Bugs steal scenes in Halloween horrors

Bill Knight column for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, Oct. 30, 31 or Nov. 1

Besides Trick-or-Treaters, costumes and candy, this week is a fine time for creepy-crawly cinema, and after surviving the summer invasion by Japanese beetles devouring leaves on trees and bushes, check out these Hollywood insects (and Harvey Weinstein doesn’t count).

Big-screen bugs seem to check out of their Roach Motels with all the towels, but that might be because real-life insects are so weird, only exaggeration is believable.

The movie industry has an infestation of such choices on video or online, from “Mothra” to “Men in Black”; “The Deadly Bees” to “The Killer Bees” – plus “Wasp Woman” and “Deadly Mantis,” “The Deadly Invasion” and “Spiders,” as well as“Marabunta” (AKA “Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!”), “Arachnid” and “The Zanti Misfits” (from TV’s original “Outer Limits”). And don’t forget the semi-silly “Giant Spider Invasion” or classic “Tarantula,” much less the semi-serious “Hellstrom Chronicle” and cheesy “Creepy Crawlers.”

This type of flick usually revolves around bug size and numbers – created by nukes or flukes of Nature. The bugs-as-bad-guys gimmick is no wonder in a world of African killer bees and Mormon crickets, destructive gypsy moths and medflies, deer ticks carrying Lyme Disease and mosquitoes the West Nile virus. After all, about 90 percent of Earth’s animal species are invertebrates. (However, that means they’re spineless, not gutless).

A don’t-bug-me baker’s dozen:

“Arachnophobia” (1990) A pleasant retro film, this Steven Spielberg film stars Jeff Daniels, John Goodman and a lot of eight-legged extras in the tale of a South American spider breeding with local spiders to create thousands of deadly offspring.

“The Bees” (1987). John Saxon and John Carradine star in this low-budget beauty about mutant bees nabbed by a greedy corporation for the colossal honey production potential. (“Death, HERE is thy sting!”)

“The Beginning of The End” (1957). Before TV’s “Mission Impossible” or “Fury,” Peter Graves starred in this terrific trash about giant mutant grasshoppers escaping from the University of Illinois and marauding through Illinois (where mountains loom in some backgrounds?!). “Goodbye, Peoria,” said “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” “Adios, Rantoul and Joliet. The hoppers are headed to Chicago.”

“Earth vs. The Spider” (1958). Bert Gordon (who also directed “Beginning of the End” and “Empire of the Ants”) helmed this derivation of “Tarantula” (1955). Two high schoolers exploring a cave find a huge spider. Chaos ensues.

“Eight-Legged Freaks” (2002). Kind of a cross between “Earth vs. The Spider” and 1977’s “Kingdom of the Spiders” (where veterinarian William Shatner finds tarantulas that love the Southwest but hate humans), this has excellent computer-generated imagery and a tone that’s part camp comedy and part old-fashioned monster movie. David Arquette and Scarlett Johansson are featured in the movie directed by Ellory Elkayem, who also did the cable movie “They Nest.”

“Empire of The Ants” (1977). Joan Collins and Robert Lansing star in a thriller about carnivorous ants the size of cocker spaniels threatening a radioactive island. Very loosely based on an H.G. Wells story.

“The Fly” (originals in 1958 and ’86; sequels in 1959, ’65 and ’88). David Hedison and Vincent Price starred in the original; Jeff Goldlum and Geena Davis in the 1986 remake. “Help me! He-e-e-elp m-me-ee!” is a memorable moment.

“The Naked Jungle” (1953). Set in the South American wilderness, this stars Charlton Heston as a plantation rancher fleeing from an army of red ants.

“The Nest” (1988). Robert Lansing once more finds the consequences of genetic experimentation: powerful and hungry roaches scrambling from their West Coast birthplace.

“The Swarm” (1978). The busy, shameless Michael Caine stars in this Irwin Allen disaster pic about killer bees buzzing a missile base en route to Houston. The so-bad-it’s-good charmer features Olivia de Havilland, Richard Widmark and Fred MacMurray.

“Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo” (1977). This made-for-TV movie shows how derivative all bug flicks are. Here, dozens of hairy creatures scoot and scurry across the countryside in a loony laugher starring Claude Akins and Howard Hesseman.

“Them!” (1954). Probably the first – and best – bug movie, this stars James Whitmore and James Arness as lawmen dealing with a new species of HUGE ants created by atomic testing. The film was Warners’ biggest hit in ’54, and has Fess Parker and Leonard Nimoy in small roles.

“Ticks” (1994). This has an environmentally correct edge – giant wood ticks are mutated by steroids used by pot-growing farmers. But the fantas-ticks are the stars in this yarn. Whether in their “pod” stage, clacking crawling period, or the explosively oozing-goo stage, the creatures are classic cinema monsters that grab our attention without even a cast credit line. Viewers may notice a couple of familiar faces: Peter Scolari and Clint Howard.