Gordon's King of the Ants DVD

[Cujo108]

Stuart Gordon's latest film, the book based crime thriller, King of the Ants, hits DVD June 29th, and you can see a look at the cover art and specs here:

http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=2213

Having read the book, and being a big fan of most of Gordon's films, I'm really looking forward to seeing this one. From the pics and article in Fango a while back, it looks like Gordon's got him another winner here. I've also heard that George Wendt's villainous turn in the film is very well done, and on top of all that, the gorgeous Kari Wuhrer has a part in the film too. Can't wait to see this!

[Suicide]

Egad, man! That cover isn't looking too hot, anyone with me? But I read the article in Fangoria back whenever it was in there and I'll be giving this one a shot. But good grief that cover, it almost offends me.

[Damin J. Toell]

The film's concept is a nice throwback to the torture-and-revenge flicks of old, but the acting is generally subpar and the visuals are nothing special. It all just felt a bit too amateurish. There is at least one moment of nutty Gordon special effects, but it's not really worth seeing for just that alone.

DJ

[Hellbilly]

Did anybody pick this up yet?

[fuerstma]

I've got it sitting in my netflix queue. I figure it's worth that much at least. But I still haven't seen Dagon yet (also sitting in queue). I need to burn through my DVD's faster!

[shift]

Its out today!!

http://fp.blockbuster.com/is/amg/dvd/cov150/drt400/t444/t44413jfsv3.jpg?cell=200,200&cvt=jpeg

[Cujo108]

Did anybody pick this up yet?

Yes, it arrived in the mail yesterday. I watched my Deathdream disc first though, and am watching this one in just a bit, followed by Driller Killer.

[Katatonia]

I rented it earlier, can't wait to see it.

[marcx]

I watched this last night..I thoguht that although there were a few flaws it was for the most part gripping and disturbing...I liked it!

[Katatonia]

Just got through watching this it. It's one seriously disturbing film. The first 20 minutes are a little slow, but then it just goes into complete weirdness. There's some really shocking imagery throughout the film.

[Cujo108]

*MINOR SPOILERS*

This is a truly outstanding film, and a magnificent addition to Gordon's stellar filmography. As I said before, I'm a big fan of the novel, and I think they did it a damn good bit of justice with this film.

Newcomer McKenna is good as the lead, not to mention very believable, which is no small task considering the type of role he's saddled with, portraying an average guy turned half insane killer because of the hell he's put through. Great debut for him. Wendt is sheer perfection as Duke. Its a very different kind of role for him, and he pulls it off remarkably like the pro he is. I also give him all the praise I can, as he's the one who strived to get the novel made into a film, going through several studios that said it was too dark and disturbing for many years. I'm very pleased he went through all that to get the great novel filmed. Also, Daniel Baldwin is superb as Mathews, the villain ringleader. He seems to be a natural in the role. Then there's the beyond gorgeous Kari Wuhrer of course. She's fine as the grieving widow, Susan.

There's some very dark and disturbing imagery here, much in tone with the novel. The bulk of said imagery appears during McKenna's hallucinations, including one in which he imagines Susan as a grotesque queen ant-like creature taunting him while eating dung, to name just one of several instances. McKenna's torture is also quite brutal, and the aftermath on his head is really nasty and painful looking.

Gordon's direction here is wonderful, from the gritty shots to the well edited hallucination sequences. There's also some great pieces of music, all of which invoke randomly different feelings in the viewer during the scenes they play over. The film is also just a perfectly realized piece of work, plain and simple. I am very pleased with this adaptation, and I think its also definitely one of Gordon's very best films.

[Hellbilly]

I read at lasersedge.com that the film is presented in full screen.
I hope that ain't true?

[Cujo108]

No, its widescreen.

[Katatonia]

I read at lasersedge.com that the film is presented in full screen.
I hope that ain't true?

They're wrong. It's widescreen.

[Gnaghi]

if gordon was going for the amateur student film look, he succeeded. i couldn't believe how bad the acting got, almost like they did one take and moved on. in a particular shot a piece of whatever kind of dolly or car they were using came on screen and in another the huge reflection of a light reflector. i was into it at the beginning, but it just went downhill too quickly. definately felt like a waste of time.

[shift]

Seen it last night. I give it 8/10. Love paybacks.

Oh yea... I think golf is a cool sport after seeing this movie. LMAO!! :banana:

[Ash28M]

I watched it last night and would say i enjoyed it. There were some pretty far-fetched scenes but the good outweighed the bad in my opinion. I also didn't think the acting was that bad, not to the point that i was ever distracted by it that's forsure.

[fceurich39]

a pretty lame movie except for the revenge killings

[Peter Vincent]

Finally got around to renting this puppy last night! I actually kept hearing (on other sites) it was very different from Gordon's other flicks...and they were sure right! No Supernatural in this flick! A very dark, moody flick that was scary in the fact that 'MAN' is more evil than any monster depicted in Gordon's previous flicks.

God Kari Wuhrer was hot!!!

I also thought the acting was great. Chris McKenna (the...anti-hero I guess) was good, but not great, but everyone else's performance really drove the movie!

Did I mention Kari Wuhrer looked HOT as f*cking hell!!!!


I havfe to admit, I felt a bit uncomfortable during the torture scenes. I kinda almost felt like I was trapped in that garage (or whatever) with him! I'd recommend to anyone to go see this flick if they haven't already. I'm afraid it will be widely overlooked by many, which is a shame!

BTW: The DVD cover art looks like they're trying to push a typical horror flick as opposed to a suspenseful, revenge movie, which is what it is.

BTW part II: Kari Wuhrere looked f*cking blazing! Take a quick look at a sample of the love scene in the flick below:

http://www.celebritymoviearchive.com/members/thumbs/b/bM2914-KariWuhrer@KingOfTheAnts-1.jpg

[Peter Vincent]

By the way, for those who have seen it or read the novel, I do have one question:

Did "hot ass" Kari Wuhrer's character die in the flick? It looked like she bit it when he bumped her against the wall. If so, that's a waste of a hot ass + it would leave her daughter an orphan, which would be REALLY messed up.

[life_o_petey]

wow, i didn't expect this thread to be freaks & geeks worthy.

but anyhoo, i thought it was pretty decent. the torture scenes were good, and the main character wasn't bad (though whatever Baldwin it was was AWFUL). I would have liked it if they spent more time with the revenge aspect, which seemed pretty rushed towards the end.

I was a little disappointed that there weren't killer ants running around terrorizing people though :(

and yes, i think she did.

[indiephantom]

For me, George Wendt was the worst part of this film. I liked Daniel Baldwin and always do. This is one of his best bits since "Trees Lounge".

The imagery seemed more silly than disturbing, but I think it's a worthwhile film to check out.

Stuart Gordon fans will find this one of his lesser films, though. I know I did.

[Peter Vincent]

I DID mention Kari Wuhrer looked ready to simply eat up right?

Seriously though, I'd have to disagree with indiephantom in that it was necessarily a "lesser" film, just very different than his usualy fair. I think if U go in without Gordon's previous works in mind it might be quite an experience.

Reminder: See pictures I posted above for one of the best parts of the flick!

[indiephantom]

[QUOTE=Peter Vincent]I DID mention Kari Wuhrer looked ready to simply eat up right?

Seriously though, I'd have to disagree with indiephantom in that it was necessarily a "lesser" film, just very different than his usualy fair. I think if U go in without Gordon's previous works in mind it might be quite an experience.
QUOTE]

I still enjoyed it to a degree. But as someone mentioned above it feels sloppy. It doesn't have the technical aesthetics I've come to enjoy from Gordon. Certainly it doesn't require the kind of budget of some of his previous films.

When compared to his other films I think it is most definitely subpar.
And honestly, Kari Wurhrer has looked much hotter. Try "Hot Blooded", "Thinner", or "Boulevard" to see her at her finest.

[Cujo108]

I'm a major fan of Gordon's work, and I think its one of his best films. As for my beloved Wuhrer, she always looks beyond hot. Seeing her in any film is always a treat regardless if she looked hotter in something else or not. On another note, I really, really, really hope Gordon gets Ladie's Night made. That would be such a killer movie.

[Richard Anthony]

OK, I watched this film for the first time tonight, and I have mixed feelings about it. It is a unsettling little film, with some nasty scenes in it as well. I'm a fan of Stuart Gordon's films, and he does a fine job directing this one, even though as some have said, some of the film feels a little bit rushed. There are some nasty torture scenes in this film, and the acting from George Wendt, Daniel Baldwin, and Kari Wurher is good. Kari Wurher, of course, is Super Hot!! I've always been a big fan of her, she always looks Great! She has a big role on "General Hospital" right now as FBI Agent Reese, and she is Great as always!

Back to the film. On the downside, I didn't care much for Chris McKenna in the lead role, he was a weak actor, and I think a better actor could have done more with the role. This guy was pretty bad, and the guy who played his friend was AWFUL! Aside from these two, the acting from the rest of the cast was very good.

This next part contains SPOILERS, so read at your own risk! SPOILERS AHEAD.........The other part that I didn't like is the second half of the film, and the film's ending. Am I the only one who didn't like the lead character? I didn't want to see him get revenge at the end of the film, to tell the truth, he was a stupid moron who got involved with the wrong people, what did he expect was going to happen to him? This loser killed Kari Wurher's husband, and left her and her daughter without a husband and father! I wanted to see Kari Wurher get her revenge on him! That's what I was waiting for! When she finds out what he did, I wanted to see her torture him for what he did to her. So, when it didn't turn out like that, I was still rooting for Daniel Baldwin to kill him off at the end! Maybe his character comes across better in the book, but in the film, I didn't have much sympathy for him at all. Sure, it was nasty and brutal what Baldwin and his group did to him, and these scenes were disturbing and effective, but this guy got what was coming to him, when he tried to cross Baldwin and Wendt. END OF SPOILERS.

Overall, I thought it was a disturbing and effective film, the only drawbacks were the bad performance by the lead actor, and the fact that I felt little to no sympathy for him at all. It's worth checking out, and it's even worth picking up, if you can find it cheap like I did when I picked it up for $5 at the used Video Store.

[dwatts]

I just caught up with this one. Surprised at some of the negative comments, to be honest. I thought the performances were great, and that the lead played it well. He was supposed to be, at least to me, an everyman, a normal Joe who gets tangled in the macabre. So, the performance is normalized, he plays it like some naive guy who just walked in off the street - entirely appropriate, I reckon.

Some strange images, some brutality - it's matter-of-fact nature is what made it most effective I reckon. The plot held together well. The leads friend was, again, just a guy of the street, nothing special about him, not stylized. He worked at a dog pound for goodness sakes - perfect!

Very much worth seeing.

"You like barbecues duke, right?"

Hilarious!

[Michael]

Wuhrer should have kept the implants! What did she do?