I understand director Jeff Leiberman for his anger about his film being mocked on “Mystery Science Theater.” But I also understand why “Squirm” was such good fodder. Intentionally silly or not, “Squirm” is not a good movie, nor is it a good horror movie. It’s barely competent storytelling. I never could quite comprehend why “Squirm” was such a classic, but oddly enough it’s that movie that always rose to the surface to play on late night cable, or in drive in theaters. Don Scardino is laughably miscast as Mick, the hero of “Squirm” who visits his girlfriend Geri in her small Southern town for a romantic rendezvous. Of course, them hill folk don’t take too kindly to Mick’s straight forward attitude.
How dare he order an egg cream in a restaurant. In either case, Mick and his girlfriend Geri begin investigating a string of disappearances while reacting surprisingly calm to the sudden appearance of skeletons seemingly consumed by some animals at every corner. Meanwhile the local sheriff wants Mick out of town, and Mick is convinced that the worms are committing the murders. It’s always the worms, isn’t it? “Squirm” is that last thread of ideas for the nature run amok craze in the seventies where everything from rabbits to snails were suddenly turning on humans. “Squirm” is set in a back woods Southern mud hole of a town where a terrible thunder storm and a lightning have turned local worms in to swollen flesh eating monsters that roar when director Lieberman cuts to stock footage of the worms.
Our hero even screeches when a rabid worm latches on to his arm and bites him. And our obligatory heel in the narrative runs off when his face is consumed by worms. The film takes either takes itself so seriously it’s hilarious, or it’s purposely stern about its tale. Either way, when that opening crawl emerges on to the screen, you never quite assume you’re about to watch a movie about flesh eating fishing bait. Most of “Squirm” involves Mick running around the small town and indulging in the mystery of missing persons and their skeletal remains. All Mick and his gorgeous girlfriend Geri (and her utterly shrill little sister) evade the dastardly worms that don’t really begin to wreak havoc until the final ten minutes of the movie. When “Squirm” isn’t silly, it’s boring, and it doesn’t deliver on splatter. Which is a shame, considering it would be a small consolation in a tedious horror offering such as this.
Scream Factory unleashes a new edition, with an Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Jeff Lieberman who immediately begins criticizing MST3K for using his movie as fodder for an episode. Lieberman sheds some light on filming the movie, the locations used, and people considered for the roles. I bet a lot of people competed for the role of Mick. “Digging In: The Making of Squirm” is a fun thirty minute segment with great interviews with Lieberman, and Don Scardino. “Eureka! With Jeff Lieberman” is a seven minute feature with Lieberman who takes us to see the house that gave us “Squirm.” Finally there is the theatrical trailer, a TV spot, a radio spot, and a still gallery.