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Bug  Hot
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Written by Dave Anderson   
Sunday, 16 January 2005


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Bug

Grade

Content Grade: B
Sound Grade: C+
Extras Grade: F
Picture Grade: B-

Specs

Paramount Enhanced 16 x 9 Widescreen English Mono English Subtitles 99 min., color, 1975 Rated PG

Review

I remember seeing Bug as the bottom half of a drive-in double bill with the 1976 Jaw s rip-off, Grizzly . While the aforementioned rip-off didn't leave much of an impression, the image of a cat getting barbecued by a pyrotechnic beetle stuck with me for a long time (hey, I was 11, and was absolutely sure they killed this cat just to get the shot they wanted). I think that's what separates Bug from other animals-run-amok films of the 70s...as a relatively minor release from Paramount, it's no classic, but it's got numerous scenes which contain that...you know... eew factor...
A small California town is rocked by an earthquake, and out of one of the fissures spews nasty a breed of cockroach that's not only aggressive, it's extremely smart and can start fires by rubbing its legs together. This leads to numerous incidents in which people and housepets are incinerated by the malevolent critters. The new breed of bug is brought to the attention of James Parmiter (Bradford Dillman), a local college professor whose interest becomes an obsession after his wife is char-broiled by these bugs. During the final third of the film, obsessed with what makes the bugs tick, Parmiter becomes a recluse and breeds them with domestic cockroaches, making them nearly invulnerable...and with each new generation, they become stronger, eventually developing the ability to fly. Historically, Bug at least deserves some sort of status as being the last movie produced by gimmick king William Castle ( The Tingler, The House on Haunted Hill ). That aside, the movie isn't nearly as schlocky and dumb as I remember it. Yeah, it's a bit dated, but aside from the aggressively stupid title, Bug is an effectively claustrophobic little chiller, with a surprisingly good performance by Dillman (the best of his career, such as it was). It ventures into ridiculous extremes toward the end (e.g. the bugs' ability to communicate in English), but until then, it easily preys upon our natural aversion to bugs pretty effectively.

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Picture and Sound

This is another back-catalogue title from Paramount, who haven't been known to put much effort into such DVD releases. The picture fluctuates between being passable to noticeably grainy, and there are a few glaring artifacts and scratches present. The soundtrack is presented in English Mono; it's passable during moments of dialogue, but there are numerous times where distortion is obvious during attack scenes.

Extras

Absolutely no extras are included...not even a trailer.

Summary

As a film, Bug provides some low-key thrills and shocks, with some good editing and production values. If you're a nostalgic like me, you may be disappointed in the lack of extras, but I think many of those same people may find the movie has aged better than others of its ilk. Similar Films: Phase IV; The Swarm; The Naked Jungle; Kingdom of the Spiders

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