The Nest

Love them or hate them, SyFy Channel creature features have become a genre unto themselves: cheesy monsters, bad acting, and a title so ridiculous that you simply have to check it out for a few minutes…or ten…OK, I’m definitely turning the channel after the next commercial! But the formula is nothing new. Roger Corman has been churning out quickie monster movies for more than half a century and continues to do so for SyFy from time to time.

In fact, he never stopped, as proven by Scream Factory’s blu-ray / DVD combo-pack release of The Nest (1988) about a sleepy island community under attack by genetically engineered roaches. Released through Corman’s Concorde Pictures and produced by his wife, Julie Corman, The Nest is a holdover from ‘70s Jaws rip-offs like Joe Dante’s Piranha - also produced by Corman - but with an insect angle. Oddly enough, only two years later, the Steven Spielberg produced Arachnophobia would make the connection even more obvious.

But this time Corman got there first. Too bad he didn’t come up with a better movie. The Nest simply stirs up the same ‘ol monster movie formula, adding a bit more gore and a provocative poster that, unfortunately, misleads the audience into thinking the roaches are 5 feet tall. And attacking women in lingerie. Instead, we get a mostly unseen swarm (shot by director Terence H. Winkless as a ground level steadicam POV) that eat their way through supermarkets, dogs, hobos and eventually threaten the entire island.

Most of the violence happens off-screen to save on expenses, except for a few money shots near the end. Actor Robert Lansing is there to add some “old Hollywood” cache, something that really wasn’t necessary by 1988. But the real charm of the movie comes from the typical Corman troupe of lovable misfits there to act as roach bait: a junkyard vagrant, a quirky exterminator and a masochistic scientist who can’t help but admire the beauty of her insect army.

The Nest has retro appeal - and even predates some of Guillermo Del Toro’s intelligent insect ideas in 1997’s Mimic - but would best be appreciated by Corman connoisseurs. But, damn, that’s an effective poster! The sole extra on the set is an audio commentary from Winkless who points out friends and neighbors in the cast along with the challenge of creating a New England setting while shooting on an LA backlot.