Directed by Jeff Lieberman
A violent electrical storm topples power lines into the rain soaked earth that is home for an aggressive breed of worms. The high voltage causes the worms to mutate into larger, hostile hordes of man-eating worms that lie in wait for the residents of Fly Creek.
Squirm - I carnivori venuti dalla savana, Squirm - Invasion der Bestien, La Nuit des vers géants, Черви, スクワーム, Squirm: Gusanos asesinos, Quái Vật Từ Lòng Đất, 恐怖食肉虫, 스퀌, Červi, Kıvranış, 恐怖食肉蟲
USAR USA 
stop saying egg cream
The first time I watched this was as a kid on USA Up All Night with Rhonda Shear and let me tell you that it fucking traumatized me. It was so gross and all the closeups of worm mouths really stuck with me for years afterwards so obviously this has a special place in my heart and it’s so wonderful to see it all cleaned up now and looking quite gorgeous!
The setting and atmosphere are superb and there are some really well done shots in this. The scene where the girl opens the bathroom door only for a wave of worms come towards her as the light goes out is utterly brilliant.
Maybe not for the weak stomached, but 110% for me!
In almost typical seventies fashion, this takes the slow burn approach. So much so, that for the first forty-five minutes its almost as if you’re just watching a fish-out-of-water southern gothic drama. Which to be fair, is okay by me, as I like really amped up accented southern belles, grumpy locals, watching other people walk through woodland, trying to discern what the hell an egg cream is and people carrying large blocks of ice.
But then halfway through, the killer worms come out to slay. And then it’s wriggling, writhing and devouring. The close ups of their mouths, the noises, the endless crawling out of places they shouldn’t be and into places they shouldn’t be. Doing it en masse I should add, like a waterfall cascade of worms, only with no picturesque beauty in sight. It’s just delightfully and flesh-crawlingly icky. A rural oddity in the best way.
I’ve known of Squirm for many years; about time I finally gave the movie a shot, right? It’s nice to cross off films from my figurative (not to mention literal) watchlists.
This is a nature gone amok motion picture which in the first half more resembled a sweaty Southern Gothic drama where the Brundlefly combination of Sissy Spacek, Lea Thompson, & Kerri Green welcomes Not Willem Dafoe as he arrives from New York City to her rural Georgia town that’s still hot & humid despite the late September date-as someone who lives in Florida, that’s accurate. The nature gone amok plot point: a nasty thunderstorm resulted in downed power lines, resulting in killer carnivorous worms attacking man & animal. Note that we see…
This is kind of how I always picture Georgia roadside towns to be. It's Blue Velvet's prologue made literal, as a small town's repressed sexuality explodes with the spark of a downed power line into an orgy of killer worms that rivals even the gnarliest Hong Kong black magic pukefest.
This is even more fun if you watch it as a prequel to Cruising.
When I was a kid, I thought this movie would be right up my alley. I loved “creepy crawlers” and the trailer sucked me right in. When I finally got to see it, I was disappointed and I couldn’t remember why. It’s been many years - would “adult” me enjoy it more?
Right from the start, it feels quite authentic, most of the characters seem to be local Georgians, not actors. Which tracks because Kim Basinger and Martin Sheen were passed over as the leads in favor of two unknowns. The unknowns do a good job in my opinion. They’re among an entire cast of not-so-great actors, but every one of them sells their part well. I’m believing this is…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Hooptober 12 2/34
Well, Clarice… have the worms stopped screaming?
An idea born from an experiment that director Jeff Lieberman performed with his brother when they were young, Squirm is a rampaging nature film featuring angry worms and Georgia backwoods finest. Power-lines, downed during a storm, are all the catalyst needed to drive our subterranean stars topside for some hillbilly cuisine.
Although Lieberman cites The Birds as an inspiration, there is more than a bit of Night of the Living Dead and especially Jaws here too. The first half of the film, while a bit slow at times, sets up the characters around town, relationships between the people and a fair amount of tension. Performances are OK to good, highlighted…
Not as good as JP Simón's Slugs, but with excellent makeup FX work by Rick Baker (and Rob Bottin), a little bit of boobage, and a bazillion creepy-crawlies, Squirm is still a good time, especially when watched with a fun watch partner.
“What’s the matter? Afraid of worms?”
Squirm starts out with a child singing while close up shots of worms are gloriously displayed on our tv screens (oh joy!) mind you they are screaming.
Full on, mouths open, screaming.
Horrifying much? Gross more like it.
(Why did I decide to watch this today?)
I gotta admit I really don’t like bugs and I rarely watch any killer bug flicks but! DAMN I really dug the hell out of this, as ridiculous as it was, the whole electricity turning worms into flesh hungry little fuckers is just so appealing!
What really makes this film work is that the cast was so damn likable, I only wish Patricia Pearcy was in more films,…
Downed power lines cause an outbreak of carnivorous bloodworms to rise and overtake a sleepy Georgia town.
Goofy little creature feature that isn't as bad as its MST3K infamy but takes a slow boat to China in regards to progression. Most of the runtime is spent hammering away details of a nerdy out-of-towner's burgeoning relationship with a local girl with small dollops of wormy goings-ons. Who cares? At least the conclusion featuring a furious worm-infested redneck, stock footage close-ups of barbed slimy mouths, and a house-cum-worm bathtub makes up for the extended snooze.
Squirm is actually one of the very first horror films I can remember seeing as a kid. A staple on my local FOX affiliate's horror double feature…
One of those low-budget creature feature/revenge of nature eco-horror films that came out in the wake of Jaws Summer. This one about mutant man-eating worms was the debut of cult filmmaker Jeff Leiberman, who was apparently inspired to write it by a haunting childhood memory of his older brother sticking a transformer into the dirt in order to electrocute/summon worms to the surface to collect as fishing bait. It's an effectively revolting image that he has translated into a crude and clumsily paced Southern Gothic drama about a small Georgian town whose locals (ranging from charmingly southern, to creepily so) are punished for their unnatural modern comforts by being attacked and eaten alive by their natural outdoor surroundings.
There’s a…
