Empire of the Ants (1977)
A group of prospective land buyers are attacked by ants mutated due to toxic waste.
Genre
Characters/Groups
Joe Morrison - John David Carson
Sheriff Art Kincade - Albert Salmi
Margaret Ellis - Jacqueline Scott
Coreen Bradford - Pamela Shoop
Charlie Pearson - Edward Power
Christine Graham - Brooke Palance
Harry Thompson - Harry Holcombe
Anson Parker - Norman Franklin
Phoebe Russell - Florance McGee
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
A narrator tells the audience about the ant and how they may someday take over after humans. He talks about their use of pheromones which cause obedience within the ants.
A boat carrying toxic wastes dumps barrels of it into the ocean. The barrels eventually wash up on the shore of the Dreamland Shores land development and leak their contents. Charlie Pearson drives up to the Pelican Yacht Club and carries a bag of groceries onto Dan Stokely's boat and hands them to Crewman. Marilyn Fryser asks him what took him so long and tells him he is always on call. She tells Dan to keep the boat from bobbing too much and brings up how she paid him a lot of money to charter his boat to take her potential clients to her land development. Harry Thompson and Velma Thompson are the first customers to arrive. Larry Graham and Christine Graham arrive next and Larry stops and stares as Coreen Bradford is dropped off by Taxi Driver and Coreen gives Taxi Driver ten dollars on a $9.80 fair. Joe Morrison pulls up in his sports car and takes a drink from a liquor bottle before heading to the boat. Thomas Lawson and Mary Lawson are dropped off by a bus and Thomas tells Mary he is writing down all their expenses so they can be reimbursed. The last to arrive is Margaret Ellis. Marilyn introduces everyone to each other and the boat leaves the dock.
Jim and Pete finish placing the welcome sign for Dreamland Shores and Jim wonders if Marilyn will be happy with their work, but Pete doubts it. They drink a beer and talk about how they don't think the development will be around in two years. Marilyn, Charlie and the customers arrive at Dreamland Shores and mingle and eat hors d'oeuvres. Marilyn asks Charlie where Jim and Pete are and he tells her they probably left after they finished their work. Marilyn gets upset and tells him they are fired. As Christine and Coreen are talking, Larry stares at them and Christine notices Larry is staring at Coreen. Charlie walks up to Joe and tells him he knows he can't afford any of the land and Joe cheers him. Larry invites Coreen to walk around and she points out he is married. Thomas complains to Harry that the scotch is cheap scotch, and Harry reminds him it is free. Larry tries to sexually assault Coreen and she knees him in the crotch. He hears a buzzing noise and hurries back to where the others are. Margaret asks Dan his opinion on the land and he tells her he would think twice about buying it even if they struck oil. Marilyn takes everyone on a tour of the area and stop for refreshments. Coreen and Joe go for a walk and they talk about themselves. Mary walks up to Thomas who starts pulling up all of the water lines from the ground and saying Dreamland Shores is a sham. They hear a sound and are attacked and killed by the Dreamland Shores Ants.
While the rest of the group is continuing on with the tour, Velma notices Mary and Thomas are gone. Margaret screams and Charlie recognizes the dead body of Pete in the grass. Joe and Coreen decide to look for Mary and Thomas and tell the others they will meet them back at the boat. Joe and Coreen find the bloody clothes of Thomas and Mary and are then chased by the Dreamland Shores Ants. At the beach, the rest of the group arrive in time to see the Ants walking on the dock heading towards the boat. Dan jumps into the water and swims to his boat and helps Crewman fight off the Ants that have climbed aboard. An Ant kills Crewman and Dan sets his boat on fire and swims back to shore. The group makes a campfire and they wonder what is happening. The next morning, it starts to rain, putting out their fire. Dan asks Charlie where the workers came from and Charlie tells everyone the workers had a boat which they left at a nearby river. Marilyn wants to stay while the others leave to try and get the boat. She goes into the beach house, but finds an Ant inside and she and Charlie run to catch up with the others. Velma and Harry split off from the others and head in a different direction. They find a shack and hide inside. Christine trips on a branch and sprains her ankle and Larry runs away as she is attacked and killed. Charlie stops to help Marilyn who is stuck on a branch and is killed by the Ants, while she gets away. They reach the boat and Dan starts to row it towards the nearest town. Velma and Harry leave the hut and are attacked and killed by the Ants. Larry lies and tells the others Christine ran off. They come to a fork in the river and Larry demands they take the left path. While Dan and Joe are trying to move a fallen tree blocking their path, the boat is attacked by the Ants. They manage to get away and take the other path in the river. They are attacked by the Ants again and the boat is overturned. Larry is killed while the others make it to shore.
Dan figures out the Ants are herding them somewhere. They come across Sam Russell and Phoebe Russell and tell them about the Ants. As Phoebe is whispering to Coreen, Sam yells at her to call the sheriff. They are picked up by Sheriff Art Kincade, who drives them past the sugar refinery and then into the town of Sunland. Anson Parker is on the phone with Harrison demanding a shipment of sugar. Joe tries to make a call to John Amstead at the State Attorney's Office, but is told the phone call can't be made. Coreen tells Marilyn and Margaret, Phoebe told her not to let them take her to the sugar refinery. Anson directs Dan to the location of a car rental place and he and Joe go to it. At the car rental business, Ginny tells them to come back tomorrow after she finds out they don't have drivers license and are not locals. Dan and Joe see Sheriff Kincade and a deputy walking around and realize the Sheriff lied. They steal a car and drive away with Marilyn, Margaret and Coreen. Dan finds some road flares in the car and keeps them. They come across a road block and Joe tries to drive away, but crashes the car into a canal. They are pulled out and Joe and Coreen run away after Dan is knocked unconscious after hitting a deputy. Sheriff Kincade has Marilyn, Margaret and Dan brought to the sugar refinery and after a siren goes off a large group of Ants go into a warehouse holding large mounds of sugar and start to feed. Sheriff Kincade takes them to a booth with the Queen Ant inside and explains how the Ants need the people and the people are turned into slaves by a pheromone released by the Queen. A group of people are placed one by one into the booth including, Anson, Sam and Phoebe and Ginny and then sprayed with the pheromone. Joe and Coreen are eventually caught and brought to the others. Marilyn is put inside of the booth and sprayed with the pheromone. After exiting the booth, she tells the others they must obey the Ants. Dan goes next and lights a flare and the Queen starts to shriek as he sets her on fire, causing the other Ants to attack everyone. Joe tells Dan to take the others to the river and runs to a fuel truck and opens the fuel spigot and drives towards the sugar factory. Sheriff Kincade shoots the Queen Ant which kills Marilyn as it dies. Joe jumps out of the fuel truck as it is about to hit the warehouse with all of the Ants and the Ants catch on fire and burn. Dan, Coreen and Margaret make it to the river and a boat shortly before Joe does and they all speed away in the boat.