The deadly crush
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The deadly crush |
| Original title | The Swarm |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1978 |
| length | 116 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Irwin Allen |
| script | Stirling Silliphant |
| production | Irwin Allen |
| music | Jerry Goldsmith |
| camera | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| cut | Harold F. Kress |
| occupation | |
| |
The Swarm (AKA The Swarm ) is an American animal horror film of 1978. Irwin Allen produced it and also directed and written by Stirling Silliphant based on the novel Killer Bees by Arthur Herzog and film music composer Oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith . The cinema release in Germany was on September 14, 1978.
action
A huge swarm of African killer bees kills the crew of an American missile base in Texas. This disturbing event calls on the renowned entomologist Brad Crane, who immediately informs the authorities. But they firmly believe that they have the situation under control and therefore do not take his warnings seriously. So Crane takes on the matter himself and puts together a team of experts to look for a way to destroy the bees. But all their attempts fail. It is only when the bees attack the small town of Marysville and then head for Houston that the military decides to help Crane and his team destroy the killer bees. But even with the support of the US military, it is simply not possible to master the plague of bees: helicopters, trains and even nuclear power plants - nothing and no one is safe from the deadly insects and when they finally attack Houston, which was evacuated in time, remains the military had no choice but to burn the city down. When the fight seems to be lost, the tide turns: Dr. Crane finds out by chance that the killer bees were only lured to Texas by the vibrational frequencies of the rocket base. Now he wants to use the same trick to lure the bees out of Houston. The plan succeeds: the bees leave Houston and fly to the open sea, where the swarm is finally destroyed over a puddle of oil set on fire.
background
After director Irwin Allen had triggered a veritable flood of disaster films with Flammendes Inferno , he tried to land his next box-office hit with this mixture of disaster film and bee horror, which he made three years later, but he failed thoroughly. Despite its huge cast of stars (seven Oscar winners: Michael Caine, Olivia DeHavilland, Ben Johnson, Lee Grant, Jose Ferrer, Patty Duke and Henry Fonda) and enormous expense, the film was a box-office flop: it played out of an estimated $ 21 million production cost The deadly crush in the US was just half back.
Due to the poor box office results and many very negative reviews, director and producer Irwin Allen never wanted to be approached about the film again.
In addition to trick shots, real bees were sometimes used in the bee scenes.
In the cinema of the (fictional) small town "Marysville", in which most of the plot of the film takes place, Irwin Allen's "Flaming Inferno" is shown.
criticism
“Horror on the wave of killer animal films. Despite the remarkable trick technique and some good scenes, overall only mediocre cinema, limited by the appearances of famous actors 'veterans'. "
Awards
The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design .
Web links
- The Swarm in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Deadly Swarm. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 24, 2017 .