Bug
Tags: insanity

Plot synopsis:
Agnes White is a waitress at a gay bar living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. Unable to move on from the disappearance of her son some years previously, she engages in drug and alcohol binges with her lesbian friend, R.C. Lately, she has been plagued by silent telephone calls that she believes are being made by her abusive ex-husband, Jerry Goss, who has recently been released from prison.
One night, R.C. introduces Agnes to Peter Evans, a drifter who says he is a recently discharged soldier. Agnes and Peter reach out to each other out of loneliness, and start a relationship. He convinces her that he was the subject of biological testing by the U.S. government while he was in the military, and says the anonymous phone calls she has been receiving were made by government agents in anticipation of his arrival. After they have sex, Peter tells Agnes that their room has become infested by bugs sent there by the government as part of their experiments.
Peter's movements and behavior become more erratic as he fights the bugs, invisible to the audience, that he claims are infesting his body. Agnes soon joins in this behavior. Over time, they isolate themselves from the outside world, sealing themselves in their room and covering it with flypaper and aluminum foil and lighting it with the glow from bug zappers. Peter, believing that a colony of microscopic bugs was implanted in one of his teeth, tears it out of his head. Using a child's microscope, he says he sees the bugs in the remains of the crushed tooth, as does Agnes.
A Dr. Sweet arrives, and tells Agnes that Peter has escaped while under treatment at a mental institution and that delusions about insects are a known symptom of Peter's mental illness. Peter kills Sweet, telling Agnes that he was a robot sent by the government. Together, Peter and Agnes elaborate upon Peter's beliefs in a conspiracy, including that Agnes' son was kidnapped by the government to lead her and Peter to meeting and that each of them is infected with bugs that are meant to mate with one another and take over the world. In order to prevent this, Agnes and Peter douse each other in gasoline and set themselves on fire.
In the end credits, the audience sees shots of the toys in Agnes and Peter's room completely intact, with no sign of the aluminium foil, and the body of Dr. Sweet, in the room covered with foil but undamaged by fire. Which shot, if any, shows "reality" is left unclear.

Review: This is a dandy little nature-run-amok film, in which giant cockroaches from the center of the earth make their appearance in a small farming community.
This scared the hell out of me when I saw it.Roaches that rub their legs together kill everything and everyone.Bradford dillman is a good actor and I think this movie is his best work.The ending of the movie is really strange and I think This is the best of killer bug films.A good companion to this movie is the nest [1988]Only in this film they kill by using teeth..
Hadn't seen this since I was 8,so I didn't know what to expect,since it was directed by the infamous Jeannot Szwarc,who helmed such big budget disasters such as Supergirl & Santa Claus The Movie,have to say it was very creepy,well made, & even scary in some spots,believe me,after watching this,you'll be up all night spraying your kitchen with heavy doses of Raid.I hope that Paramount releases this on DVD.Check It Out!!!.
Viewers who may be having some insect problems in their own abode may feel a bit better about their domestic situation when they see what the residents of a small California desert town have to contend with, in 1975's "Bug." After a seismic event releases the titular nasties from deep underground, the ugly, beetlelike creatures start making trouble, setting fires wherever they go by rubbing their chitinous rear antennae together.
(Come to think of it, the Firebug almost looks like a pint-size Tingler!) My buddy Rob has astutely pointed out to me the picture's skillful use of establishing shots, prolonged silences, "disturbing imagery" and "unnerving stillness," and I must admit that a repeat viewing revealed the film to be not so much slow as deliberately paced.
Based on the book "The Hephaestus Plague" by Thomas Page, who also penned the screenplay with help from Castle, the chills start after an earthquake rocks a small community, bringing mutant roaches up from the earth.
Lots of close-ups of scaly legs and bug guts, yet the production values are disappointingly cheapjack, a depressing reminder of far better days at the Castle horror factory.
An awful nature gone wild film from the 70's about prehistoric cockroaches finding their way out from middle earth via an earthquake.
Dillman gives yet another manic performance as a man who is also a school biologist that begins trying to figure out these new bugs.
Bug, produced by William Castle, is a truly bad film in the its-so-fun to watch vein.
The best has to be the scene where Dillman's wife, played by Johanna Miles, has these "bugs" somehow jump on her from phone and other stationary objects in the living room while eventually able to set fire to her hair.
Based on a Thomas Page novel called The Hephaestus Plague, Bug centered on a scientist played by Bradford Dillman, studying subterranean roaches released from an earthquake.
Local professor (Bradford Dillman) must learn more about the bugs in an attempt to stop the path of destruction, but finds himself aiding their evolution into unassailable marauders.Interestingly handled thriller, produced by horror royalty in William Castle focuses on the mental disintegration of the lead character, following the death of his spouse.
Where most of the cast (Gilliland, Vint, Jackson, Miles) fade out after the first half, Fudge and McCormack come into focus in the second half, as they attempt to coax Dillman out of his self imposed isolation.The concept that mankind is the subject of the experiment and ultimately the more vulnerable of the two species, is canvassed abundantly in the second half of the film and while engaging, slows the pace considerably.
An earthquake uproots cockroach-like bugs that can set fire to things and, more importantly for a horror film, also to animals and humans.
But never fear, a biology professor played by Bradford Dillman is on the case.This great little 70's B movie is directed by Jeannot Szwarc (who would go on to make the hugely enjoyable Jaws 2 and the brilliant campfest that is Supergirl) and produced by William Castle (no introduction needed).
This is a great popcorn movie.But then the movie changes course and gets all metaphysical as the film's designated bug expert starts to research the incendiary insects in greater depth and even starts to communicate with them!This is the kind of film that you could stumble upon on a late night TV channel and absolutely love.
Killer roaches encroach on a sleepy, god-fearing rural California town in the aptly titled "Bug." From producer William Castle, "Bug" is everything you think it is, nothing more, nothing less.
"Bug" deserves its place alongside other semi-forgotten b-fare like "Frogs" and "The Swarm." Fun facts: Director Jeannot Szwarc would go on to direct the slightly more competent "Jaws 2," while keen viewers might notice portions of the set were recycled from "The Brady Bunch.".
"Bug" sort of reminded me back in 1954 where man created the "killer bees", but it's not a movie about bees, it's about killer roaches from the Earth.
This is a movie about fire breathing bugs that come of the earth when there is an earth quake in a small American town.
There are a number of Sci-fi and horror movies from the 70s that defied all odds and were actually shot on film, despite the lack of good writers or actors, money and thought.
With ecological horror being one of my personal favorite trends in 70's cinema, I cannot believe it took me until now to check out this awesome creature-feature called "Bug", scripted by no less than horror maestro William Castle ("House on Haunted Hill", "Homicidal") and directed by Jeannot Szwarc ("Jaws 2", "Enigma").
The suspense unfolds gradually, as more and locals find their houses infested with the nasty little fire-bugs, and certain death sequences are truly unforgettable, like the spontaneously combusting housewife in her kitchen.
The tone of the film drastically changes in the last forty or so minutes, since Bradford Dillman isolates himself with in order to investigate the insects' weaknesses and we exclusively follow up on his progress.
Apparently I'm not the most reliable source when it comes to recommending 70's creature features, since I even worship junk movies like "Squirm" and "Empire of the Ants", but I presume that "Bug" will appeal to a very wide range of open-minded horror fanatics..
Another big plus here is the excellent central performance by Bradford Dillman  his presence in any film is always welcome, but I've rarely seen him this good!
I'm not squeamish about bugs, so I wasn't bothered by having to watch a film with hordes of them menacing a community (unlike snakes, for instance  which has kept me from checking out SSSSSSS [1973] during this Halloween challenge!); even so, it's not that the insects are used throughout for any overtly revolting effect.
Like I said at the beginning  thanks also to the unenthusing write-ups on it by both Leslie Halliwell and Leonard Maltin (online assessment at the time of Paramount's DVD release, then, is split pretty much down the middle)  I had anticipated this to be a typical (read: low-brow) small-town-invaded-by-insects film a' la THE SWARM (1978), presenting a succession of contrived situations where various cast members meet a grisly death at the hands of the bugs.While it has a few scenes in this vein to cater to just that section of its intended audience  and the fact that they are combustible (their sudden emergence the direct cause of an impressively-staged earthquake) certainly provides a novel touch for this type of film!
The film makes use of an electronic score for maximum unsettling effect; incidentally, this proved to be notorious showman producer William Castle's swan-song (he also co-wrote the script with Thomas Page, author of the novel on which it was based)..
The bugs manage to burn down buildings, set wild fires, and ignite cars while people sit in them listening to Steely Dan and the Eagles(a fate they moost likely deserve...).
Bradford Dillman("Escape from Planet of the Apes", "The Swarm", "Lords of the Deep"), Joanna Miles("The Ultimate Warrior", "Harvest Home", "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"), and Alan Fudge("Galaxis", "Airport '75", many 70's tv shows) lead a non-cast of yawn-inducing b-actors trying to look cowcerned that the little critters are setting fire to the universe.
"Bug" was William Castle's swan song, after producing many, many schlock films of the 50's & 60's, including "The Tinger", "The House on Haunted Hill", and "13 Ghosts", as well as directing a whole slew of 40's B pictures.
Released in 1975, "Bug" stars Bradford Dillman as a professor who becomes fascinated by a fire-starting breed of large cockroaches after they're released from their subterranean habitat via an earthquake.
As he descends into madness he descends into hell.The movie starts off good with an earthquake at a church in rural Southern California and the ensuing mystery of the fire-starting roaches, but the second half becomes draggy as it largely consists of the professor going recluse as he studies the roaches and performs an experiment.
The most memorable part of the movie occurs near the end when the bugs do something on the wall, which utterly freaks out the professor (and the viewer).
This was a lot better then I thought it would be , I did not think I would actually even like this movie, never mind loving it The movies dose not take long to start of at all, There a number people attending A church and there is a earthquake .
The earthquake scence dose seen a little outdated now but easy to get pass as the rest of the movie was Really fun.I liked the first part half of the movie better then the second, as I enjoyed the scenes of the bus killing.Then the movie can turns into another kind of story, which try blended into early part of the movie and the some how makes news bugs Which in the end backfires on him 7/10.
This movie really is scary.The story is about cockaroaches that when they rub their legs together sparks flame and kill it's prey.Bradford dillman is great and has an interesting set.A good companion to this movie is the nest which is again about killer roaches only this time the roaches use teeth..
BUG is one of those movies that will have you scratching your arms, legs, and back because as you watch it, you will think that you feel the insects on you.
Bradford Dillman is interesting but a little over the top as the normal human being who degenerates into a mad scientist after several other characters fall victim to the bugs..
Despite the lurid exploitation title, this is for the most part a grim and weird semi-art-house sci fi movie, more akin to PHASE IV than something like THEM or even THE BIRDS.BUG benefits greatly from the intense and nervously twitchy central performance of BRADFORD DILLMAN as the scientist who goes off the deep end after his wife is set ablaze by the title critters.
The scenes near the end where Bradford Dillman starts performing bizarre experiments upon the BUGs and establishing some sort of contact with them remain potent and eerie and all of the scenes where he finds them crawling loose in his farmhouse are disturbing; If you are willing to forgive some poor special effects near the climax you wont be disappointed by Bug. It is a genuinely creepy movie, one which manages to conjure up a disturbing atmosphere of heat and paranoia and eventually crumbling insanity.
In 'Chinatown' John Huston has a line that goes something like, 'Politicians, ugly buildings and whores get respectable if they last long enough.' Well, based on the nostalgia-based fondness so many reviewers have for this film, 'Bug' is an old whore.Playing out like a combination 70's disaster film (with none of the budgetthe town is populated by 30 people) and 50's mutant monster flick, 'Bug' gets points for weirdness and occasional moments of creepy tension, but to enjoy these, one has to put up with some of the worst acting ever set to film.The plot is familiar in that 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' kind of way: earthquake releases plague of indestructible bugs that shoot flames out of their butts.The star of the film is Bradford Dillman.
Cute Patty McCormack from 'The Bad Seed' has an underwritten bit part but at least has a hilarious death scene, and an actress named Joanna Miles should have sued for being given a role without a character to play.As stated, the plot per se isn't bad, but the execution is; awkward camera set ups, draggy pacing, clumsy special effects'Bug' is so bad that it's actually surprising that it wasn't directed by William Castle (he produced) who seemed to have learned absolutely nothing from being involved with 'Rosemary's Baby.' However, when I saw that it was directed by that hack Jeannot Szwarc, it all made sense.'Bug' has nostalgia appeal, a great cheesy 70's look in its costumes and sets, is fun in a guilty-pleasure kind of way, but it's a terrible movie pure and simple..
Moreover, this film's shockingly harsh violence pushes the PG rating to its utmost limit: a cute little kitty cat gets torched, one of the bugs blows up something messy, and both Miles and McCormack meet hideously brutal incendiary ends.
The last film produced by legendary schlockmeister William Castle, "Bug" overall rates as a hugely enjoyable nature-gone-wrong fright feature..
Bug (1975) is a movie that starts out simply enough with a woman who is late to church and trying not to disturb anyone as she sits down.
Enters Dr. Parimeter, who in an attempt to study them, ends up breeding one of the bugs with a regular cockroach.
BUG is a truly awful film.The "story" is a about a scientist who studies some underground bugs who turn up after an earthquake opens a small fissure in the desert.
That's it.It spends a slow 99 minutes to expand on a not so complex story (one man vs big pyro-cockroaches) and then effectively doesn't go anywhere with a climax that kills its only main character and the potentially cool idea of killer incendiary bugs.
It's a micro-movie.If you want to see a fantastic "man vs bug" story, check out PHASE IV.
Reading an old issue of UK film mag Empire,I Checked the "archive" pages,and spotted a review for William Castle's final "shock Horror." Previously having only seen his famous House on Haunted Hill,I decided that it was the perfect time to see Castle build his ant (bug) kingdom.The plot:Shaken by being caught in the middle of an earthquake, a town finds itself surrounded by mutant bugs,who can unleash fire that murders animals and people.Thanks to the low air pressure on the Earth's surface most of the bugs die.
Taking them to an isolated location for research, Parmiter begins to find his own mind bugging him.View on the film:Sliding out of Thomas Page's book,the screenplay by Page and producer/cameo actor William Castle slime's between a Disaster Movie and a creepy Sci-Fi Creature Feature.
Leaving behind some of Castle's famous "shock & awe" antics for the second half,the writers lock James Parmiter in for an unexpectedly eerie,slow-burn Sci-Fi Horror,that takes advantage of the "last man on earth" setting to turn the bugs (who are given sex scenes!) into objects of paranoia,closing in on James ParmiterGrabbing handfuls of the bugs, director Jeannot Szwarc and cinematographer Michel Hugo wrap the film in Charles Fox's nerve- shredding synch score moving in time with the brash primary colours of the bug attacks.
In movie 1 these bugs come out of the ground after an earthquake.
This starts movie 2 which finds the guy whose wife is killed hanging on to one of the bugs and using some pressure thing to keep it alive.
"BUG!" was a movie I saw on T.V. when I was still in High School.
I think she was included in the film so she could be killed off and help push Parmiter even further into madness against the bugs.
In the book Metbaum is burned by the bug, just like in the film.
Parmiter does try to kill the bugs eventually, but after seeing them spell lots of things on the wall and tells him they must return to the hole due to the pressure, Parmiter would rather study them more.
If bugs creep you out, you may want to stay away from this movie.
The bug on the phone (as seen on the poster) is probably one of the most shocking scenes in the film.
The acting wasn't anything special, but the bugs were.I give this film 6/10..
As I like to see bad films on occasion (they're great for a laugh), I decided to give this one a try.After an earthquake in a god-accursed town in the desert, hoards of insanely silly fire-cockroaches invade the town.
This goof-ball scientist (Bradford Dillman--who I assume was trying to commit career suicide with this film) at first mourns his wife's death--then becomes obsessed with the creatures and eventually fills his house with the things.
As for "Bug", however, it's probably not a film you should rush to watch..
Too Bad The Bugs Didn't Burn The Film And Spare Us From This.
In the end, it seemed not so much a "creature-feature" as it was a psychological study of obsession - Dr. Parmiter (played by Bradford Dillman) having become obsessed with these creatures to the point at which everyone and everything around him is destroyed by them - as he himself ultimately is.
We also get a nauseating scene where a cat decides to toy with a roach and gets fried, not once, but by dozens of bugs.Bradford Dillman ("Piranha") plays Prof.
The second half felt like I had wasted my time getting the movie.
One, Castle could have changed the second half of the movie so that more of the roaches are shown, along with Man's approaches to stopping them.