Retro Movie Review: SQUIRM (1976), Kickstarter Update, TWO Comic Cons

Bloodworms run amok in South Georgia, the first few days of my Kickstarter, and my next shows

Back in the 1970s, there were a lot of “nature strikes back” horror films with killer animals. The most notable one is Jaws (check out this podcast I’m in about it), but I’ve also seen the killer-rabbit Night of the Lepus and mercury-poisoned deformed-bear Prophecy. Thanks to Drive-In Delirium: Final Conflict that I’d mentioned in a previous email, I found out about Squirm.

The Plot

In the coastal Georgia town of Fly Creek, a lightning storm causes the local worm population to become hungry and violent. Caught in the middle of the invertebrate apocalypse are visiting big-city antiquarian Mick (Don Scardino), his small-town love interest Geraldine “Geri” Sanders (Patricia Pearcy), her dull-witted local admirer Roger (R.A. Dow), Geri’s younger sister Alma (Fran Higgins), and Geri and Alma’s sickly mother Naomi (Jean Sullivan).

The Good

*The movie’s a pretty tight 90 minutes, good to watch on the elliptical or while ironing.

*Although one might think the film’s problem animals are earthworms, they’re actually bloodworms. Those live in intertidal zones, are commonly used as fish bait, and do bite. Tidal patterns and the local geography are explicitly discussed in the film, as is the local bait business owned by Roger’s cantankerous father.

*The leads’ acting is generally good. Everybody plays their character convincingly. Apparently Dow actually spent weeks living in Port Wentworth to get a feel for the community and culture, while Pearcy is actually from Texas, has the accent in other films, and doesn’t sound out of place.

(If I were casting a Battle for the Wastelands movie in the late 1970s or early 1980s, Pearcy would actually make a good Catalina Merrill.)

*The music and sound effects are good, and there’s legitimate suspense. Despite being a cheapie from the 1970s, it’s actually pretty well-shot. There are some decent Gory Discretion Shots to keep the film PG (well, 1970s PG) and keep the SFX budget low.

*The script gives us a good sense of place — Statesboro is referenced as the nearest big city, all the Fly Creek residents have syrupy accents, and they’re close to the ocean. It was also shot in Port Wentworth outside Savannah, which helps in that department.

The Bad

*There’s too much time devoted to the Oklahoma-esque small-town love rhombus featuring the main characters. Yes, I understand the characters need to be developed, but a big chunk of the film is dedicated to the obvious and less-obvious feelings different characters have for one another. At the very least they should have tightened that part and mixed in some on-screen worm attacks to liven things up. A friend theorizes they didn’t have the necessary money, which makes sense given how people just randomly find cheap-looking skeletons about the town until the final act.

*The worms kill everybody they attack except for one character as the plot demands.

*A lot of the later plot revolves around Poor Communication Kills, although to be fair it makes sense for that time and place. Not going to go into a lot for spoiler reasons, but it would have been more interesting if people were told certain things and that affected how certain events played out.

*The characters’ accents might be overkill, especially as much of the cast isn’t actually from there. If you’re watching this for “so bad it’s good,” you might find them funny.

*The very end of the film is a bit of an anticlimax.

The Verdict

Entertaining for what it is, especially if you need something to distract you while you’re doing something else. 7.5 out of 10.

You might want to check out the novelization, recently re-released last June. It goes into more depth with some of the characters (Roger, Geri, Naomi, Alma) even if it repeats the film’s issue with keeping a lot of the early worm massacres offscreen.

The Walking Worm Kickstarter Progress Report

A few days ago, I sent out a special edition email announcing the Kickstarter funding the production of The Walking Worm — the second sequel to The Thing in the Woods, taking place a year or so after the the immediate sequel The Atlanta Incursion — was now live. Here’s the link if you haven’t seen it. Both the Kickstarter itself and the newsletter include the whole TWW prologue, in which a small-town opiate addict finds the cure much worse than the disease, for all to read. Those who back it will receive their books in November and December — if the Kickstarter funds, I won’t publish broadly until February 2025, so this is a pretty big perk. :)

As of Friday night, I’ve got seven backers and $200 pledged, around 17% of the all-or-nothing $1200. Rewards nailed down are equal parts e-books and print books, with one outright cash donation. Nobody has claimed the ultimate reward — $75 to have a minor character in the story based on them. The main options for this are MJ-12 agents (including senior “team leads”) and minions of the titular Worm, although I might be able to work in others.

(For example, I’ve been vaguely talking about working in a real-life friend as a reporter for Patterson NC’s declining local newspaper. I don’t think he’ll survive the experience.)

There is a possible reason for this — when the Kickstarter began it was a digital-only reward. That meant only digital rewards could be add-ons. Friday morning I made it physical reward that ships anywhere in the world (although print books are US-only for now), so now people can become book characters and get physical books as add-ons. For those of you who’ve bought signed paperbacks at my shows — probably most of my newsletter readership — this reward might be particularly tempting. And even if you just want physical books, you can get the whole “Long War” series signed or unsigned as Kickstarter rewards.

And if you’re not interested in books but you still want to support the project, you can have your name listed in the acknowledgements page for $5 or donate any amount without reward. One fellow author has donated $50 at that level. And if money’s tight — I know for a lot of people it is — you can spread the word to those who might be interested.

Vending at Cartersville Comic Con 10/12 and Charlie’s Collectible Show 10/19

Just a reminder I’ll be selling books at Cartersville Comic Con next Saturday (10/12). This will be my second appearance up there. I’ll be bringing my usual assortment of books — Thing, TAI, Battle for the Wastelands, “Son of Grendel,” Serpent Sword, Flashing Steel, Flashing Fire, and “Little People, Big Guns.” I will also be vending at Charlie’s Collectible Show’s comic con on 10/19. Check out the link for the voice-actors and other cool people who will be in attendance.

New since last time are my Thing book-cover stickers (courtesy of StickerMule) and the opportunity to sign up for the TWW Kickstarter. Those who’d bought Thing and TAI last time will be able to get the next installment of the saga this year (probably later in November or in early December), as opposed to February 2025.

Looking forward to seeing people there!