MovieChat Forums > The Satan Bug (1965) Discussion > Was this movie ahead of its time?

Was this movie ahead of its time?

posted 17 years ago by pschroeter
4 replies | jump to latest

I don't remember any movies that handled the germ warfare topic seriously before this. I kept thinking about The Andromeda Strain that came in 1971. I guess The Last Man on Earth 1964 qualifies, but I thought the psuedo-vampire angle made it more speculative scifi.

BTW: If you capture an enemy agent who has the End of the World, you don't put the glass flask in your pocket and drive off. You put it gently on the ground and and guard it and wait for the 60s version of biological hazmat team to come and recover it. And when they take the case with the vials out of the stream, I sure as heck wouldn't open it in case one of the flasks had developed a leak or had cracked in handling.

[–] Jake_Fratelli 17 years ago

Elia Kazan's "Panic in the Streets" from the early '50s -- a man suffering from pneumonic plague is murdered in New Orleans. A cop and a Navy doctor have to find the killers before they can spread the disease.

*/\*Goonies never say die!*/\*

[–] mikethegent 15 years ago

Panic In The Streets and The Satan Bug were movies ahead of their time

[–] Kasper_Gutman 13 years ago

Subjest wise, sure it was ahead of its time but the direction/writing holds this film back. The scene with the phone hanging behind the curtain was laughable. This film suffers when you compare it to the multiple James Bond films that had been released by that point. I honestly thought I was watching a mid-1950's movie and was shocked to see it listed as a 1965 film. I did like the lab scenes except the switcharoo by the guard. They could have built up the characters a little more and casted a little differently to help that scene. Mulitple characters resembled each other too much. I get how that helps the switcharoo though. I'll bet the 1965 crowd wished they could rewind that scene. Not trying to diss this movie too much as I enjoyed it but it still suffers compared to The Andromeda Strain made just a few years later.

[–] cnicknz 10 years ago

I agree that this is an interesting premise not executed very well. As a teenager, I saw it at a studio screening prior to its release mainly because I was a Maharis and Francis fan. I didn't think either of them were particularly well used, and for once, she didn't even look particularly good. My opinion never changed over the years. Let's face it, the budget on this was not top drawer or it might have starred bigger names and with a stronger director it could have been a classic.