The Nest (1988)

Touches You

Absolutely the worst movie.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The lead character Richard (Franc Luz) is the sheriff, and he seems to be a bit of a pimp. He's got his own mini love triangle going with two women (Lisa Langlois & Nacy Morgan) Langlois comes back after a few years of being away. It turns out she picked the wrong time to head home. A bunch of meat eating cockroaches are invading the city. I was hoping to get a mildly entertaining film out of this, and that's exactly what I got. Its akin back to the 50's with all of the cheese. There are some truly odd things in this movie. Dr. Hubbard (Terri Treas) has a weird obsession with insects, especially cockroaches. She willingly subjects a Cat to her sadistic experiments, and seems to enjoy watching the cockroaches kill the cat. She also willingly sticks her hand in the box of killer roaches, and says "They are biting my hand" She keeps it inside the box, and is obviously enjoying it, because the look on her face screams pleasure. It seriously gave me the creeps. Her character does some inexplicable things. As I mentioned previously, this is seriously akin to the 50's. Even the sheriff (plastic acting and all by Franc Luz) is eerily reminiscent of one of the lead characters you'd see in a killer insect film back in those days. Lisa Langlois is OK as the love interest, but nothing more. Robert Lansing needed a quick paycheck, I'm assuming. The gore delivers in a solid way. We get gory cockroach bites, a horse is skinned, and a cat is skinned. The deaths of animals hit a nerve with me a little bit. I'm very touchy when it comes to the death of animals. We also get a severed hand, and one of the goriest bug transformation scenes you'll ever see. I won't spoil it, but it's messy. We also get a bizarre giant cockroach, filled with human faces at the end. Got a big appetite? You'll be full, don't worry. Final Thoughts: It's cheesy fun. Accept it for what it is, and I'm sure you'll have a decent night of entertainment. Nothing I'll ever see again, but I liked it for what it was 5.6/10

"The Nest" isn't the best of this kind of film you're ever going to see, but it certainly isn't the worst, either. It's a decent creepy-crawlies shocker, loosely based on a novel by Eli Cantor, that if nothing else will hit home for any viewer with a roach phobia. It's competent without being distinguished, but does deliver some solid visceral thrills during its fairly trim 88 minute run time.A New England fishing village finds itself inundated by hordes of killer cockroaches when an experiment goes horribly wrong. Among those forced to deal with the increasingly untenable problem are a young sheriff (Franc Luz) who's inherited his job from his late father, the morally compromised mayor (Robert Lansing), the mayors' daughter (Lisa Langlois) who's returned home after a stint in the big city, a demented scientist (Terri Treas), and a quirky exterminator (Stephen Davies).Terence H. Winkless, who'd received co-screenplay credit (with John Sayles) on "The Howling", debuts as director here and does a decent job. He does get good performances out of his cast, especially the lovely Treas as a crazy lady who seems oddly turned on when roaches start nibbling on her hand. Also in the cast are Diana Bellamy as a demanding local busybody, Jack Collins as the amiable Shaky Jake, and Nancy Morgan (first wife of the late John Ritter) as sweet diner waitress Lillian. Luz is a very likable hero.The on location shooting (including use of the legendary Bronson Caves) is an asset, as is the spooky music by Rick Conrad. The special effects are reasonably impressive, with some fun shots of roaches growing out of people and forming hybrids with animals that they've ingested. The many shots of swarming roaches are sure to make some in the audience squirm in their seats.If you enjoy a good gross 'em out horror film and particularly enjoy those that revolve around ravenous insects, then you should be able to appreciate "The Nest".Six out of 10.

The quiet town of North Port is being overrun by cockroaches!Sheriff Tarbell(Franc Luz)believes that genetic experiments being conducted by the INTEC corporation are the cause.Confronted with the potential disaster,Mayor Johnson(Robert Lansing)calls for help.When Dr.Hubbard(Terri Treas)arrives,she quickly realizes that an innocent experiment has gone terribly wrong.Ordinary roaches are turning into creatures with a taste for blood.Worse,the roaches are genetically mutating...literally becoming whatever they eat."The Nest" perfectly blends grisly gore with humour.The movie has its flaws and it's slightly predictable,but I enjoyed it.The acting is decent and the direction is well-handled.The gore is pretty strong and the special effects are excellent.So if you're a fan of 80's horror give it a look.Killer cockroaches chewing people up and lots of gore,what more can you ask?

A small town is plagued by flesh eating roaches that are the result of a scientific experiment gone awry. To make matters worse they are transforming into whatever they consume. Pre-dating Mimic by a decade, this intense, tight and extremely frightening horror film features excellent make-up effects, a wonderfully demented performance by Terri Treas, and an intelligent, well crafted script.Rated R; Extreme Graphic Violence and Profanity.