Squirm (1976)

While oft times clunky and fairly dumb, director Jeff Lieberman’s tale of killer worms amuck in a small Georgia community contains just the right amount of Drive-In charm to satisfy most B-Movie lovers cravings for all things cheesy and pertaining to killer worms. Of course, the two sorta go hand in hand don’t they? After a summer storm sends power lines crashing to the ground, the local worm population is laced with volt upon volt of electricity, causing the little guys to suddenly develop a mighty powerful craving for human flesh. While the term “killer worm” just doesn’t have that foreboding feel of, say, “killer shark”, “killer piranha” or hell, even “killer cockroach”…all of which have been utilized in various genre flicks through the years, Squirm just might have you second guessing yourself the next time you go to bait the old fishhook. Just go with the flow as we get real honest to gosh worms (well, some are fake) up drains, noses, and whatever other orifice you can imagine. Rick Baker’s infamous “worm face’ sequence, as a local yahoo gets his face invaded by a handful of ten-inch burrowing worms, is still fucking awesome to look at, even more so in the prehistoric days before CGI, and really does make ya Squirm. Yeah, I know, a cheesy description for a cheesy film…so what. The film’s climax, as a house is literally filled with thousands of real worms, is pretty cool to look at and again, even cooler considering it’s all real worms and done without CGI. Filmmakers have it way to damn easy now, don’t they? All in all, it’s good fun if you’re especially forgiving, and if you’re a B-Movie lover, that’s something you just are.