SOUDAIN LES MONSTRES

Great locations, decent f/x for the time, but dull story

Vacationers on a Canadian island in the Great Northwest encounter huge animals, such as wasps, chickens, rats and grubs. Will they make it out alive? The cast includes Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Jon Cypher, Ida Lupino, Belinda Balaski and Tom Stovall.

“Food of the Gods” (1976) is a Bert Ira Gordon production, who’s known for ‘B’ sci-fi/horror flicks, often involving giant creatures of one sort or another, such as “Earth vs. the Spider” (1958), “Attack of the Puppet People” (1958), “Village of the Giants” (1965) and “Empire of the Ants” (1977).

It borrows the plot of “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) just exchanging the zombies for giant animals. While the Bowen Island locations are to die for (no pun intended) and the special effects are quite good considering the era, the film failed to engage me as far as the characters and their story goes, although I appreciate the grim tone. The actors are fine; they just needed a better script to draw out compelling human interest.

As such, any of the other flicks mentioned above is a better option even though this was a hit for AIP. Sure, “Village of the Giants” has a goofy side, but no one can deny its high entertainment value, not the least being its notable female cast. Speaking of which, fans of Belinda should know that she’s pregnant thru most of the picture.

The movie runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Cowan's Point, Bowen Island, British Columbia, which is just northwest of Vancouver (where the football sequences were filmed).

GRADE: C