It probably says a lot about me that I own not one but two killer worm movies. The first, The Worm Eaters is a really wretched movie and almost turned me off entirely on the killer-worm subgenre. But when I saw Squirm on sale for $9.99 at Circuit City I decided to throw caution to the wind and take a risk. Was it worth it? Surprisingly, it was.

Squirm is a nature run amok horror film, an extremely popular genre in the seventies. After a freak storm caused the downing of power lines, electricity has surged through the ground and turns the typically genial, harmless earthworms into carnivous little beasties that are very, very pissed off. People soon begin turning up dead and it's up to the hero and his girlfriend to save the day or tie trying. Not exactly groundbreaking material, but Lieberman turns it into surprisingly fun romp which has a few jumps, a creepy atmosphere and some fantastic make-up effects by Rick Baker in one of his first film outings. If you don't know Rick Baker, check out American Werewolf in London. Here his effects are downright excellent and much better than a horror fan has any right to expect from a pretty typical schlocky B horror movie.

Performances are good with the only "sore thumb" being the sheriff who's just too over the top to be believable. But then again, every nature gone amok story needs a human villian to and he fits the bill. As mentioned above make-up and good is excellent and we also get some light nudity.

Worms just aren't scary, which keeps this from being a horror classic but if you enjoy movies about creepy crawlers then there is plenty here to enjoy.