Squirm (1976) on Netflix
A storm topples a power line in Fly Creek, Georgia, sending current into the ground where worms live. Mick comes from New York to see Geri; her neighbor Roger Grimes resents him.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb4.9/107,121 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes29%
Trailer
Plot summary
A storm tears down an overhead power line in Fly Creek, Georgia, and the electricity goes out while current seeps into the wet ground where worms live. Geri Sanders takes a truck belonging to Roger Grimes, a neighboring worm farmer, to fetch her boyfriend Mick, who has come from New York City for a vacation. Roger's shipment of bloodworms and sandworms escapes from the truck, and he watches the pair with envy. At a diner, a worm turns up in Mick's egg cream, and Sheriff Jim Reston and the owner take it for a prank. Geri brings Mick home to meet her mother Naomi and her sister Alma.
Cast
- R.A. Dowas Roger Grimes
- Fran Higginsas Alma Sanders
- Carl Dagenhartas Willie Grimes
- Angel Sandeas Millie
- Carol Jean Owensas Lizzie
- Kim Iocouvozzias Hank
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Squirm (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Kim Basinger auditioned for the role of Geri, but Lieberman passed on her, believing the audience would not believe she would live in a "hick town". Lieberman later regretted the decision, calling himself an idiot.
- After production wrapped, newspapers in Maine reported that the local fishing industry had been hit by a shortage of worms caused by the making of the film.
- To make a room full of worms appear to undulate, the production hired the local Boy Scouts troop to move the canvas from below; the scouts received merit badges for their work.
- The worms' screams were taken from a scene in which pigs are slaughtered in Brian De Palma's 1976 film Carrie.
- Martin Sheen was originally cast as Mick but was replaced with Don Scardino. Sheen had suggested that Mick should be an actor, and wanted him to recite the Yorick scene from Hamlet on discovering Aaron Beardsley's skull.
- Jeff Lieberman based the script on a childhood incident in which his brother connected a transformer to the ground to force worms to emerge for a fishing trip, something that badly frightened Lieberman.
- Bernard Herrmann, composer for The Day the Earth Stood Still in 1951 and Psycho in 1960, was originally slated to write the score for Squirm but died before beginning work on it.
- The film's special effects were provided by makeup artist Rick Baker, who used prosthetics for the first time in his career on the picture.
