The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) User Reviews

Fascinating 70's Pseudomentary Fayre

[Kinetek · 7/10 · 28 October 2009]

Only by chance did I manage to find out about this hidden gem, and I'm glad I did. While many disaster movies of late seem to put the emphasis on earthquakes, tidal waves, meteor strikes, fires and floods, The Hellstrom Chronicle looks at a perfectly plausible demise for the human race - itty bitty insects.

And while it may sound like some sort of joke, the case for such a scenario is well documented here. There is a degree of dramatisation involved, granted, but there's no getting away from the fact that given the right set of conditions, mankind could be faced with pestilence or famine on such a huge scale that it threatens their very survival.

Bear in mind that this feature was made in 1971 - so excuse the big hair, tweed jackets and not-so-high-definition images - but nonetheless, there are some jaw-dropping sequences that make you say 'HOW did they get that shot?', despite it's thirty-something age.

I also need to add that it's extremely difficult to get hold of - as far as I know, it isn't available on DVD, although you may be able to find it on VHS or BETA at a thrift store - so if you see it advertised in your TV guide one week, be sure to set the timer.

Fascinating, if a little dated, stuff.

Microcosmos for paranoids

[zaxxon25 · 7/10 · 15 March 1999]

The Hellstrom Chronicle is a documentary about insects wrapped within a fiction. Visually it's incredibly stunning, very similar to Microcosmos in its "how did they get that shot?" camerawork. The film is narrated by a fictional scientist who claims that the final two lifeforms on earth will be man and insect, and when they face off man will lose. This places a very ominous slant on the action, and instead of Microcosmos's wonderment at nature we are treated with Hellstrom's dire dissertation on the various advantages insects have over humans. The voiceovers are hilariously over the top, and the musical accompaniment is splendid in its portent of doom. The movie does tip its hand with an obviously set up hidden camera segment 3/4 of the way through, though the knowledge that Hellstrom is a fiction doesn't diminish the drama. By the end I actually appreciated the kooky construction, which gave the filmmakers a rationalization to deal with some of the harsher aspects of insect life.

A Science-Fiction Documentary?

[Chazzzzz · 7/10 · 28 February 2000]

Well, why not? The way things were/are going here on Earth, the speculation presented by the narration in this film could come true. Might serve us right! Anyway, the cinematography is terrific! Excellently done on a whole, even tho some critics panned the narration. It is unique, so see it. I gave it a 7 out of 10, and it could be rated higher.

"I have been called everything from a Fanatic to a Lunatic"

[thinker1691 · 9/10 · 4 October 2007]

In 1971 a film arrived at our campus and our school was privileged to see it. Witness, would be a better word as what we learned was so fantastic. To ignore what was being shown and investigated, would be to doom our existence to the fact, we were warned of the impending doom and did nothing. The star of this film is the incredible and versatile insect as illustrated by a narrator/biologist Dr. Neil Hellstrom (Lawrence Pressman). His research takes the audience around the world in a desperate attempt to awaken our poor understanding of the mightiest creatures on the planet. Despite the fact man has the potential to destroy the world and its populations with his awesome weapons, it is the Insect who will eventually reclaim what's left. The film is informative and insightful as well as incredible with it special cameras going where only the mind can venture. Want to learn who our greatest enemy is? See this film and then guess which species will inherit the Earth. ****

Now, this is the way to make a documentary!

[Dr Wily · 17 January 2004]

For 10 plus years, "The Hellstrom Chronicle" was regularly plugged into the 2am/4am movie slot on a local station in the middle 80's through 90's. Too bad it couldn't get more coverage, because this is how a documentary should be made.

The problem with documentaries is if you focus too much on the clinical data, it becomes dry. If yo try to interject drama into it, you run the risk of sending up the piece, into parody or even farce. Hellstrom interjects just the right amount of fiction, in the form of Lawrence Pressman, that links the documentary portions at a pace that keeps it from losing one's interest. It's obvious that "Dr." Hellstrom, a fictitious entomologist, is paranoid that insects will take over the world through their superiority over men. The most interesting thing, though, is he may very well be right! If the insect world footage has any say in how future matters may turn out, it will.

Of particular interest is the portion of the footage devoted to the driver ants. As has been quoted in other reviews, this is a prime example of "How DID they film that?!" documentary in motion. It's an inspiration out of "Leinengen Vs. The Ants," only it's real!

If you can find this "movie," give it a roll. Expand your mind a bit with some facts, while at the same time, become entertained by Dr. Hellstrom... even if he isn't a real doctor, but, he plays one on TV! (Actually, he did! Pressman went on to play one on Doogie Howser, M.D.)

Not since THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT have I been so disturbed by a movie.

[FeverDog · 10/10 · 12 March 2003]

"The earth was created not with the gentle caress of love, but with the brutal violence of rape."

This portentous statement opens THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE, a stunning quasi-documentary which is, in its own way, one of the most frightening movies I've ever seen, with themes that are eerily prescient in today's world.

Winner of the 1971 Oscar for Best Documentary, this mostly non-fiction film - the dark side of MICROCOSMOS - recounts the history and nature of the insect world, as well as the myriad ways insects are more equipped to outlive Man in the long run. Insects have a 200-million-year head start, don't have feelings, don't ponder their own existence, don't fight within their species, can adapt to their surroundings, live harmoniously with their environment, have been using "robots" and the airwaves long before we came to be, and aren't afraid to die. Nothing Man throws at them (like pesticides) can stop their reproduction; insects quickly develop immunities while Man chokes on its own weaponry while polluting its environment. And, it would take Man a million years to repopulate the world after nuclear fallout; insects could do it in three weeks.

This ominous storyline is framed in the film with Dr. Hellstrom, a fictional entomologist who narrates with an effectively brooding yet pragmatic tone that somehow comes off as dire but soothing. Some may feel that the human segments of the film distract from the force of the narrative. I, however, believe these breaks from the storyline give the viewer a breather, for the foreboding menace would be nearly unbearably intense otherwise. Also, there is one segment of the film that's obviously faked, but that's okay: it wouldn't have been prudent to film it realistically, and it nonetheless succeeds in making its point as is.

Similar to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT in that what's waiting for us in nature is scarier than any boogeyman, THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE raises questions about Man's arrogance - our fatal flaw which will be the reason for our ultimate downfall. While the film never uses the word "God," it speaks of a "Creator," and ponders the significance of the only species that believes in a higher power yet uses "intelligence" to disprove its existence. THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE is edge-of-your-seat drama about the horror of war and our inevitable fight to the death with the insect world - a battle that we're sure to lose.

10/10

Great forgotten documentary of my youth

[ffa77punks · 9/10 · 9 October 2004]

I may be biased for this movie, but I love it and loved it as a child. I was completely into insects as a kid, so this movie didn't scare me. To the contrary I was probably exited by the possibility of a world ruled by insects. I guess I assumed they would let me hang around or something!

The movie is still great today, a quasi- documentary of the ways and purposes of insects and how they blindly and without hesitation follow that purpose even to the death.. Very well played by 'Dr. Hellstrom' and beautifully filmed, it stands the test of time very well with this viewer. I just watched it today.

Like a film your biology teacher might have shown the class in high school.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 23 November 2013]

While my overall rating for "The Hellstrom Chronicle" is not particularly high, this does not mean it's a bad film. It's just that for me, I found it to be very tedious after a while and more than 90 minutes of footage of insects and the narration by Lawrence Pressman got to be very boring to me. On the other hand, the film has some amazing footage--footage that is STILL very impressive over 40 years later.

The film begins with Pressman introducing himself as Dr. Hellstrom---though this is all fiction. This 'expert' (really, just an actor) talks on and on like an excited entomologist--an entomologist who seemed more intent, at times, to scare the viewer than to truly educate. Most of the information is very true but sometimes he exaggerates in order to scare the viewer about the danger of insects or how they, ultimately, will rule the Earth.

There is a lot to admire, apart from the occasionally dopey narration, about this film. The cinematography still impresses today--with micro shots of many insects as well as human fertilization. But the dryness and long-winded nature of the film make this one you wish was shorter--much shorter. I think this film would have worked better at about 45 minutes.

The greatest movie I have ever seen.

[boboc · 10/10 · 9 July 2006]

This is one of few movies that actually make you feel changed inside afterwords. Even a famous Hollywood actress (whose name escapes me) said this is her favorite movie of all time.It presents convincing, even overwhelming evidence that the insects among us could easily take over the world if only THEY knew it.

The photography, especially for the period, is impressive, even flawless. And the opening scene is the ultimate zoom in, from a balcony high over Central Park in New Youk City all the way down, down, down to ants fighting.

In summation, it is truly a MUST see, most definitely. Do it!

The Hellstrom Chronicle

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 31 March 2024]

Right from the start when the opening piece to camera sees "Hellstrom" almost walk into a tree, there's something a little dodgy about the presentation. No, he's not a real scientist. He's an actor called Lawrence Pressmann and he's not delivering his own painfully garnered research, but an hybrid of that of others. That gimmick doesn't really matter, though, as once this docu-drama gets under way, it's turns into a well photographed investigation into just how easily insects could take over from mankind as the dominant species on Earth. The narration is a bit over the top, alarmist, you might even say but the imagery displayed - especially of the close ups of the menacing features so readily fodder for the sci-fi and horror film industries, is quite effective. These creatures morph from the most unlikely and ugly looking entities into the most beautiful; they work and live in massive swarms and hives existing in concert with nature peacefully pollinating whilst at the same time they can wield enormously potent destructive power. They can be hugely loyal and equally cruel - mating then eating your partner always seems a tad brutal to me (however bad it was!). It lingers briefly on the role of plants in managing their ambitions - some Venus fly traps amongst those quite capable of luring and devouring. Essentially, this illustrates that these animals can be poisonous and/or just hungry, exist in ginormous quantities and the thrust of the narrative is that if they were ever to turn their attentions to mankind, then we'd be ill-equipped to fend them off. Just because this is being linked by an actor doesn't make it less fascinating, and this is well worth watching.

How so "fake documentary"? What do you mean "fictional"?

[Coventry · 9/10 · 15 September 2021]

Be wary and skeptical towards reviews that put too much focus on "The Hellstrom Chronicles" being fictional and a pseudo-documentary. Although most people acknowledge how great and visually stunning it is, they seem to think the "fake" aspects are much more important to write about.

What's so fake about it, I ask? Okay, the narrating scientist - Swedish Ph. D. Nils Hellstrom - doesn't exist, and thus didn't do all the entomologic research he so convincingly proclaims he did. Other entomologists did, though, because all these staggering insights and dazzling particularities we learn about the insect world are factual and captured in the tiniest detail. Lawrence Pressman is an actor, so "The Hellstrom Chronicle is fake. So if, say, David Attenborough or James Earl Jones had done the voiceover instead, it would have been okay?

Before watching the film (on a big cinema screen, which was awesome!) and based on its reputation, I was led to believe "The Hellstrom Chronicle" would spawn grotesque theories around conspiring against all other life-forms, human in particular, or gradually metamorphosing into indestructible monsters. It does nothing of that sort. Hellstrom merely demonstrates, meticulously, that insects are much better equipped and emotionally immune enough to survive and quickly repopulate after whatever type of potential apocalypse overcomes the world. This is not only correct, but also plausible and even probably. And the documentary doesn't even biblically state this will happen tomorrow or in a hundred years, just in the even of. Quite obviously, the tone of the narration and some of the footage is heavily dramatized, but can you honestly blame the producers for inserting a bit of sensationalism? After all, the early 70s was the era of flamboyant ecological horror and dystopian Sci-Fi cinema.

In 1972, "The Hellstrom Chronicle" won the Academy Award in the category of best documentary. I, for one, think this is more than deserved! Apart from the fascinating subject matter, it's also a supreme work of craftmanship. The film is more than half a century old now, but the cinematography and the editorial/technical knowhow have barely aged. I don't watch many documentaries, but this one can still easily compete with all the widely acclaimed stuff National Geographic and the BBC are producing these days. The voiceover monologues are almost like poetry or advanced literature to listen to; - full of superlatives and a wide range of synonyms. And, last but not least, even as a diehard horror fanatic, I occasionally squirmed in my seat when beholding close-up footage of - for example - the Black Widow destroying her mating partner, or a massive colony of legionary ants devouring an adult Komodo lizard!

In short - and apologies for the lengthy review - "The Hellstrom Chronicle" is an absolute must-see!

Precursor to "An Inconvenient Truth"

[liscarkat-2 · 5/10 · 26 October 2009]

"The Hellstrom Chronicle", a well-done science mocumentary, came more than thirty years before Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," but the parallels are uncanny.

Both movies received undeserved Oscars in the documentary field.

Both were fake.

Both fooled a lot of people who might otherwise have been assumed to be intelligent.

The frightening differences are that "Hellstrom" did not spawn a religion of hysterical fanatics who want to destroy our quality of life and our economy.

"Hellstrom" was never used as a bible to brainwash college students and even innocent school children.

The producer of "Hellstrom" was not given the Nobel Prize (presumably the Nobel still had some credibility in 1971).

And "Hellstrom" was ultimately laughed off as a silly piece of entertainment.

Which is exactly what should happen to "An Inconvenient Truth."

The less visible one's enemy the more powerful his threat

[sol-kay · 9/10 · 25 December 2010]

One of the best documentaries ever to come to the screen "The Hallstrom Chronicle" is not only educational about the insect world but visually stunning with its eye popping microscopic and telescopic photography showing the viewer a world that for the most part he or she are almost totally unaware of.

Were introduced to Prof. Niles Hellstrom, Lawrence Pressman, who's study of the insect world has had him become greatly alarmed in that the final battle of mankind would not be among itself in an Armageddon like nuclear holocaust but in a life and death confrontation with the what seems like indestructible insect! The insects who've been around for some 300 million years are the only creatures on earth who can give man a run for his money living space and food supply. In fact besides man the insect is the only species on earth who's population has increased instead of diminished over the last two or three centuries! with the insects now threatening the worlds food supply,like it did since Biblical times, and killing far more people, with insect borne diseases, then all the wars of mankind put together it's only a matter of time according to Prof. Hellstrom before man not insect will disappear off the face of the earth! That's unless man learns to live within his environment and not end up killing himself in wars pollution and nuclear radiation which the insect has over the centuries, unlike man, became completely immune to!

A film not to be taken lightly "The Hellstrom Chronicle" is just as effective now as it was back in 1971 when it was released in showing that man is not in control of his own destiny but he for either good or bad has to work within the world he lives in and the life forms he share it with in oder to survive. The insect world is by far the biggest threat to mans survival and the sooner man realizes that the better chance he has to survive in the future.

The fact that insects have shown that they can survive and even increase despite everything that man throws at them, like DDT and other insecticides, should tells us something. They unlike man have only one thought, if thats what you can call it, in mind survival of the species! Something that man in his greed and arrogance has yet to learn in his obsession of destroying himself in both wars and polluting the world that he lives in. The insect world seems to have no problem or worries in its future existence. It's been around for hundreds of millions of years and will continue to be around for countless more long after man like the dinosaurs have disappeared and been forgotten off the pages of history.

i need to see this again

[Bou · 9/10 · 8 December 2001]

I saw this when it came out, and I remember that I was mightily impressed with both the cinematography and the science. Alas, this film had a misleading marketing campaign that made it sound like it was not a bug movie, but a bug-eyed monster movie. The theater was packed with people expecting the latter, and you can imagine the noise level. (Why don't such people just go home?)

The 'Ecstatic Truth' of Insect Dominion

[agonist · 10/10 · 14 February 2014]

Werner Herzog coined the term 'ecstatic truth' to describe documentaries that take some measure of dramatic liberty with their subject in order to reveal a deeper, more meaningful truth than merely the "truth of accountants".

The Hellstrom Chronicle is a great example of this. It's a brilliant, hyper-serious, scientifically accurate, dramatized documentary about the destiny of insects to once again assume dominion over the Earth.

The host and narrator, Dr. Hellstrom, is a scientist of deadly earnestness who knows how to turn a dramatic phrase as well as Shakespeare. He describes the 300 million year evolution of the insect thusly: "With each new generation come new experiments in shape and function transforming him into specters as limitless as the imagination of the insane." Along with the wonderful narration and compelling storyline, the closeup photography of the insects is incredible, sometimes beautiful and sometimes terrifying. There is perhaps no image more horrific in nature than that of a grotesquely bloated termite queen throbbing in perpetual birth.

I recommend this to anyone who likes nature documentaries and also anyone who appreciates satire, as the level of seriousness in The Hellstrom Chronicle is so unrelentingly high, that one must ultimately marvel at its audacity.

VERY CONVINCING

[bazdol · 13 August 1999]

This film. when I saw it years ago, had me convinced that it was a real "documentary." Excellent special effects and a very good performance by Lawrence Pressman.

More convincing it its way than the current Blair Witch Project which also purports to be a real story

Hellstrom in My Mind

[davidtraversa-1 · 10/10 · 9 February 2013]

This film was shot "with special cameras going where only the mind can enter" said in his review "Thinker1691" (I read them all) and I literally borrow it to open my own review because it encloses the very essence of this documentary.

I saw it many years ago and since then it always stayed in my mind with such an impact that watching it again yesterday night was equally impressive. Funny how memories can play a trick on us, in my mind the photography was of such pristine quality as to be mind boggling, nowadays it looks a bit "out of focus" compare with the latest technology.

But what they filmed in the real interacting of insects --daily life, wars, struggles, escapades, etc.-- even today it's flawless, breathtaking and extremely impressive. What was TRULY impressive was the music created for the soundtrack of this film by that IMMENSE musician, Lalo Schifrin, a music that was, maybe, the main factor next to the insects behavior to keep, for so many years, this magnificent film in my mind.

A scary wakeup call to humans to not underestimate the power of the insect world

[egoldman45 · 9/10 · 12 June 2002]

I saw this movie when it first came out, and still vividly remember it. How many movies from 30 years ago can you say that about??? It's a scary wakeup call to humans to not underestimate the power of the insect world. A betting person would not be out of line to bet on insects over the long haul, especially given the enormous self-destructive tendencies of humans particularly evident in this era of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

Insects will inherit the earth.

[realchapman · 10/10 · 26 May 2000]

By far, one of the best, if not the best, documentaries I have seen. Incredible story of man vs. insects in the battle for survival and it doesn't look good for man. This documentary tells why. Brilliantly narrated and photographed, I thought this movie had more suspense than an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, especially when you consider, this stuff is for real.

Note connection with Frank Herbert (author of Dune)

[memcneil · 10/10 · 24 May 2018]

"The Hellstrom Chronicle" won an Academy Award in 1972 for best documentary -- (supposedly) presented by a (fictitious) filmmaker named Dr. Nils Hellstrom. Fans of science fiction writer Frank Herbert (author of "Dune") might like to go on and read Herbert's "Hellstrom's Hive" (1973) in which Dr. Hellstom is the principal protagonist.