Squirm (1976)

SQUIRM, foolish humans, Squirm when the worms come to town!

There's something about this one that's extra gross. I can sit through FOOD OF THE GODS and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS many times, no problem. I can even stomach KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS and BUG fairly easily. But this...! Too creepy, too squishy, too something...yuch! Worms - just not my cup of tea. And not my kind of egg cream - see the film to figure that one out - I dare ya.
There's creepiness beyond just the worm factor. I appreciated the gloomy, eerie beginning during the night storm. One camera shot is on a swaying street light as the rain whips through the night and we hear a kid's voice singing (badly). The director (Jeff Lieberman) was up to something here - it's not just a simple shock fest. Some of the characters are creepy, too - there's the expected creep sheriff, but the one who takes the creep-o honors is the dumb hick played by R.A.Dow; I kind of figured he would be in the middle of a Texas Chainsaw-style Massacre anyway, even if there was no worm problem. Check it out:Worm-Face!  

In the plot, there's a new arrival (Don Scardino) in the rural area where this story takes place, there to visit his girlfriend. He picked the wrong time to visit. A DVD of this film came out about 5 years ago. It has an audio commentary by the director (who was also the writer). Yeah, I have it. Why do I have it? One of these days I might have someone over whom I'd like to knock down a peg or two. I'll sit 'im in front of the TV and say, "hey, I want you to check out this movie...see what ya think..." BoG's Score: 6 out of 10