| Squirm | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jeff Lieberman |
| Produced by | George Manas |
| Written by | Jeff Lieberman |
| Starring | Don Scardino Patricia Pearcy R.A. Dow Jean Sullivan Peter MacLean Fran Higgins William Newman Barbara Quinn |
| Music by | Robert Prince |
| Cinematography | Joseph Mangine |
| Editing by | Brian Smedley-Aston |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 1976 (USA) |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Box office | Unknown |
Squirm is a 1976 "nature-strikes-back" horror film starring Don Scardino and Patricia Pearcy. It was the debut of cult horror director Jeff Lieberman and remains the director's most popular film. Squirm also features early makeup work from Oscar-winning makeup artist Rick Baker. The film was shot over the course of 24 days in Port Wentworth, Georgia.
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When a powerful storm knocks Fly Creek, Georgia's power lines down onto wet soil, the resulting surge of electricity drives large, bloodthirsty worms to the surface-and then out of their soil-tilling minds. Soon, the townspeople discover that their sleepy fishing village is overrun with worms that burrow right into their skin. Inundated by hundreds of thousands of carnivorous creatures, the terrorized locals race to find the cause of the rampage-before becoming tilled under themselves.
The film was released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures in July 1976.[1]
This movie was initially rated R by the MPAA and released theatrically in that form in the U.S. Shortly after this initial theatrical release, the U.S. distributor, American International Pictures, made some minor cuts to the picture and re-submitted it to the CARA. This new cut of the picture received a PG-rating and, subsequently, was also released theatrically by A.I.P. No additional edits were made specifically for the U.S. video release. The R-rated version has a slightly longer shot in the shower in the beginning of the film, and a slightly longer shot of the worms burrowing into Roger's face.
The film was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment in 2003.[2] The MGM re-release VHS contains the PG version, while the DVD contains the R version. The R-rated version is one minute longer than the PG-rated version.
Squirm was a popular late night feature on SuperStation TBS in the 1980s after Atlanta Braves baseball games. Braves announcer Skip Caray famously "promoted" the movie by sarcastically offering Braves fans an autographed baseball if they actually stayed up to watch it, then sent in a review of it. TBS got a couple thousand reviews in response.
Pittsburgh musician Weird Paul Petroskey created an entire album dedicated to the worm in the egg cream scene. The album is called Worm in my Egg Cream, and all 16 tracks are titled "Worm In My Egg Cream". It makes extensive use of sound bites from the film.
In 1999, Squirm was one of the final films to be featured on the cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. The film was heavily edited for its appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Among the many scenes cut from the film was the scene of Mick trudging through the swamp, the conversation between Mick and Alma, the worms' graphic attack on Roger, the gruesome fate of Mrs. Sanders, and the climax where Roger crawls after Mick and attempts to bite him.