Squirm, When Spaghetti Attacks

Today we have a real icky one from 1976.  A warning for you all, some of the images presented in this gem will stay with you for a long time, especially if you enjoy spaghetti dinners.  Deep in plot and worms, "Squirm" will affect you every time a mysterious itch occurs or when dining at an Italian restaurant.  Perhaps a social metaphor about the theoretical carnage that occurs when cultures collide, "Squirm" is more likely a gratuitous attempt to maximize the heeby-jeeby level of the horror fan.

After a monster storm, a powerful power line falls sending billions of volts into the ground.  Geri (Patricia Pearcy), a red-neck babe, welcomes her city-boy boyfriend, Mick (Don Scardino) to town.  Uh-oh, Geri and her mom and sister Alma (Fran Higgins) live next to a worm farm.  Double uh-oh, the electricity in the ground causes the worms to go bananas and eat humans.  Oh yes, the half-wit Roger (R.A. Dow), a worm farm worker, has eyes for the red-neck babe and sees Mick as an unwelcome invasion to his potential courtship. Lots of preliminary action sees the worms popping out of milkshakes and shower heads, but the real fun is about to start.

As Mick and Geri try to get the town to believe worms are on the offensive, some gruesome deaths occur.  The little buggers burrow under skin and into vital organs, eventually leaving their victims as mere skeletons.  Meanwhile, Roger's failed attempt to rape Geri lands him with a faceful of worms He then seems to transform into a worm-man. As local red-necks are eaten, the sheriff and his skank GF engage in pre-marital sex.  Unfortunately for the gal, she realizes that it isn't the sheriff who is satisfying her, but those bloodthirsty worms...ouch! As billions of worms begin to cover the town in a five foot wave of ickyness, Mick and Geri try to survive.

This is a yucky one!  Written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, "Squirm" is an important film about the conflict between the big city and rural America...er...okay, perhaps it's just a fun film for hardcore horror fans. Next time you go fishing, and stop off at a bait store for some night-crawlers, be careful of the little fiends you intend to impale on a hook.