We all know that despite humanity’s profligate populating of the planet, we are still vastly outnumbered by the insects. It is said there are more insects in a few random acres of practically anywhere than there are people worldwide. Fortunately, each individual bug is rather small. But what if they weren’t?
There’s a grand tradition of giant bug movies that seek to remind us of our true status in the scheme of things — the heyday of the genre being the 1950s, when such classics as Them! (US-1954; dir. Gordon Douglas), The Black Scorpion (US-1957; dir. Edward Ludwig), The Deadly Mantis (US-1957; dir. Nathan Duran) and Monster from Green Hell (US-1957; dir. Kenneth Crane) sought to metaphorically put us in our place. Add the giant arachnids, and let’s face it! We’re doomed.
The tradition lagged for a time, but the Big Bugs do crop up again every now and then, in films such as Ticks (US-1993; dir. Tony Randell), Mosquito (US-1995; dir. Gary Jones), Bugged (US-1997; dir. Roland K. Armstrong), Centipede! (US-2004; dir. Gregory Gieras) and the more recent Infestation (US-2009; dir. Kyle Rankin). Even the King of Monsters, Godzilla, has had his fair share of trouble with mega-giant insects, such as the prehistoric throwback Megaguirus from Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jii Shômetsu Sakusen [trans. Godzilla vs. Megaguiras: G-Eradication Command] (2000; dir. Masaaki Tezuka).
Well, it seems that another insectoid gargantua is on the way. Twitch reports that director Benni Diez is well advanced in the production of Stung, a slice of reel-life drama about giant wasps.
The film stars Matt O’Leary, Jessica Cook, the inevitable and always welcome Lance Henriksen and Clifton Collins — and a host of rather nasty stingers. From the conceptual trailer below, they’re smart little buggers, too.
[vimeo 45631510]
I’ll definitely be keeping a large can of Bug-Off ready for that one.
Source: Twitch
