Every decade of Horror cinema has a particular theme that defines it. The ‘50s explored creatures from outer space and psychological aspects, the ‘60s were a time of ghost stories, and the ‘70s was a mixed bag of demon possession, witches, and nature striking back.
A sub-genre of Horror film that some call Eco-Horror, you can look to 1972’s Frogs and Night of the Lepus as early entries. A slew of others followed this, but arguably the biggest year for seeing creatures of earth other than humans causing havoc was 1976. Taking a glimpse back, it was the United States bicentennial, a time when Rocky was dominating the box office, but also when films like Grizzly (about a man-eating grizzly bear), Eaten Alive (about a flesh-shredding massive crocodile), The Food of the Gods (about mutated, over-sized rats), and The Savage Bees (about a swarm of killer bees) were making people’s skin crawl. Joining these, you also had a little film called Squirm where the culprit of disaster was worms.
Something that may seem silly to some, Squirm is approached from a plausible point of view where a wild late-night lightning storm strikes down power lines. Falling to the earth, they send 300,000 volts through the soil bringing thousands of worms to the surface. While most see worms as gross, slimy creatures, they seldom see them as a threat. However, the worms in Squirm are not only that but also quite deadly.
The directorial feature debut of Jeff Lieberman, an underrated filmmaker known for 1977’s Blue Sunshine and 1981’s Just Before Dawn, with Squirm he wrote the script from an experience he had as a kid when his brother fed electricity into the ground causing earthworms to rise. Cleverly converting it into something more terrifying, with Squirm he opts to go for a very slow burn approach that creates tension and terror, rather than beat you over the head with wild scenes of worms attacking. What are these subtleties? They include incidents such as a worm in someone’s beverage, a worm slithering down a kitchen wall unsuspectedly, or a true nightmare, worms coming out of a showerhead. Aspects that may be lost on some considering the film’s slow pace, if you stick with it, the mood of Squirm is actually quite effective.
Originally released worldwide in August of 1976, Squirm faired relatively well in theaters. Interestingly enough the film’s rating was a massive issue early on with the MPAA wanting to cut certain scenes to bring it down to a PG rating to appease the distributing requests of American International Pictures. A factor that has led to the film being cut down by roughly a minute, Lieberman has stated the theatrical edition was decent enough to be effective, however, the TV edition was absurdly sliced apart.
With this all in mind, some may be curious as to what was cut in the first place. Well, that would be longer shots of worms burrowing under a victim’s skin and a shower scene. Fortunately for those who do not appreciate censorship to meet a rating, Squirm was restored to the original runtime for the 2003 DVD. From here the unrated cut made it to Blu-ray domestically in the US in 2014 via Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release, now in 2024, this edition of Squirm comes to the surface once again thanks to Kino Lorber.
A part of the distribution company’s Kino Cult Series, Squirm arrived as a Special Edition Blu-ray on August 27, 2024. Presented in 2K, just like Scream Factory’s 2014 transfer, the imagery and sound is absolutely impressive. Clarified, if you recall Squirm from the 1983 VHS release or an old TV broadcast, but have not seen it since, you are in for a treat. Beyond this, the extra features include the previously released Digging In: The Making of Squirm and Eureka!: A Tour of Locations with Jeff Lieberman, but also an exclusive new audio commentary from Critics Lee Gambin and John Harrison. As a bonus, you also get a nice slipcover with reversible artwork of original theatrical posters.
Coming together nicely, if you appreciate Squirm, Kino Lorber’s new release is a perfect addition to any collection. Also, it should be noted that you should not stress over the PG rating printed on the back art. If you do a little research, you will find this cut of Squirm is indeed the one you want; because it is 93 minutes long and not the 92-minute version. For all matters considered, Cryptic Rock gives the Special Edition Blu-ray of Squirm 4 out of 5 stars.
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