The Food of the Gods (film)

The Food of the Gods
Film poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by	Bert I. Gordon
Produced by	Samuel Z. Arkoff Bert I. Gordon
Written by	Bert I. Gordon
Starring	Marjoe Gortner Pamela Franklin Ralph Meeker Jon Cypher John McLiam Ida Lupino
Music by	Elliot Kaplan
Cinematography	Reginald H. Morris
Edited by	Corky Ehlers
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release dates	June 18, 1976 (1976-06-18) (U.S.) January 22, 1977 (1977-01-22) (Japan) March 15, 1977 (1977-03-15) (Philippines) July 15, 1977 (1977-07-15) (Finland)
Running time	88 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1 million^[1]

The Food of the Gods is a 1976 science fiction thriller film released by American International Pictures and was written, produced, and directed by Bert I. Gordon.

The Food of the Gods starred Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Jon Cypher, John McLiam, and Ida Lupino. This film was loosely based on a portion of the H. G. Wells novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth.

Michael Medved gave it the Golden Turkey Award for "Worst Rodent Movie Of All Time".

Plot

The film reduced Wells' tale to an "Ecology Strikes Back" scenario, common in science fiction movies at the time. The "food" mysteriously bubbles up from the ground on a remote island somewhere in British Columbia. Mr. and Mrs. Skinner (John McLiam and Ida Lupino) consider it a gift from God, and feed it to their chickens, which grow larger than humans as a result. Rats, wasps, and grub worms also consume the substance, and the island becomes infested with giant vermin. One night, a swarm of giant rats kill Mr. Skinner after his car breaks down in the forest.

A professional football player named Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) is on the island for a hunting trip with his buddies when one of them is stung to death by giant wasps. After ferrying his friends back to the mainland, Morgan returns to investigate. Also thrown into the mix are Thomas and Rita (Tom Stovall and Belinda Balaski), an expecting couple; Jack Bensington (Ralph Meeker), the owner of a dog food company, who hopes to market the substance; and Bensington's assistant Lorna (Pamela Franklin), a "lady bacteriologist". After Morgan locates and dynamites the giant wasps' enormous nest, he and the others become trapped in the Skinner's farmhouse, surrounded by giant rats. Mrs. Skinner, Morgan's friend Brian (Jon Cypher), and Bensington are killed by the rats.

Morgan blows up a nearby dam, flooding the area and drowning the rats, whose size and weight renders them unable to swim. After the waters clear, the survivors pile up the bodies of the rats, spilling the jars of "F.O.T.G." and gasoline on them before burning them. However, several of Mrs. Skinner's jars of "F.O.T.G." are swept away, drifting to a mainland farm. The substance is consumed by dairy cows, and in the film's closing scene, schoolchildren are shown unwittingly drinking the tainted milk, implying that they will also experience abnormal growth.

Cast

Marjoe Gortner as Morgan
Pamela Franklin as Lorna
Ralph Meeker as Jack Bensington
Jon Cypher as Brian
Ida Lupino as Mrs. Skinner
John McLiam as Mr. Skinner
Belinda Balaski as Rita
Tom Stovall as Thomas
Chuck Courtney as Davis

Release

The film premiered on 18 June 1976 in the United States.^[2] Scream Factory released the film on May 26, 2015 first time on Blu-ray Disc, as double feature with Frogs.^[3]

Reception

The movie was AIP's most successful release of the year, causing them to make a series of films based on H.G. Wells novels.^[4]

In popular culture

In the episode "Of Rats and Men" of the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, a horde of giant mutant rats menace a movie theater running a feature titled "Food of the Vermin – In 3D".

Sequel

In 1989 a sequel (if only in name), entitled Food of the Gods II, was released.^[5]

References

↑ Richard Nowell, Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle Continuum, 2011 p 257
↑ Food of the Gods Movie Review (1976) - Roger Ebert
↑ Scream Factory Announces Two Creature Double Feature Blu-rays
↑ Red-Hot Rooney Back on Top. Lee, Grant. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 29 Dec 1976: e12.
↑ Review and Production Stills at stomptokyo.com

External links

Films directed by Bert I. Gordon

Works by H. G. Wells

Novels	The Time Machine (1895) The Wonderful Visit (1895) The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) The Wheels of Chance (1896) The Invisible Man (1897) The War of the Worlds (1898) When the Sleeper Wakes (1899) Love and Mr Lewisham (1900) The First Men in the Moon (1901) The Sea Lady (1902) The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth (1904) Kipps (1905) A Modern Utopia (1905) In the Days of the Comet (1906) The War in the Air (1908) Tono-Bungay (1909) Ann Veronica (1909) The History of Mr Polly (1910) The Sleeper Awakes (1910) The New Machiavelli (1911) Marriage (1912) The Passionate Friends (1913) The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman (1914) The World Set Free (1914) Bealby: A Holiday (1915) Boon (1915) The Research Magnificent (1915) Mr Britling Sees It Through (1916) The Soul of a Bishop (1917) Joan and Peter: The Story of an Education (1918) The Undying Fire (1919) The Secret Places of the Heart (1922) Men Like Gods (1923) The Dream (1924) Christina Alberta's Father (1925) The World of William Clissold (1926) Meanwhile (1927) Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island (1928) The Autocracy of Mr. Parham (1930) The Bulpington of Blup (1932) The Shape of Things to Come (1933) The Croquet Player (1936) Brynhild (1937) Star Begotten (1937) The Camford Visitation (1937) Apropos of Dolores (1938) The Brothers (1938) The Holy Terror (1939) Babes in the Darkling Wood (1940) All Aboard for Ararat (1940) You Can't Be Too Careful (1941)

Nonfiction	Anticipations Certain Personal Matters Crux Ansata The Discovery of the Future An Englishman Looks at the World (U.S. title: Social Forces in England and America) Experiment in Autobiography The Fate of Man First and Last Things Floor Games The Future in America: A Search After Realities God the Invisible King In the Fourth Year Little Wars Mankind in the Making Mind at the End of Its Tether Mr. Belloc Objects to "The Outline of History" The New America: The New World The New World Order New Worlds for Old The Open Conspiracy The Outline of History Russia in the Shadows The Science of Life A Short History of the World The Story of a Great Schoolmaster This Misery of Boots Travels of a Republican Radical in Search of Hot Water War and the Future (North America: Italy, France and Britain at War) The Way the World is Going The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind World Brain A Year of Prophesying

Collections	The Country of the Blind and Other Stories The Plattner Story and Others Select Conversations with an Uncle The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents Tales of Space and Time Twelve Stories and a Dream

Short stories	"Æpyornis Island" "The Argonauts of the Air" "The Beautiful Suit" "The Chronic Argonauts" "The Cone" "The Country of the Blind" "The Crystal Egg" "A Deal in Ostriches" "The Diamond Maker" "A Dream of Armageddon" "The Empire of the Ants" "In the Abyss" "The Land Ironclads" "Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation" "The Lord of the Dynamos" "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" "The New Accelerator" "The Pearl of Love" "The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper" "The Red Room" "The Sea Raiders" "The Star" "The Stolen Body" "A Story of the Days to Come" "A Story of the Stone Age" "Triumphs of a Taxidermist" "The Truth About Pyecraft" "A Vision of Judgment"

Screenplays	Things to Come The Man Who Could Work Miracles

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