So I end my Halloween Horror Movies not with an obscure Italian production but an American classic that spawned an entire sub-genre of its own, Them!

One thing people know about monster movies of the 1950s is that there were plenty of giant bug movies. Nearly every variant of bug got enlarged and sent to wreak destruction on humanity, but they all follow the footsteps of the big budget production from Warner Brothers. Last week Them! debuted on blu-ray disc, sadly lacking in any real bonus material, just in time for Halloween.

Them! has always been one of my favorite 50’s monster movies, right up there with Creature From the Black Lagoon. The script and the director take their time building up to the reveal fo the giant bugs, and a serious attempt is made the ground the film in a realistic portrayal of events. The plot is not a straight-forward narrative, and there are plenty if surprises for the first time viewer, including right at the end a switch on just who the protagonists of the piece really is. There is not a last second scientific development that saves the day, but rather the dedicated work of lots of people racing against time. The adversary is far from unkillable, but possess advantages that with time will win the day for them.

Originally designed as a 3-D production the practical effects are some fo the best done during that decade and for the most part are still credible today. (It would be interesting if anyone had the money and interest to perform a retro-conversion to 3-D on this movie. I think most of the film would look fantastic in 3-D.)

If you are a fan of 50s monster movies and some how have not seent his, you need to correct that mistake.