Without the ability to show the ants swarming, Bass is fairly limited in creating a menacing creature feature. This is actually far more akin to a '50s B-movie than anything else. We spend so much time with scientists trying to make sense of things, at some point this feels like parody. Bass has crafted a film that's exceptionally, excessively stylish. I'm reminded of 1984's Razorback as a creature feature that sort of veers too far into arthouse territory to still be suspenseful or scary. Worse still, the film confines itself to a single location for something like the last hour which makes this weirdly stuffy and dull.
