Director: John Sturges
Starring: George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews, John Larkin
Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean
Tagline: "The price for uncovering the secret of the satan bug comes high - YOUR LIFE!"
SYNOPSIS
A top secret government facility is broken into just days after scientists perfect a biological weapon codenamed Satan Bug. Federal agents race against time as there is no known antidote and if released into the atmosphere, the bug could wipe out all life on Earth in a matter of weeks.
REVIEW
The Satan Bug is one of those thrillers that dominated the box office in the 60s and 70s. It's slow-moving by today's standards but there's a lot of intriguing elements to hold the viewer's interest. From the break-in (which uses what's now terms social engineering to break past the high-tech security) to the often hopelessly bleak investigation as our heroes lose clue after clue, it's filled with interesting sequences. The plot can be rather contrived at point (such as the villains' use of a chemical weapon to dispose of investigators rather than simply shooting them - allowing one to escape, of course!) and the villain is ultimately revealed to be a slightly pathetic James Bond villain wannabe. But, it's a great little movie to watch on a boring Sunday afternoon.
I recently caught this movie on TV (sadly, there doesn't seem to be a current DVD release), and I'm glad I noticed it as it helped clear up one of my movie watching mysteries from childhood. I vividly remembered a sequence partway through the film where a different biological weapon is used in Florida, leaving the camera to pan around crowds of people who have just collapsed dead in the street. it was a striking image, but for many years I though the movie was Bug, William Castle's final film. I was disappointed to find out that this was not the movie, but now I'm glad to have found this memorable film again!
7 / 10
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