You don't hear a lot of kind words about "The Worm Eaters", mainly because of it's inane indecipherability that even major B-movie fans find nearly impossible to tolerate. Call me crazy, but I found the flick oddly satisfying in it's absolute absurdity.
The premise is simple: A club footed hermit with a deed to valuable land is pursued by the town's mayor and some local thugs who want to build condominiums. The reclusive weirdo seems to have a soft spot for worms and hordes a box of them as pets; even talking to them. Apparently, for some inexplicable reason, the worms turn the lower half of a person's body into a worm if consumed...
"The Worm Eaters" was directed/written by and stars Herb Robins from Tobe Hooper's "The Funhouse", who clearly didn't know what the fuck he was doing here, neither in the realm of horror or comedy. The shear ludicrous nature of the film makes John Waters' earliest films appear to have an immensely structured narrative! Almost every frame of "The Worm Eaters" is nonsensical and poorly shot. Still, I LOVE this type of shit. It's just so god awful that I couldn't help but just sit back and laugh like an idiot at the whole thing. It's a total exercise in atrocious film making with needless characters played out by THE most obnoxious actors who insist on shouting every one of their lines. The scene of the dimwitted campers barking for hot dogs was a complete waste of celluloid! Fuck, so was the scene involving the Jack Black-looking guy pretending to be a Playboy photographer, the town hall meeting, the worm dancing scene, etc, etc! When the people begin turning into human/worm hybrids, it's easily the worst effect ever put on film. Sleeping bags! Sleeping bags on their goddamn legs!
Don't expect to like "The Worm Eaters" if you have even a remotely picky attitude about B-grade horse shit cinema. If you can watch the first five minutes of the film and laugh at it, I'd suggest you stick it out through the entire thing.
You don't hear a lot of kind words about "The Worm Eaters", mainly because of it's inane indecipherability that even major B-movie fans find nearly impossible to tolerate. Call me crazy, but I found the flick oddly satisfying in it's absolute absurdity.
