King of the Ants

Directed by Stuart Gordon

Starring Chris McKenna, Kari Wuhrer, George Wendt, Vernon Wells,Lionel mark Smith, Timm Sharp and Daniel Baldwin

Remember how friendly and likable George Wendt was as Norm Peterson in the sitcom Cheers? Well be prepared to loathe him in this film. He truly is a despicable mean son of a bitch, a character you will grow to hate. This role of Duke Wayne and the one he played in The Masters of Horror episode " Family "proves his acting chops, especially in the horror genre. The movie House also benefited greatly with his presence.

Stuart Gordon gives us his scary, surreal look at average shmoe Sean Crawley (McKenna ) when he becomes involved with shady land developer Ray Matthews (Baldwin ) and his small posse of henchmen ( Wendt,Wells and Smith ). When the Jack of all trades, Sean is hired to follow an accountant who is occupied at City Hall, things turn sour for Sean when he agrees to try his hand at being a hit man and retrieving a wanted document. After Matthews reneges on his payment, Sean blackmails the wanna be Kingpin with the wanted document that he has hidden.

Believing killing Sean will lead the police back to them and possibly the murdered accountant, the mobsters decide to fuck Sean up literally. Sean is abducted and held hostage where he is tied to a chair and is hit upside the head daily. You will not look at a golf club the same way after witnessing this cringe inducing display of cruelty. In between Sean's daily tee off time, he is slowly beginning to lose a grip on reality,hallucinating some surreal images as his mind unfolds to reveal an unsettling, disturbing breakdown as only Director Gordon can deliver. Stuart Gordon is most noted for bringing the characters and creatures of H.P. Lovecraft to life. He gave us Jeffery Combs as Herbert West- Re animator, From Beyond,and Dagon which he has adapted from Lovecraft's short story Shadows over Innsmouth and the Masters of Horror episode " Dreams from the Witch House".Dennis Paoli adapts Lovecraft's stories and in my humble opinion is the only one capable to do so. Gordon and Paoli have worked on many other projects in the past.

With the help of a friend Sean finally manages to escape from his cruel and unusual punishment, and makes his way to a mission where the murdered accountant's wife ( Wuhrer ) volunteers . Things get interesting, when the newly widowed woman takes Sean in as her house guest.McKenna who portrays Sean is excellent, his character begins likable enough, taking on odd but honest jobs to make a living. Sean is a little off kilter , but the creep factor is on high alert after his head injuries are healed. Is this from the traumatic blows to the head, the inner Sean escaping ? Or is it metamorphosis ? Escaping from that shack , could be compared to exiting a cocoon.

The character of Ray Matthews is a pitiful excuse for a human being, and one who believes he is entitled to what and who he pleases. Matthews is the kind of person who has snapped the neck of an ankle biting dog because it's yapping had caused him coitus interuptus with a young woman he was trying to conquer. I'm not sure how he would take this , but Daniel Baldwin was made for this role. Kari Wuhrer's character of Susan is the only person who deserves any type of sympathy but she too is an emotional little fire cracker waiting to go off.

My Thoughts: This is a post modern horror film with compelling images, that will linger with you substantially after pushing that eject button and snapping the disc's keep case closed.

My Rating: 4 Go Go Girls out of 5