{"id":8809,"date":"2024-06-19T09:50:22","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T13:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=8809"},"modified":"2024-06-19T09:50:22","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T13:50:22","slug":"rewatching-them-through-an-eerie-haze-of-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/rewatching-them-through-an-eerie-haze-of-nostalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"Rewatching Them! through an eerie haze of nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>Rating: 3 out of 5.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

Gordon Douglas’ Them!<\/em> (1954) is far more polished, slick, and straight-faced than its b-movie premise (and exclamation point!) would suggest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subplot involving a traumatized orphan is genuinely distressing to watch, James Whitmore gives a rather modern haunted performance, and some of the effects are surprisingly gruesome. From a giant monster crushing a human torso in its mandibles, to our heroes tiptoeing through a gooey clutch of insect eggs, you can draw a straight line to Dan O’Bannon, Ridley Scott, and H.R. Giger’s ideas for Alien<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have faint memories of watching an edited-for-TV version as a child, so this rewatch was suffused with a little extra eeriness, as I occasionally recognized a scene or image. For some reason, the repeated references to “unexplained sugar theft” echoed in my memory, and I still can’t tell if it was intentional comedy. To modern audiences, the aggressive banter between Pam (Joan Weldon) and Graham (James Arness) is simultaneously toxic and hilarious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s also interesting to note the very-1950s preoccupation on authority figures maintaining secrecy and public order. Were this to be made today, the cast of characters would be a ragtag band of misfit teenagers and\/or science nerds, and the government\/police\/military would be absent or ineffective. There would probably also be a pair of single parents and\/or divorc\u00e9es in the mix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gordon Douglas’ Them! (1954) is far more polished, slick, and straight-faced than its b-movie premise (and exclamation point!) would suggest. The subplot involving a traumatized orphan is genuinely distressing to watch, James Whitmore gives a rather modern haunted performance, and some of the effects are surprisingly gruesome. From a giant monster crushing a human torso […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[2070,2216,90,2217,2215,85],"class_list":["post-8809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-2070","tag-gordon-douglas","tag-horror","tag-james-arness","tag-joan-weldon","tag-science-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/them-1954.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-2i5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1830,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/state-of-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":8809,"position":0},"title":"Cool Britannia: David Yates’ BBC Miniseries State of Play","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2003 BBC miniseries State of Play is nothing less than six straight hours of intelligent drama, liberally spiced with suspense, action, and tasty plot twists. 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