It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Squirm (1976) *** (out of 4) A storm comes through and knocks various power lines down in the woods of Georgia. This electrical force is causing the worms in the ground to come up and before long they start attacking people. New Yorker Mick (Don Scardino) is visiting his girl Geri (Patricia Pearcy) and soon the two of them are trying to survive.Director Jeff Lieberman's SQUIRM is pure Southern drive-in horror that manages to work even though it has a rather silly story and very little of what you'd call a budget. The first time I watched this film I thought it was somewhat overrated because there's really not too much that happens throughout the running time. With the second viewing I really noticed a lot more things that I had overlooked and I really thought this was a rather well-made little film that accomplishes a lot considering the budget.I think what I enjoyed most this time around was the fact that the director perfectly captures the atmosphere of this small redneck town out in the middle of nowhere. The main star of this picture isn't the actors or the worms but instead it's the location, which is pure low-economy madness out where everyone knows everyone. I really loved that Lieberman was able to milk this Southern setting for everything that it was worth and you just really could feel the locations and their creepy nature. When the characters are out fishing you can just smell the stink. When they're walking through the woods you can just feel the sweat.Another plus is that some of the performances are actually pretty good. Scardino is really good in the role of the boyfriend. He perfectly fits that "city boy" images but at the same time he makes the character one you like and you really do feel as if he can turn into the hero. I also really liked R.A. Dow who plays one of the rednecks. You've also got Jean Sullivan turning in a fine if short performance and Peter MacLean is a blast as the Sheriff.The special effects are fairly good for what they are and the editing helps make several scenes quite effective including the notorious one with the worms digging into one man's face. SQUIRM isn't a masterpiece and there are certainly some flaws but there's no much going right here that you can't help but enjoy it.

After a devastating rainstorm, a small Georgia town learns that downed power lines have seeped into the mud around town and charged a swarm of worms into ravenous killers and forces the locals to band together to fight the creatures off.This one here wasn't all that bad and really has some solid and enjoyable qualities to it. One of the film's better features is the fact that there's a rather exciting series of action scenes which are quite fun and wholly enjoyable. Setting the stage for this as well as initiating the story proper is the opening storm which is a nice bit of spectacle with the tumbling towers and spark-showering explosions going off that makes for a rousing opening here. As well, there's the great attack on the couple out fishing were attacked and swarmed over by the creatures as we see them dangling from their wounds and sores, a chilling encounter in the bathroom where they pour out of the shower faucet preventing a character from showering with the creatures and the thrilling sequence of the creatures eating through a tree-stump and sending it crashing into a nearby house while numerous residents are still inside pondering their next move which is a nice overall shock. Other fun attacks include the nice brawl between the characters in the forest as well as the series of small attacks around town, from the couple in the jail- cell to the diner swarming which is all a prelude to the utter fun of the finale's house assault as there's a lot of fun to be had with the completely oblivious set-up of the worms arriving in various sections of the house and appearing without them realizing which is all where the different searches are all mixed together with the action and escapes all makes for a really exciting scene. These elements here all help to make the film so much fun and holding off the few rather troubling flaws present. One of the film's biggest issues is the fact that there's just such a long set-up to the worms appearing that there's little of interest throughout this section. Though this is a problem caused by the fact that the film doesn't really have a true storyline that supports this kind of pace, there's still plenty of overlong scenes that just go by without much of any kind of interest during this section as the setup of their investigations aren't really all that interesting with them wandering around the town which doesn't have a whole lot of interest. These here make for a rather troubling beginning here and holds off the interesting parts for a longer time than it really should, though again that's also due to the extended out storyline used. Along with these problems, there's also the fact that the storyline about the disgruntled former boyfriend coming back to torment him over and over again isn't really all that interesting and takes out some of the suspense in the finale by continuing on that storyline rather than dealing with the far-more-interesting giant worm attacks. These here are what hold this one back.Rated PG: Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

When Seventies Elton John goes to visit his girl way down somewhere in Virginia, he's all expecting some passionate loving (wait, that doesn't sound like Elton John at all), but instead gets surrounded by pink, wriggling slimy things instead (that sounds more like Elton John).What's happened, right, is that there was some sort of storm and the some electricity hit the ground and then all these worms (who were residing in a worm farm) all went a bit mental and start chowing down on the locals, none of whom in the slightest belief Elton John's theories (or even like him in the least, especially that sheriff with the simply bizarre haircut. You know, it's one of those nature on the loose deals, only this one manages to pick a pretty harmless creature. It's far too slow as well, what with Elton and his girl doing exciting things like checking dental records, going fishing and trying to convince the sheriff that something's wrong over and over and over again.The video cover to this one scared that crap out of me when I was young (when video shops existed), but sadly it didn't live up to it all. The wormface bit was good though, but that's it!

An electrical storm downs power lines in a small Georgia town. The live wires hitting the ground cause billions of worms to rise up hungry for flesh. Mick (Scardino) has come to town to visit his girlfriend Geri (Pearcy) on the wrong day. It takes half the running time of the film to have the worms begin their attack. What sounds really stupid isn't, thanks to the talents of Writer / Director Jeff Lieberman who delivers some graphic and brutal scenes in this PG rated film. All of this comes in the second half of the film unfortunately. The first half is spent getting to know the characters and the small town which isn't very interesting quite frankly. Early make up by future Academy award winner Rick Baker is a film highlight as worms burrow under the flesh of one unsuspecting man in a lake. Another memorable scene has a grown man disappearing into a sea of worms slithering around. The ending is quite unnerving as an entire house is under siege by the crawlers. The slow beginning and thrilling conclusion makes the film very lopsided which is a shame because when it's good, it's real good.