 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1976 film Squirm And it is available on the shutter streaming service when I was doing this review. So anyway first off I mean spoilers for this because it's from 1976, but a lot of people probably haven't seen this film So I would say up front if you're on the fence on this one I would say if you like films that are dumb concept that are kind of a so bad It's good type thing. I'd give this a watch It's not one of those ones that I would necessarily come back to because it's so bad. It's good But it was definitely fun to watch it once and just kind of marvel at this is an idiotic concept And how did it get made? But we all know that like we know why there was this time period where all horror films were pretty much greenlit if you if you had a script It someone would put money towards backing that and you can make the film and and this is totally one of those films it's an idiotic concept and most people can agree with that and That said though There are some cool things that they that they did get done with the film overall the directing is fine The acting is not good It is not good at all But in certain instances that makes it pretty nice and comedic for the so bad. It's good element So Stuff to appreciate This film was written and directed by Jeff Lieberman who did films blue sunshine just before dawn Remote control and Satan's little helper Just to name a few that are horror most of the financing came from Broadway producers Edgar Lansbury and Joseph Baru You may say what does Broadway have to do with the film like squirm? I don't know it just happened That's the 70s man Shot in Georgia and using millions of worms from Georgia and Maine Actually half of the ones in the film were actually rubber, but they still had to bring in a ton of worms For this so they sourced from Georgia where it's just where they were actually shooting They brought the rest in from Maine that they needed and actually weirdly enough this ended up causing a Worm shortage in Maine that year for fishermen. So there were a bunch of fishermen. We're like, I'm ready to go fishing Let me go get my bait No worms. Why are there no worms? Oh because there's this movie called squirm. That's gonna be coming out It's being shot down in Georgia and they needed our worms such a weird thing But I like I like learning those behind-the-scenes things This was actually cut from an R rating to a PG rating Okay, I I assume the version we got was an R version on shutter, but What would a PG version of this be like and why would you want a PG version of this film? This film actually appeared one of the seasons of mystery science theater 3,000 where it got their treatment if people are not familiar with that You need to be and if you loved mystery science theater 3,000 and don't know about rift tracks You need to check that out basically the same a bunch of the same people who didn't MST 3k Doing more current films and just releasing the audio online that you can purchase and sync up with the movie yourself. It's awesome The premise for this came from Lieberman seeing his brother shocking worms to bring them out of the ground at one point when he was trying to Collect them for bait for going fishing. So that was the concept He thought back to this and he's like, oh, you know, maybe we can do a horror movie based off of this He also had some other inspiration such as the film the birds and An incident which I didn't know about this is very weird in Floyd's knobs in the Anna were a migration of millipedes Ended up sending hundreds of millipedes into people's homes That's crazy to think that that actually happened. That's a that's a really weird thing So knowing that and watching the movie you can see the similarity where that inspiration is. Let me try and fix this Okay, whatever. It's fine So Kim basing her actually auditioned for the role Jerry in this film, which I was like Why is Kim basing her not in this film that if she auditioned for it? So they passed her up because they said that she didn't she didn't look like she would be from a hick town Now the the terminology I'm doing this because that's the phrasing that was used I would say a rural community, but The use of the term hick town actually speaks to some of the bias against rural people That's in this film, which I think is one of the biggest things that play not that's not intentionally I don't think but it shows through in the script writing of it and it creates this kind of Division between city dweller, you know a city liver and a rural person a hick And it actually portrays the people who are from the rural town as being particularly stupid and weird Which you know is not a fair thing to do, but you know, this was the 70s You know we got a lot of those types of things in horror movies in the 70s and 80s and prior to that lots of stereotypes and That type of stuff probably wouldn't be done as much today, but it was back then so anyway So yeah Kim basing her audition for the role of Jerry There would have been some good acting in the film if basing her had gotten that role But they passed on her because she didn't look right for it now That said Lieberman Afterwards, you know many decades later has said that he regrets not having hired basing her. Duh, I'm sure Interesting so Martin Sheen actually was supposed to play Mick in this initially and Apparently there were some creative differences that that ended up Meaning that didn't happen which once again had this film been done with Martin Sheen and Kim basing her It could have been a much different film, but as it stands It's you know, maybe it ended up being better that way for people in our time now. I don't know Bernard Herman the composer for films such as the day the earth stood still and psycho was actually slated to do the soundtrack for this film but ended up passing away before it so Who knows what music we would have gotten with it. I think the music that's with it is good enough like it's solid It goes with the film. It's good. It doesn't distract you as being like, oh, that doesn't really work. So good enough One whole week of the five-week shoot of this film was dedicated just to shooting the worms That's that's insane to think about like one-fifth of the entire Filming time was for worms. It's just a weird comment Brian's diploma liked squirm and actually featured a poster of the film squirm Several times in his very famous film blowout, which a lot of people who are diploma fans will tell you is probably his best film I've not seen it, but it's on my list. I will get to it at some point Okay, so to the to the events of the film the storm battering things in the very beginning works really well They obviously show you how the power ends up getting into the ground because the power line snaps and it's you know Wiggling around like a worm getting that electricity everywhere. So that works But the song the song with the events in the beginning is so weird and Terrible and it's it's like this kids singing This kind of childish song in in a bit of a creepy way, but the singing is horrid like it's not even good singing It's I hate that I hate that song. It's it's awful The close-ups of the worms early on is actually Really gross the way they did it and they look menacing and they look disgusting and all that stuff. So That did what it was supposed to I'm sure that's exactly what they were going for it worked Mick's awkwardness and goofiness is kind of a way to show that the city type Don't really belong in a more rural setting You know, obviously there there's a lot of contention that happens between Mick because he's from the city And everyone else because their world Obviously Jerry is more accepting and her sister Alma. They're way more accepting because they're younger and they kind of Are more interested in a city life potentially and you see that because Alma is actually like reading a beauty magazine and Yeah, just seems more hip to it and it's weird that she keeps pulling joints out of her bra Like throughout the film by the way, I was just like what is going on here with her But yeah, I thought that they made Mick very awkward and kind of goofy in the very beginning to kind of show that He as a person does not match the setting for where he is and that becomes even more apparent as the film goes on And then he becomes the hero basically Which I feel like kind of signals like these rural folks are way too stupid and inbred and backwoods to even You know handle their own problems So they need this dude from the city who's obviously so much smarter to come in and solve everything which When you step back and look at you know, how things played out, none of it really makes sense Why would Mick even care? This isn't even his mystery to solve like why would he even care that much? How does he even have all this knowledge? That's another thing. How would he be figuring this out? It's all basically like they're hanging their hat on just the fact that he's from the city He must be very smart ridiculous So Mick asking if people eat the worms from Willys Farm When he was talking to Jerry in the truck Shows how people from the city view those in the rural towns as actually being less civilized and that that Further helps to set up in the beginning this divide between city folk and rural folk and Yeah, I mean, I think that's effective because the fact that he would believe like he would ask a question like that Seriously, like people eat the worms like it's such like a Feeling of like these people are kind of almost savages in a way so There's some rough acting and sometimes the accents really slur the actual words that are going on So that becomes a problem with this film like legitimately their lines that I have no idea what they said The accents in general aren't a problem They're just some characters were like the acting's bad and their accent is such that it's just like I'm like I got none of that I got nothing By the way Jerry got extremely creepy in the truck when she was talking about how the worms around their bite And she even says it's like blood worms and sand worms around there It's not normal worms Which are the worms that they ended up using in the film primarily were blood and sand worms Because they look more freaky So but I thought she was very creepy the way she was delivering those lines of like Oh, the the worms around here bite, which I'm assuming was intentional. So it kind of you know, it worked Sheriff Reston's attitude toward Mick Because he's from the city further drives that point about you know, the rural versus city folk Because it just seems like as soon as he even shows up like Sheriff Reston is just like Like giving him the stink eye Consistently and then the worm in the egg cream happens, which is that really a thing was out of thing the egg cream? So that happens and then Reston's immediately like oh you jokester. You're all you're just trying to cause trouble around here I don't know how you do it in the city, you know stuff like that It's weird which by the way on share the topic of share Sheriff Reston does he do work Like it legitimately seems like he's never actually doing things for his job He's just going around insulting people just hanging out Going on dates and boning in the jail Like actually in the jail cell. So when he ends up getting it, you're just like, yeah, okay Quigley's the bar looked cool I like the design of Quigley's and I would that looks like a place I would like to stop into to have a few beers. That would be fun Later on when all the worms like the the sea of worms come through Quigley's I think it's also a cool moment in the film like all the shootings of like the the floor covered in worms are really cool visuals That is not when I would want to be at Quigley's, but sans worms. I'm down with Quigley's Mick putting together that the worm in his egg cream somehow actually Correlates with the missing worms from Roger's truck is such just like an idiotic scene of him putting that together It's so overly Dramatized and it's just like you're also just like how is he putting this together? Oh, yes, because he's from the city that you know, that must be why because he's city folks So he knows this it's ridiculous Here's a great quote if only we knew whose bones these are When they find Beardsley's body that's been stripped of of everything because of the worms I mean It's weird because Mick seems to care a lot about solving this mystery about the these bones and Everyone else who comes in contact with these bones is just like very nonchalant. They're just like oh whatever They think it's like some sort of antique that can be sold. It's so Weird and it makes no sense like people wouldn't be like hey someone died We should figure out what happened here people are mainly just like oh, yeah, you know, it's a skeleton Off to doing whatever I was gonna be doing It's so weird Roger plays a simpleton very well He's actually my favorite character in the film the way he plays it is so over the top and Ridiculous, but it makes it fun and funny. So I love Roger Love Roger in this film and then he becomes a villain like I didn't even see that coming What does Mick think he's going to figure out sneaking into the truck to look at the skeleton? I mean like you end up finding out like how he ends up solving it by going by breaking into the dentist's office and Looking at x-rays of teeth. I Mean it's so insane and then going back to my question from before why does he care? Why is this his mystery to solve like I just don't Get it and it draws this line of like people from the city actually care people from this town Like could care less if their own are dying. It's just like It's so whacked it's People don't seem to be concerned about finding skeleton or talk about that The worm face scene with Roger actually is kind of cool where the worms work their way into his face That looks solid. I enjoyed that and how he just like went running off I assumed he was just gonna be dead But when he re like reappears and he still has the worms in his face basically it looks cool It's fun, but at the same time it brings up the question like why is he not dead? Because for everyone else the worms kill like they will eat you they will kill you I guess maybe it's because it wasn't enough worms because everyone else gets taken by like a sea of worms basically So with him, I guess maybe it just wasn't enough to kill him It's weird, but if they're under his skin when they keep eating. I don't know. It's weird a lot of plot holes in this But it's a dumb concept so like you know you kind of have to kind of have to know that probably they're gonna be a lot of plot holes oh And the little bit beforehand where they were trying to work up the tension Before the face the worm face scene happened where the the Container of worms flops over in the boat and then you see the worms moving towards them That was supposed to work up tension In no way did it do that. It just looked really lame. It's like well, there's some worms Okay People keep talking all about the tourists who come to Fly Creek, Georgia For what? Like no one ever says what they're there for I assume it's the antiques because they talk so much how like proud They are of all their antiques that they have and by the way Beardsley gets the best stuff from the estates when people die like I Guess it's the antiques are P is why tourists are coming there It's weird that they never Explicitly explain why tourists come there because they talk about tourists all the time like I get a ton of them But you see the town through the film and you're like For what like what is the tourism here? The worms going back into the shower head when Jerry turns the knob off That's not how that works The worms her turning that off would not suck the worms back in especially because there's no water there And that's not how that works like when you turn the water off. It just stops like it shuts so everything would keep You know like things stop, but they don't go backwards. It's it It's such a wacky thing But then also how are they inside the pipe? That's another thing like they stay in the ground They don't chew through copper and metal and stuff like it That's another thing plot hole. This is crazy Willys chest full of worms was a cool scene. I actually quite like that But then why was Mick picking up? I think a shovel I couldn't tell what it was because it was so quick like a shovel or a rake and just starts beating his body I'm just like what and then the other thing is like it seems like Mick has a history of just like desecrating people's corpses because he he messes with Beardsley's body and then there he is Beating and crushing willy's body. It just doesn't even make sense. It's like why And then I put what the hell Roger took the skeleton to sell at an auction When they revealed that that's how the skeleton got into the truck because Roger took it because he was gonna sell it This goes back to the whole explanation of these people in the town just thinking that a human skeleton is an antique and this goes back to the writing of Rural people are idiots. It's just like It's nuts, man. I Would think the worms would be fleeing the electricity more than light But they use this really stupid concept of as long as you keep lights on the worms won't come to get you Is that a thing? That's not I don't think that's a thing with worms. It's it's not about light It's about them staying in the ground But yeah, if the electricity current is going through it And it's disturbing them so much that they're coming out of the ground Don't you think that that would be the bear motivator to get them out as opposed to sunlight or any sort of light Then pushing them back in another plot old doesn't make sense So the worms are still in Roger's face wouldn't he be dead already talked about that. Sorry I do quite like the shot of Roger sinking into the flood of worms. That is an awesome scene That's probably my favorite scene looks wise visually He in the end am I right about this in the end he was consumed by his work I literally drowning in his work because that's what he was doing. Do you get it? That's a bad joke, but yeah, I Like how the utility worker at the end thinks it's just basically normal that there are two people sleeping in a tree Like he's just talking to them like everything's fine. Everything's normal. Like these people are sleeping in a tree Once again, like this is that bad writing. There's so much that just happens. It's just like nah That's not real So my final thought on this human versus nature is is a big thing going on here Even though humans usually overcome the harshest that nature has to offer nature always eventually throws a surprise curveball and Obviously this worm situation being the surprise curveball Although you can also argue that it's not totally nature because the electricity is what really sends things in flux and Then you could further argue that really it's a it's it's a human problem That because they did something to nature unwittingly, but they did something to nature they will then Have the terrible consequences from it I was thinking about trying to think about the best way to say that but you know, you know what I'm trying to say So yeah Like I said, I feel like this films were seen one time But you know, so I'll rate this in two ways as far as as an actual film straight up and as far as a so good It's bad films. So straight up as a film. I would give it one star There, you know, the directing is not bad There are some cool things in it the special effects look pretty cool the sea of worms and everything so one star As is a so good. It's bad film. It's worth one watch. I'm gonna put it two stars So that's my feeling on it put your comments down there. How do you feel about squirm? If you've seen it Hopefully you have if you've gone this far in the review, but do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button That's your best way to repay me if you like any video I've ever done that is how you repay me you give me that Subscription sorry. Oh my gosh. I'm tired at the moment. You give me that subscribe Also hit the notification bell so you know whenever I'm putting up a new movie review video or doing the live stream or whatever I really do appreciate it. But regardless, thanks for taking your time to watch this and until next time keep it brutal