Woodyanders A disgusting batch of cannibalistic cockroaches caused by your usual illegal'n'unscrupulous scientific mishap terrorize a heretofore dull and peaceful small island community. Sure, the plot sounds dumb and unpromising, but luckily the solid direction by Terrence Winkless (who co-wrote "The Howling"), several quirky and engaging secondary characters (Stephan Davies in particular steals the film with a sidesplitting portrayal of the burg's klutzy, sloppy, eccentric resident exterminator who prefers to be called "a pest control agent"), a clever script by Robert King which has occasional dollops of amusingly macabre black humor (the single most bravura darkly funny comic moment is when endangered waitress Nancy Morgan butchers a bunch of roaches in her diner while "La Cucaracha" blasts on the soundtrack), pretty gruesome and creepy roach attack scenes, nasty and convincing make-up f/x by Cary Howe, a nice turn by the underrated Diana ("Stripped to Kill," "Spellbinder") Bellamy as a whiny old battle axe with a broken foot (the scene where the roaches crawl into her cast is a real hoot), and a wonderfully wicked performance by gorgeous redhead Terri ("The Terror Witin") Treas as a bitchy, cold-hearted evil lady scientist who derives erotic pleasure out of the roaches nibbling on her fingers make this baby a pleasantly enjoyable winner. The only flaw here is the three weak leads: Robert ("Empire of the Ants") Lansing as the corrupt mayor, Lisa ("Deadly Eyes") Langlois as Hizzoner's bimbo daughter, and Robert ("Ghost Town") Luz as the earnest, drippy sheriff are all numbingly bland. That fault aside, "The Nest" overall rates as a superior revolt-of-nature killer animal fright feature.

Aaron1375 This movie features roaches as super flesh eating killers. This may have been the first movie where roaches were the primary killers, though not the first movie where roaches are killers. "Damnation Alley" featured a scene with killer cockroaches and "Creepshow" had a story that had them. In this one they are the star. Not as good as it could have been this one doesn't have all that many kills in them. I could be wrong on that point, however, because I have not seen this one in quite some time. The roaches have gone killer and this very strange research lady is in town to study them. Yes, she is quite strange as at one point she has her hand in a box on the killer roaches and she is like "They are biting my hand", and she says this in almost a state of ecstasy. There is also one super big roach near the end of this one, like in so many insect films. Not a great movie, but worth checking out on a night you are bored out of your mind.

macabro357 spoiler--Biohazard waste from chemicals dumped on an island off the coast Maine (looks like California) seep into the ground thereby contaminating the insect life. What appears are killer insect roaches that not only eat into their victims, but alter their victim's DNA structure creating a new race of hybrid mutants. This happens to all animal life including cats, birds and (yes) humans.We have Robert Lansing as the mayor of the island who's in deep denial about the whole thing; gorgeous Terri Treas as the evil scientist who sees the whole event as a golden opportunity; pretty Lisa Langlois as the mayor's daughter who doesn't think too much about her father; Steven Davies as the bug spray man who first tells everyone what the problem is, and Franc Luz as the not-too-bright sheriff who inherited the job from his dad.The best scene is when we see Lansing as his body starts tearing apart from within as the roaches burrow into his body. The only thing left is a skeleton covered in a bloody mush as it approaches a terrified Lisa Langlois in the study. He looks kind of like the main creature in George Romero's CREEPSHOW. Not bad for cheese.Also the 'monster' at the end is classic Corman with skulls, twisted limbs and all kinds of gooey, fleshy tissue with animal parts all slapdashed together that looks like an update in style from Corman's earlier 50s sci-fi cheese epics. Watch it as it eats Terri Treas at the end by consuming her, head first. You know someone that evil (and sexy) is going to get their just rewards. She's the best thing going, looks and acting-wise since Jane Badler menaced the earth in V (1983). Not to mention the fact that they both look the same and could be sisters. And what better way to save the world than to set off some dynamite in a cave in order to blow the thing up. It's also a race against time in order to get the lighthouse working so the government won't spray the island with insecticide thereby killing off all the surviving inhabitants. Once again another over the top drive-in event from the likes of Roger Corman and his Concord/New Horizons production company. Too bad drive-ins were fast becoming a thing of the past when this one was released.5 out of 10

brandonsites1981 A small town is plagued by flesh eating roaches that are the result of a scientific experiment gone awry. To make matters worse they are transforming into whatever they consume. Pre-dating Mimic by a decade, this intense, tight and extremely frightening horror film features excellent make-up effects, a wonderfully demented performance by Terri Treas, and an intelligent, well crafted script.Rated R; Extreme Graphic Violence and Profanity.