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Them! is A-grade B-cinema! The plot follows the struggle by a team of American law enforcement to contain a scourge of giant irradiated ants that have been discovered in the New Mexico desert. When two of the colossal ant queens are found to have escaped to form new nests, it becomes clear that the fate of civilisation is in danger unless these radioactive insects are stopped.

Largely disinterested in the hard politics surrounding nuclear development, Them! uses the strange new possibilities of radiation to give some quasi-scientific basis to central premise – a technique that became increasingly common in the post-WWII sci-fi landscape.

The greatest delights of the film emerge from its Oscar-nominated special effects. The massive ants are a testament to the joys of practical effects, with the creatures running rampant in cleverly utilised combinations of rear projection, miniatures, and trick photography.