Christopher Webster [Celluloid 04.25.13] scifi



Some interesting news has emerged about one of our all time favourite films, Saul Bass' weird hive-mind horror Phase IV. Programmers at Los Angeles’ The Cinefamily unveiled a never-before-seen ending to the film after a screening of the theatrical cut if Bass' film debut.



Here is a description of the ending:
"Starting with the same shots as in the theatrical version, Michael Murphy's character James descends into the ants' hive expecting to blow it up, ending the war with humankind's insect adversaries. Instead, he enters a room where Kendra (Lynne Fredrick), the girl he and his partner rescued from insecticide poisoning earlier in the film, is lying in a pool of sand. She rises and approaches him, as he realizes that the ants want to join - or merge - with humanity, prompting a new evolutionary development in both species. James and Kendra find themselves running through a gauntlet of geometric structures, eventually ending up in a maze where they are tested and observed in the same way that mankind tested the insects.

In a dizzying and often disturbing montage of imagery, James and Kendra become an embodiment of all mankind as a new species is created. Emerging from their transformation, the pair gazes out onto a sunset-stained landscape, realizing that humanity has reached a new level in its evolution: "Phase IV.""


Wrongly considered a "killer ant" flick or even worse an example of 1970s Eco-horror, Phase IV probably has more in common with 2001 or The Andromeda Strain. If you are a Phase IV virgin, the film has been released on DVD from Legend Films.

Here is the original 1974 trailer for Phase IV:


Via: THR

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quietearth (9 years ago) Reply

Release it on DVD!

Umberto (9 years ago) Reply

This is a great movie! for me this alternate ending is the real ending!

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