In
1954, Warner Brothers released one of the very first science fiction horror
films centered on post-nuclear fears with the giant killer ants thriller Them!
In it, a colony of miniature ants are mutated by nuclear testing into
enormous behemoths that threaten to overrun and eradicate mankind. Sporting still astonishing visual effects
with oversized mechanical puppets and a reverberating sound of the ants that
still has the power to send chills up the viewers spines, it remains a
benchmark in science fiction film history and paved the way for a litany of
giant killer insect films for years to come.
But
what if the threat of a killer ant invasion didn’t involve them turning into
oversized monsters? What if they simply
remained their natural size but possessed a collective intelligence and
combined power which proved to be far more dangerous and less detectable to mankind? Some thirty years after Them!, American graphic designer and Academy Award winning
filmmaker Saul Bass, best known for his company logos, posters and opening
title sequences for many renowned classics, would answer that question in his
one and only foray into feature film directing Phase IV.
Partially
influenced by the 1971 documentary The
Hellstrom Chronicle (also featuring footage by wildlife photographer Ken
Middleham), Phase IV opens on an
unexplained event in space (natural or extraterrestrial in origin?) whose side
effects transform the world’s species of ants into hyper-intelligent killers
quick to overrun all forms of celestial life.
After forming tall, pillar like mounds and pushing out (save for one family)
residents from the Arizona desert, two scientists played by Nigel Davenport and
Michael Murphy station themselves inside a high-tech computerized metallic
sealed lab to further investigate the strange phenomenon. Quickly, however, it erupts into a full blown
war between arthropods and humankind as the seemingly unstoppable army of ants,
like Aliens, threaten to infiltrate
the scientific lab’s barricade.
A
psychedelic, philosophical and thought provoking thriller, Phase IV is one of the great underrated and largely unknown science
fiction masterpieces unfairly written off by many (including MST3K in one of their early episodes). One of
the film’s greatest triumphs of set design and special effects is how much
visual wonderment the renowned graphic designer turned filmmaker Saul Bass is
able to create with so few resources.
One gets the impression watching it the film didn’t cost much to produce
yet is loaded with such mesmerizing, awe-inspiring hallucinatory visions you
find yourself swept up in Bass’ phantasmagorical audiovisual magic.
Penned
by science-fiction writer Mayo Simon, the film is brimming with brilliantly
apocalyptic ideas suggesting a future of mankind enslaved by arthropods,
implying space aliens can be found right on the eyes and antennae of the ever
evolving ants which seem to adapt with greater ferocity to every controlled
pesticide thrown at them. With a rich, eclectic
score comprised of everything from experimental electronic to classical strings
provided by a total of four composers including Brian Cascoigne, Stomu
Yamashta, David Vorhaus and Desmond Brisco and visually stunning cinematography
by Dick Bush, the stage is set for a truly overwhelming and breathtaking
audiovisual experience.
What’s
most striking about the one and only feature film to Saul Bass’ credit is his adherence
to what renowned film giant Stanley Kubrick once referred to as ‘the economy of
statement’. Bass, known for his
instantly memorable company icons and title sequences, keenly understands the
subliminal, psychological appeal of rapidly edited advertisements and
commercials to sell an idea in a succession of carefully chosen images, sounds
and words. Though the film is edited down to a tee by Willy Kemplen, clearly
Bass is in total control of his images onscreen, providing just enough
information to sell a stunning audiovisual idea while tapping into the viewer’s
subconscious.
Tragically,
the film fell victim to the studio heads at Paramount Pictures unable to make
heads or tails of what to do with Bass’ film before excising the now legendary
finale of sensory overload and audiovisual fantasia. Sold as a B-movie with an exploitative poster
of a clenching hand with ants crawling out of it, Phase IV opened to dismal box office returns before being nearly
completely forgotten. So distraught by
seeing his masterpiece so ruthlessly and artlessly tampered with, Saul Bass
never sat in the feature filmmaking director’s chair again, instead resuming
work on the poster art and title sequences that made him an icon.
People
at Paramount, if you’re reading this, withholding the recently rediscovered and
restored finale to Phase IV, which
inarguably is the pinnacle of intellectual and technical filmmaking of the
renowned visual artist’s career, is a crime against cinema! That one of the greatest pieces of film
editing of pure unexpurgated Saul Bass magic can’t be seen as its brilliant
visionary artist intended to this day is totally unacceptable! As for our regular readers unfamiliar with
the legendary filmmaker’s one and only feature film, viewing the picture
alongside the sadly weak (for now) handicam footage of the restored deleted
ending will help complete the puzzle underlying one of science fiction film
history’s most underrated gems and greatest mysteries!
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki