces, still ignorant of the health situation. The younger Miss Adams, heiress to the hotel, sees that Mike's activities have sent the ants streaming into the hotel. Agent Gloria wakes up likewise surrounded by ants. When Mike finally realizes that his activities have only exacerbated the problem, he stops, but the damage has been done. The inspector goes out to investigate and is immediately swarmed. The only hope is a trench that will be filled with gasoline, containing the ants with fire. Young Linda is rescued by the ladder truck, but the others are still trapped. Tom Franklin, the entomologist, finally shows up at the scene as the gasoline is poured. The people are slowly being airlifted off, but there are a number of pitfalls as people fall off the building and ants are blown into the spectators by the helicopter blades. As the remaining survivors are surrounded, Tom suggests that they not move. Ants, he assures, are basically non-aggressive. They wait it out, soon covered with ants, not daring to move, until desperation and innovation bring about the showdown.