"The Glass Trap" is an okay creature feature.
**SPOILERS**
The Waldman Apartment Building is getting ready for the holidays, and the newest client, Joan Hightower, (Stella Stevens) and her assistant Sharon, (Siri Baruc) are checking in, making everyone on their toes. When it's discovered that there's been some illegally transported into the apartment. Weird occurrences start happening all over the building, prompting janitor Curtis, (C. Thomas Howell) decides to investigate. He finds most of the tenants missing and no one knows why, even though he knows something is wrong. Rounding up the guests and trying to find what is going on in the building, they find that giant ants have invaded and slowly picking them off one by one.
The Good News: This had some parts that weren't all that bad. There are some moments of actual suspense in the film. The car attack in the garage is the main one, and is one of the main scenes in the film. A high-top escape over city streets is perhaps the highlight, as it actually goes for some spectacle to add to the suspense. The final resolution is one of the best parts of the movie, and it really makes you care about what happens to what happens. The fact is, the film has one of the best throwback films ever. There is a spirit and tone evident in the film that captures the giant monster films of the part. The film starts off fast, with the invasion coming in quite quickly and it never really has time to slow down for much of anything. The rapid pace is mostly the film's greatest strength, as everything pretty much happens right after something else, so it can become a continuous rush as it goes along.
The Bad News: The fact is, most of the film's weakness is it's over-abundant and totally unnecessary CGI work. The ants look totally cheesy and fake, and when they use puppets, they fare little better. You can at least tell that there's a physical object there, but it still looks really fake and at all convincing in either format. They look accurate, but not realistic. It's not really the budget's fault, but it's still a problem to get over. Also, there are a few parts that don't really make much sense. It's well known that ants are one of the strongest creatures on the planet, yet they are routinely kept out of places by doors or other blocking devices that they should easily pull out, considering that their size would give them even more strength. A slowly closing door is able to keep them out, and they can't yank the door open at all. A creature that size would be able to rip the door off it's hinges and part of the wall as well, and a couple characters are able to fend off the ants inside a locked car. Another perfect example is using a stereo to keep the ants at bay. The fact that they don't hear is mentioned several times in the scene, an yet it's not laid down on the ground but held up in the air. It's just a small collection of scenes that show the stupidity of the scenes in the film.
The Final Verdict: Not all that bad, but still needs a lot of work to really be of upper-tier of monster flicks. It's got an old-school quality to it, but might lack in appealing to newer creature feature fans. Worthy of a look, at the least, but keep expectations low.
Rated PG-13: Violence and brief Language
**SPOILERS**
The Waldman Apartment Building is getting ready for the holidays, and the newest client, Joan Hightower, (Stella Stevens) and her assistant Sharon, (Siri Baruc) are checking in, making everyone on their toes. When it's discovered that there's been some illegally transported into the apartment. Weird occurrences start happening all over the building, prompting janitor Curtis, (C. Thomas Howell) decides to investigate. He finds most of the tenants missing and no one knows why, even though he knows something is wrong. Rounding up the guests and trying to find what is going on in the building, they find that giant ants have invaded and slowly picking them off one by one.
The Good News: This had some parts that weren't all that bad. There are some moments of actual suspense in the film. The car attack in the garage is the main one, and is one of the main scenes in the film. A high-top escape over city streets is perhaps the highlight, as it actually goes for some spectacle to add to the suspense. The final resolution is one of the best parts of the movie, and it really makes you care about what happens to what happens. The fact is, the film has one of the best throwback films ever. There is a spirit and tone evident in the film that captures the giant monster films of the part. The film starts off fast, with the invasion coming in quite quickly and it never really has time to slow down for much of anything. The rapid pace is mostly the film's greatest strength, as everything pretty much happens right after something else, so it can become a continuous rush as it goes along.
The Bad News: The fact is, most of the film's weakness is it's over-abundant and totally unnecessary CGI work. The ants look totally cheesy and fake, and when they use puppets, they fare little better. You can at least tell that there's a physical object there, but it still looks really fake and at all convincing in either format. They look accurate, but not realistic. It's not really the budget's fault, but it's still a problem to get over. Also, there are a few parts that don't really make much sense. It's well known that ants are one of the strongest creatures on the planet, yet they are routinely kept out of places by doors or other blocking devices that they should easily pull out, considering that their size would give them even more strength. A slowly closing door is able to keep them out, and they can't yank the door open at all. A creature that size would be able to rip the door off it's hinges and part of the wall as well, and a couple characters are able to fend off the ants inside a locked car. Another perfect example is using a stereo to keep the ants at bay. The fact that they don't hear is mentioned several times in the scene, an yet it's not laid down on the ground but held up in the air. It's just a small collection of scenes that show the stupidity of the scenes in the film.
The Final Verdict: Not all that bad, but still needs a lot of work to really be of upper-tier of monster flicks. It's got an old-school quality to it, but might lack in appealing to newer creature feature fans. Worthy of a look, at the least, but keep expectations low.
Rated PG-13: Violence and brief Language