‘Death is their picnic’
The Hive is a 2008 American sci-fi horror film about a swarm of man-eating ants attacking the inhabitants of a Thai archipelago. Also known as Attack of the Ants
Directed by Peter Manus from a screenplay written by T.S. Cook. The Thai Occidental Productions movie stars Tom Wopat, Kal Weber, Elizabeth Healey, Jessica Reavis and Mark Ramsey.
Plot:
When the residents of the Bao Tao Island are attacked by ants, the government hires the Thorax Company to work with the army to exterminate the ants. Scientist Len (Kal Weber) and his friend Bill (Tom Wopat) are attacked by a swarm and lose communication with Debs (Jessica Reavis) back at base camp. Unfortunately, an ant has entered Bill’s ear and reached his brain, affecting his behaviour.
Meanwhile, scientist Claire (Elizabeth Healey) arrives on the island and team-ups with Len, and soon they discover that the ants can communicate and they want the island for themselves…
Reviews:
“Better than it has any right to be, it moves along at a brisk pace and takes what could have been a highly formulaic plot and made it smarter and more inventive than the typical Sci-Fi Channel original even if it does sometimes border on ridiculous. Though if you ask me, the ridiculous stuff also helps make this one a pleasant surprise.” Dread Central
“It’s all really bad, but it somehow works. Most of these Sci Fi Channel productions get bogged down with unconvincing character interactions and routine scripts. The Hive, on the other hand, goes all out on the ridiculous scale and keeps things moving along with a lot of action.” DVD Talk
“In most cases we would chastise a movie for being so serious and humorless, but the seriousness of this movie was comic gold. The thing that kind of sinks The Hive are the usual suspects such as dodgy CGI, some seriously suspect acting… even from Luke Duke… a choppy pace, and an erratic plot.” Film Critics United
This movie is ridiculous and entertaining, in that order. The movie is just utter crap but played completely straight. On top of that, they have wooden actors and decide to turn the brown-haired guy from Dukes into a crazy rebel […] The special effects look really dumb most of the time but are at least entertaining.” Mondo Bizarro
Trailer:
Clip:
Free to watch online on YouTube:
Release:
The Hive was the eighth film of the ‘Maneater Series’, it premiered on the Syfy channel on February 17, 2008. The film was released on DVD on August 5, 2008.
At the time of writing, the film is currently available free online on Crackle, Freevee, Plex, Pluto TV, Redbox, Roku, Shout TV, Tubi and YouTube.
Cast and characters:
Tom Wopat … Bill; Kal Weber … Len; Elizabeth Healey … Claire; Jessica Reavis … Debs; Mark Ramsey … Cortez; Pisek Intrakanchit … Chang; Kittiphit Tamrongweenijchai … Minister Zhing; Elizabeth Bodner … Ying; Chalad Na Songkhla … Army Officer; Sujinthara Phumjan … Young Mother; Dorrie Salmon … Baby
Filming locations:
Krabi, Thailand
Technical specs:
1 hour 30 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.78: 1
Film facts:
A Thorax team leader says: “Let’s go liquify some endoskeletons” However, ants, like most other insects, have exoskeletons.
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