Book-To-Movie; ‘Bad Apps’ Update

I want to first apologize for missing last month's Book-To-Movie review and the Insecure Writer's Support Group post earlier this month. I had family over from out of town, and then the week after Easter Sunday I had a bad allergy attack. I was so worn that I only had enough energy to write a little at a time. I’m just now getting back on track. So, I have the BTM for you below—a review of an H.G. Wells short story and its movie adaptation--but first I have the latest progress on my soon-to-release book of short stories, "Bad Apps". 

‘Bad Apps’ Progress

Unfortunately, my allergy attack also put me behind on my work on “Bad Apps”, but now I’m at the easiest part of preparing my book for the formatting. I’ve been going through the manuscript to make sure I didn’t overlook any of the words and phrases underlined by the word processor’s editing feature. Many of these are words that either the programme mistakens the context they’re being used in or that I intentionally spelled in British English, even though I’m U.S. American. I’ve also been deleting those passages that I stroke through and so won’t be using. 

As soon as I’m done with the above polishing, I’m going to give more attention to making the concept sketch for the book cover. I’m about halfway through drawing it, but I also plan to paint it so the illustrator I send it to will more easily understand the colours and tones that I want. Again, for those people who beta-read and provided feedback, they will be getting a downloadable copy of the book cover. I’m going to try to have the cover reveal by mid-May.

Book-To-Movie: H.G. Wells' 'The Empire of the Ants'

Now for our Book-To-Movie (BTM) for the month! In a BTM we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation, usually in the science fiction, horror, or fantasy genres. Like all good science fiction, H.G. Wells' stories speculate the possibilities of science and the consequences that result when it goes in a dangerous direction. The latter of these two qualities often carries over into movie adaptations of his stories, such as "The Invisible Man" and "The Island of Doctor Moreau". Each of these two have at least one film version that does an effective job conveying the scientific or natural phenomenal terror of the prose works. Not all film adaptations of Wells’ works have done this that well.  The 1977 movie adaptation of his short story, "The Empire of the Ants", is one. Wells' short story ends leaving the reader thinking about the consequences of the scientific phenomenon going in a direction unfavourable to humans, whereas the movie adaptation ends having resolved these consequences too much.   

‘'The Empire of the Ants': The Short Story

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Wells’ "The Empire of the Ants" first appeared in a 1905 issue of "Strand Magazine". The story: Portuguese-Brazilian captain Gerilleau and British engineer Holroyd take a new gunboat up the Amazon to investigate a swarm of ants that have invaded the town of Badama. The two men soon discover that the ants are a breed that’s members grow as large as two-inches long and sting their victims with a deadly venom. Even worse, the ants turn out to have human-like intelligence and so can strategise and eventually take the human race's place at the top of the animal hierarchy. 

Much of this phenomenal situation is based on Darwin's theory of evolution which, being relatively new at the time, must have added considerable plausibility to the story. This makes the story a reflection of society’s fears and concerns, some of which were existential, that the theory resulted in at the time. 

"Empire of the Ants" may not only be a response to Darwin's revolutionising theory, though. It may also be a critical commentary on the past colonisation of the Americas and on contemporary British imperialism. The ants are an analogy for these two systems. Ants group together in colonies, have a social hierarchy, and many species are conquering and warlike. 

The story has many other strong qualities as well. One is the setting of the Amazonian jungle which enhances the terror of the ant invasion. The jungle in this story is described as a world that’s alien and inhospitable to humans. It is presented as a forbidden land. 

Wells’ story also has good character development for science fiction of that time and so characters who are both sympathetic but also fear for their own safety. The problem is, however, difficulty in identifying who the main protagonist is supposed to be. Both Gerilleau and Holroyd seem to give equal weight to the story, and so the plot moves forward mostly by their actions. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would have brought the reader closer to the protagonist if one of the two characters were emphasised more. However, the story, overall, is well developed and well presented. 

'Empire of the Ants': The Movie

A giant ant attacks actress Joan Collins's character in this scene from the 1977 movie, "Empire of the Ants". Credit: Wikimedia Commons/MGM

The 1977 movie adaptation of Wells' short story was directed by Bert I. Gordon and released by American International Pictures (AIP) under the same name, the exception being that the initial article was omitted. It's very loosely based on the short story. Although the core plot is the same, the characters and many of the situations have been changed. One of the biggest changes is that the setting is relocated from the Amazon jungle to Florida’s swamp-dominated Everglades which retains the forbidding atmosphere of the short story. Another major change, one that I feel was needed at the time due to the near-overwhelming nature-strikes-back films and the realism that came along with them, was that the ants were changed from two-inch creatures to horse-size monsters. 

The storyline to the movie is that a group of prospective buyers of real estate are given a tour of a housing development on an oceanfront only to find out that it has been invaded by giant, mutated ants. They soon find out that the ants, like in the short story, have the intelligence of human beings and have taken control of the minds of and enslaved the citizens of a nearby town. This is a bit of a step further than the original Wells story where the ants simply kill off or drive out the citizens of the Amazonian town that they take over. 

The contemporary fears and anxieties of society that are reflected in this film are more of chemical pollution than evolution. A radioactive leak is the cause of the ants’ unusual size. 

Although imperialism isn't the contemporary issue in this film, class society is. The developer, Marilyn Fryser (played by Joan Collins), down-criticises and fires the grounds workers simply for not telling her they were leaving for the day after they finished their work. She also down-talks the skipper (Robert Lansing) of the boat that transports the guests to the development. The skipper is perhaps a stand-in for Capt. Gerilleau of the short story, only instead of a high-ranking military captain he is a working-class transportation boat pilot hired by Fryser. These examples reflect the hierarchy of queen and worker ants, the "queen" in this case being the tyrannical talking Fryser. But Fryser soon finds out that there’s always somebody or, in this case, something higher up. 

The movie has both its strong and weak points. While the character interaction makes certain characters likeable, the characterization itself is shallow and typical. Yet, the movie, like many of AIP's science fiction films, was meant to be a popcorn film, and so the producers’ aim was entertainment more than anything else (except maybe profit). 

The filming is not bad. The puppetry-creature effects of the giant ants are okay for their time in close-shot scenes of an ant attacking an individual person. However, the longer shots of humans’ encountering swarms of ants have the appearance of stock footage that’s splicing is not hidden well enough. A plus in this film is that we get the ants’ multifaceted perspectives in their attacks on their screaming victims. This visual effect and camera technique increases the bizarreness of the situation. 

One of the biggest departures the movie takes from the short story as far as plot goes is its ending. In Wells’ story, the ending is left open in that, regardless of the characters’ efforts, the ant colony cannot be destroyed.  This leaves the reader with the impression that the insects are very likely to not only take over the entire South American region and its human occupants, but eventually the world. In the movie, we get the closed Hollywood happy ending trope: the citizens of the town whom the ants have been controlling are set free, the giant insects are destroyed, and the heroes escape. This doesn't leave a lot of speculation for the audience after the movie ends like Wells's story does with readers. It also takes away the terror that the short story results in. 

I enjoyed AIP's "Empire of the Ants", mostly because the ants truly were giant and I’ve always been a fan of giant-monster movies. However, I also like it because it reflects the problems of environmental impact of the 1970s and still is relevant during this time of climate change. However, Wells' short story, "The Empire of the Ants", is far from being about a small ant problem even though the ants are tiny compared to the ones in the movie. Even though it doesn't comment on the deadly impact that pollution has on the planet (which was not yet a known issue in Wells’ time) it still involves a change in nature's pattern: the growing population of deadly ants. This natural phenomenon is like climate change in that a threatening change in nature does occur. Even though the movie has its terror and suspense, the story ends with these two and forces readers to think about how they could adapt to a possible change in the animal and intelligence hierarchy. 

Be here next Wednesday for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post! (And this time there will be one!) Have you read H.G. Wells’ short story, “The Empire of the Ants” or seen the 1977 movie adaptation?

Until next time . . .