The Nest is an 1988 American science-fiction horror film directed by Terence H. Winkless in his directorial debut. It was produced by Julie Corman, the screenplay was written by Robert King, and stars Robert Lansing, Lisa Langlois, Franc Luz, and Terri Treas. It is based on Eli Cantor's 1980 novel of the same name published under the pseudonym Gregory A. Douglas. The plot concerns a New England fishing village which is attacked by mutated cockroaches, as a result of an experiment gone wrong.
| The Nest | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Terence H. Winkless |
| Screenplay by | Robert King |
| Based on | The Nest by Eli Cantor |
| Produced by | Julie Corman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ricardo Jacques Gale |
| Edited by | Stephen Mark Jim Stewart |
| Music by | Rick Conrad |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
The sheriff of this small island town called North Port has a roach problem in his house. According to the local exterminator Homer (played by Stephen Davies), it turns out the whole town is about to have a big roach problem. Pets, and then people, begin to disappear or turn up dead and mutilated.
Although Sheriff Richard Tarbell (played by Frank Luz) is dating Lillian, the owner of the local eatery, his high school sweetheart Elizabeth Johnson returns to the island after a four-year absence and their romance blooms again. Elizabeth (played by Lisa Langlois) happens to be the daughter of the town's mayor, Elias Johnson (played by Robert Lansing), who is in cahoots with an evil corporation called INTEC that has been secretly breeding mutant roaches that are immune to normal insect repellants. They also seem to have the ability to assume the form of anything they kill, leading to some animal/roach hybrids and even 2 roach/human combos.
Production
The filmmakers used 2,000 flying cockroaches during filming at Quicksilver Studios in Venice, Los Angeles. When some of the insects escaped into nearby dressing rooms, the American Humane Association were unable to assist them as the organization must be contacted prior to shooting on matters concerning insects.[1]
The pick up truck explosion and the exterminator's house explosion in the movie are both taken from footage from Humanoids from the Deep, a 1980 science fiction movie starring Doug McClure and Vic Morrow.[2]
Lead actress, Lisa Langlois afterwards expressed her disdain for the movie poster used for The Nest, which showed a girl in underwear being ravaged by a giant cockroach, and quite rightly pointed out that her character appeared in no such scene. She complained that the poster made it look like she was being seduced by a giant cockroach, like she's just an appetizer. "I think as a woman, she said, "I was feeling really exploited. But now...I can laugh at it."[3]
Release
Critical response
The film received a mixed response from film critics.[1] Candice Russell of the Sun-Sentinel wrote: "Fulfilling the promise of The Hellstrom Chronicle, The Nest is a roach rout. It's no masterpiece, but in the last 40 minutes, fans of the genre get their money's worth."[4] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Leonard Klady praised Winkless' direction and King's screenplay, noting that the film "hatches its clever plot extremely successfully."[5] Jon Abrams of The Daily Grindhouse thought the film was enjoyable, though not inventive; he wrote, " The Nest is neither the first nor the best horror film about killer cockroaches, and it doesn’t rank with the likes of the final segment of Creepshow or Jeannot Szwarc’s Bug in terms of “ew” factor, but it’s still an enjoyable little flick even if it doesn’t do much to forward the genre."[6]
Ed Bank of The Pittsburgh Press awarded the film a one-and-a-half star, criticizing its storyline as being "too familiar."[7] The New York Daily News deemed the film "broke little in the way of new bug-movie ground."[1]
The website top2040.com ranked The Nest as #35 on its list of the "40 Best Big Movies and Killer Insect Films."[8]
Home video
The Nest was first released on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video in 1989.[9] It was released on DVD for the first time by New Concorde Home Entertainment on August 28, 2001, now out of print.[10] Scream Factory, a subsidiary of Shout! Factory, released the film on Blu-ray and DVD as a combo pack on February 19, 2013.[11]
Remake
The Nest was remade in 2000 under the similarly titled, They Nest. They Nest was directed by Ellory Elkayem and starring Thomas Calabro, Dean Stockwell, John Savage, and Kristen Dalton. This remake takes place on Orr's Island off the coast of Maine and deals with meat eating cockroaches attacking attacking and killing islanders.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d "The Nest". American Film Institute. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ The Nest (1987) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-03-25
- ^ The Nest (1987) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-03-25
- ^ Candice Russell (April 21, 1988). "No Masterpiece, 'Nest' Will Make Skin Crawl". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ Leonard Klady (May 14, 1988). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Nest': Incredible Cockroaches, Credible Plot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ writer, Jon AbramsEditor-In-Chief at Daily GrindhouseJon Abrams is a New York-based; cartoonist; Work, Committed Cinemaniac Whose Complete; Site, Credits Can Be Found at His. "THE NEST (1987)". Daily Grindhouse. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
- ^ Ed Bank (Jan 30, 1988). "Creepy 'Nest' hatches good villains, bad plot". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ "40 Best Bug Movies and Killer Insect Films". Retrieved 2021-03-25.
- ^ "The Nest". VHSCollector. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ "The Nest". DVDEmpire.com. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ "The Nest". Scream Factory. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ Elkayem, Ellory (2000-07-25), They Nest (Sci-Fi, Horror), Thomas Calabro, Dean Stockwell, John Savage, Kristen Dalton, The Kushner-Locke Company, retrieved 2021-03-25
External links
- The Nest at IMDb
- The Nest at Rotten Tomatoes