‘Roaches have never tasted meat… until now.’
The Nest is a 1987 American science fiction horror film directed by Terence H. Winkless (Not of This Earth [1995]; Twice as Dead), from a screenplay written by Robert King (Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge; BrainDead), based on the novel by Eli Cantor.
The film was made for Roger Corman‘s Concorde Pictures by his producer wife Julie Corman (Saturday the 14th; Chopping Mall; Sharktopus).
The movie stars Robert Lansing (4D Man; Empire of the Ants; Island Claws), Lisa Langlois (Happy Birthday to Me; Deadly Eyes; Transformations), Franc Luz and Terri Treas (The Terror Within; Nightmare on the 13th Floor; House IV).
The sheriff of a small island town called North Port has a roach problem in his house. According to the local exterminator Homer (played by Stephen Davies), it turns out the whole town is about to have a big roach problem. Pets, and then people, begin to disappear…
Although Sheriff Richard Tarbell (Frank Luz) is dating Lillian, the owner of the local eatery, his high school sweetheart Elizabeth Johnson returns to the island after a four-year absence and their romance blooms again.
Elizabeth (Lisa Langlois) happens to be the daughter of the town’s mayor, Elias Johnson (Robert Lansing), who is in cahoots with an evil corporation called INTEC that has been secretly breeding mutant roaches that are immune to normal insect repellants. They also seem to have the ability to assume the form of anything they kill, leading to some animal/roach hybrids and even a roach/human combo…
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Reviews:
“The Nest is a truly great film, a near-perfect 1980′s style update of the much-loved creature feature genre. There is a great deal of insect action, and for those not averse to the sight of swarming, vicious cockroaches, there is a wildly entertaining ride ahead.” Beyond Hollywood
“The body count is sufficient, but the characters are painfully generic across the board, complete with stock personal demons to deal with – the hero’s girl comes back to town and rekindles their relationship, her dad is the asshole town mayor, they don’t get along due to her mother’s death, etc, etc.” Horror Movie a Day
“Though at times painfully obvious in its low budget roots, The Nest is a fun, if not entirely original, mix of science gone mad killer bugs and The Thing inspired mutations. The film moves at a pretty solid pace and if there isn’t much in the way of legitimate suspense or tension the film isn’t short on creepy bugs and gross imagery.” Rock! Shock! Pop!
“The carnivorous cockroaches are essentially insect-ified piranha who make short work of ripping flesh from the bones of their prey, so things frequently get very bloody, very quickly. We’ve got skinless dogs, skinless cat attacks, a skinless roach/human hybrid taking a shotgun facial, and a doozy of a scene where a woman has an arm ripped off followed by having her head split open like a ripe cantaloup.” Manchester Morgue
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Cast and characters:
Robert Lansing … Elias Johnson
Lisa Langlois … Elizabeth Johnson
Franc Luz … Richard Tarbell
Terri Treas … Doctor Morgan Hubbard
Stephen Davies … Homer
Diana Bellamy … Mrs Pennington
Jack Collins … Shakey Jake
Nancy Morgan … Lillian
Jeff Winkless … Church
Steve Tannen … Mr Perkins
Heidi Helmer … Jenny
Karen A. Smythe … Diner
Filming locations:
Bronson Canyon and Cave, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, as well as Malibu, Leo Carillo Beach, and Catalina Island
Technical details:
1 hour 29 minutes
Audio: Stereo
Aspect ratio: 1.78 : 1
Notes:
Not to be confused with The Nest (2021).
