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Phase IV

Phase IV

Horror · Science Fiction · 1974

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

Movie details

Phase IV

“The day the Earth was turned into a cemetery!”

1974 Horror · Science Fiction 1h 26m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Phase IV?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Evil of Frankenstein

The Evil of Frankenstein

Horror · 1964

Once hounded from his castle by outraged villagers for creating a monstrous living being, Baron Frankenstein returns to Karlstaad. High in the mountains they stumble on the body of the creature, perfectly preserved in the ice. He is brought back to life with the help of the hypnotist Zoltan who now controls the creature. Can Frankenstein break Zoltan's hypnotic spell that incites the monster to commit these horrific murders or will Zoltan induce the creature to destroy its creator?

Quatermass 2

Quatermass 2

Sci-fi · 1957

In England, a group of space scientists led by Bernard Quatermass, who have developed plans for the first Moon colony, learn that a secret, ostensibly government-run, complex of identical design has been built in a remote part of England and is the focus of periodic falls of small, hollow "meteorites" originating in outer space. Quatermass determines to investigate and uncovers a terrifying extraterrestrial life form which has already begun action to take over the Earth.

Return of the Fly

Return of the Fly

Horror · 1959

Fifteen years after his father's experiments with matter transmission fail, Philippe Delambre and his uncle François attempt to create a matter transmission device on their own. However, their experiments have disastrous results, turning Philippe into a horrible half-man, half-fly creature.

X: The Unknown

X: The Unknown

Horror · 1956

Army radiation experiments awaken a subterranean monster from a fissure that feeds on energy and proceeds to terrorise a remote Scottish village. An American research scientist at a nearby nuclear plant joins with a British investigator to discover why the victims were radioactively burned and why, shortly thereafter, a series of radiation-related incidents are occurring in an ever-growing straight line away from the fissure.

Island of Terror

Island of Terror

Horror · 1966

A small island community is overrun with creeping, blobbish, tentacled monsters which liquefy and digest the bones from living creatures. The community struggles to fight back.

Mark of the Vampire

Mark of the Vampire

Mystery · 1935

Sir Borotyn, a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampire assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto, and the physician who analyzes the body, are certain that the vampire is the mysterious Count Mora or his daughter. Receiving little help from the law, Professor Zelen, an expert in the occult, is called in to assist with their investigation.

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Horror · 1983

An anthology film presenting remakes of three episodes from the "Twilight Zone" TV series—"Kick the Can", "It's a Good Life" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"—and one original story, "Time Out."

Twice-Told Tales

Twice-Told Tales

Horror · 1963

3 horror stories based on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the 1st story titled "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Heidegger attempts to restore the youth of three elderly friends. In "Rappaccini's Daughter", a demented father is innoculating his daughter with poison so she may never leave her garden of poisonous plants. In the final story "The House of the Seven Gables", The Pyncheon family suffers from a hundred year old curse and while in the midst of arguing over inheritance, a stranger arrives.

The Curse of Frankenstein

The Curse of Frankenstein

Horror · 1957

Baron Victor Frankenstein has discovered life's secret and unleashed a blood-curdling chain of events resulting from his creation: a cursed creature with a horrid face — and a tendency to kill.

The Asphyx

The Asphyx

Fantasy · 1972

Hugo is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist, loved and respected by his family and friends, admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question...What is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects?

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Saul Bass

Written by

Mayo Simon

Nigel Davenport

Nigel Davenport

Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs

Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy

James R. Lesko

Lynne Frederick

Lynne Frederick

Kendra Eldridge

Alan Gifford

Alan Gifford

Mr. Eldridge

Robert Henderson

Robert Henderson

Clete

Helen Horton

Helen Horton

Mildred Eldridge

David Healy

David Healy

Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)

Court is in session

Put Phase IV on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.