Fun film based on the classic short story about killer ants. Instead of padding that out, it provides around 30 minutes of story. The other hour - at the front - is sweaty melodrama with Eleanor Parker as a purchased bride for plantation owner Charlon Heston who gets his virginal knickers in a twist when he discovers she's been married before. He acts abusive and cruel without any of the softness that say Rock Hudson or Tyrone Power might have brought to it - I know this trope was considered Romantic at the time but now it's just watching an abuser.
Still the acting is strong and it gives Eleanor Parker something to play. She's a red head and thus is super beautiful - she always took on an extra dimension in red. Heston has swagger - this is one of his "macho American in a backlot third world" performances like Secret of the Incas.
William Conrad is a local. It could have done with more ants but that last third is exciting and the first two thirds quite entertaining and Parker is gorgeous.
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