Blood Capsule #250

BUG (1975)

I couldn't find my copy of 1979's Bog, and I've already seen 1988's Big.  So that leaves us with Bug, the last film written by intrepid showman William Castle.  Actually, this was Castle's final project in any capacity.  I rented it back in Netflix's "red envelope" era, but I didn't get a chance to watch it before mailing it back.  It's just as well.  I don't think I was ready for this flick.  I was fresh out of high school and still teething as a horror fanatic.  Bug would have been too weird for me then, but now?  I'm able to eat this stuff up.  Given the release date, you might expect it to be a paint-by-numbers "creepy crawly" vehicle a la Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo.  And it starts by taking that route, but Castle throws in an earthquake for good measure.  When tectonic plates convulse in a rural area on the outskirts of San Francisco, roach-like insects are vaulted to the surface.  These aren't your everyday insectoids, though.  Paragraph!

Break!  The formerly subterranean bugs make sparks fly - both literally and figuratively - by rubbing their legs together.  Professor Parmiter compares them to boy scouts.  Of course, I don't know many boy scouts who singe through human flesh and cause small explosions around town.  Castle gets a sick thrill out of setting up gross-out scares.  I mean, you can't blame him.  The scenes in which the pyromaniac pests nestle beneath a telephone receiver and perch on a woman's shoulder are undoubtedly effective.  Pacing-wise, Bug is a slow burn (no pun intended).  The film shifts gears at the hour mark as Parmiter slowly loses his wits.  This is probably where most viewers check out, but to me, the third act is what sets Bug apart from its contemporaries.  I dig the fact that we get to witness the scientist before and after he goes mad.  Plus, you feel as though you're going insane with the mad scientist.

The near-apocalyptic finale is glorious.  It's all guns blazing, to steal an idiom from Rob Halford.  Recommended to fans of The Tingler and boll weevils.

The Japanese one-sheet.