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Squirm

 Squirm
type
TVTItem
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label
Squirm
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page
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comment
Filmed in 1976, Squirm is the tale of a Love Triangle between: Geri, a small-town Georgia girl; Mick, the city boy who wants to "examine her antiques"; and Roger, the local boy who's dissatisfied with his lot in life. More importantly, it's about the gigantic swarm of electricity-maddened earthworms that seek to tear them apart...literally.It was directed by Jeff Lieberman, who also did the backwoods slasher Just Before Dawn, drugsploitation flick Blue Sunshine, Satan's Little Helper and wrote the screenplay to The Neverending Story III Escape From Fantasia.For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, please go to the episode recap page.
 Squirm
fetched
2024-02-10T13:44:51Z
 Squirm
parsed
2024-02-10T13:44:51Z
 Squirm
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Squirm / int_10937270
type
Noisy Nature
 Squirm / int_10937270
comment
Noisy Nature: Who knew worms could roar?
 Squirm / int_10937270
featureApplicability
1.0
 Squirm / int_10937270
featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_10937270
 Squirm / int_130436b9
type
Annoying Younger Sibling
 Squirm / int_130436b9
comment
Annoying Younger Sibling: Alma is constantly making snide remarks to her older sister. Roger also gets his share of mean comments.
 Squirm / int_130436b9
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_130436b9
 Squirm / int_1616e13
type
Ripped from the Headlines
 Squirm / int_1616e13
comment
Ripped from the Headlines: Besides his own experiences with worms, Lieberman cited as inspiration a widely-publicized incident from 1975 where the town of Floyds Knob, Indiana was invaded by millions of millipedes who were driven from their homes by drought. The millipedes were reported to be moving in such thick masses that they blocked traffic in the town's streets and driveways (unlike the worms in the movie though, they passed through without causing any serious damage or harm to humans).
 Squirm / int_1616e13
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_1616e13
 Squirm / int_17a45ff5
type
Misplaced Wildlife
 Squirm / int_17a45ff5
comment
Misplaced Wildlife: Bloodworms (polychaete worms, genus Glycera) only burrow underwater or in the intertidal zones of beaches, not on dry land.
 Squirm / int_17a45ff5
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_17a45ff5
 Squirm / int_18aff462
type
Artistic License – Biology
 Squirm / int_18aff462
comment
Artistic License – Biology: Needless to say electrocuting an earthworm will not turn it into a psychotic monster that tries to kill everything in its path. Also, unlike their cousins the bloodworms, they generally don't have teeth...or let out high-pitched screams.
 Squirm / int_18aff462
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_18aff462
 Squirm / int_1bf4581
type
Being Tortured Makes You Evil
 Squirm / int_1bf4581
comment
Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Roger was pretty unhinged before, but being infested with bitey worms that crawl under his skin seems to have driven him completely off his nut.
 Squirm / int_1bf4581
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_1bf4581
 Squirm / int_1c512c6c
type
The Swarm
 Squirm / int_1c512c6c
comment
The Swarm: The worms in the climax are a sea of squirming and all-devouring little bodies.
 Squirm / int_1c512c6c
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_1c512c6c
 Squirm / int_21718ffc
type
Deep South
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comment
Deep South: VERY much so.
 Squirm / int_21718ffc
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_21718ffc
 Squirm / int_21e5b9c7
type
Failed a Spot Check
 Squirm / int_21e5b9c7
comment
Failed a Spot Check: Essentially the only way the worms or Roger could ever actually kill anyone.
 Squirm / int_21e5b9c7
featureApplicability
1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_21e5b9c7
 Squirm / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 Squirm / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: As Alma smokes pot, she accidentally falls inside the open chest which she was sitting on. When the wave of worms threaten to swallow her, she hides in there and reveals herself to be alive in the ending.
 Squirm / int_22cf536c
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_22cf536c
 Squirm / int_3548455f
type
Improvised Umbrella
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comment
Improvised Umbrella: A man is briefly seen at the beginning of the film running through a thunderstorm using a newspaper as an umbrella.
 Squirm / int_3548455f
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_3548455f
 Squirm / int_4583a262
type
Shirtless Scene
 Squirm / int_4583a262
comment
Shirtless Scene: Mick takes off his shirt and uses it as a torch. Geri has a couple, also.
 Squirm / int_4583a262
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
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 Squirm / int_59907e4f
type
Police Are Useless
 Squirm / int_59907e4f
comment
Police Are Useless: The sheriff is immediately antagonistic towards city boy Mick, and while he humors him and Geri and follows them to the first body (which goes missing), he then refuses to lift a finger for anything after that, even when they barge in saying that they know who the first victim is and that they've found another (and also that Roger was injured and has gone missing).
 Squirm / int_59907e4f
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1.0
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1.0
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hasFeature
Squirm / int_59907e4f
 Squirm / int_62434fe2
type
Sanity Slippage
 Squirm / int_62434fe2
comment
Sanity Slippage: Geri's and Alma's mom isn't all there at the start of the picture, and she just keeps getting worse throughout.
 Squirm / int_62434fe2
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_62434fe2
 Squirm / int_7286e96d
type
Idiot Ball
 Squirm / int_7286e96d
comment
Idiot Ball: Mick walking half a mile to the rice mill and carrying back plywood with his bare hands instead of just using the station wagon for transport. Less dramatically, he expects to walk into a diner in the Deep South & be able to order a proper egg cream when there's no power, and thus no refrigeration. Of course, this also begs to question why the diner is even open in the first place. (Answer: Ice blocks, and where else do you expect folks to sit around all day gossiping?)
 Squirm / int_7286e96d
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1.0
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 Squirm / int_7eccbb3d
type
Shower Scene
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comment
Shower Scene: Geri has one and attempts to have a second later, but the water doesn't come out.
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_7eccbb3d
 Squirm / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Squirm / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: It's not clear if Naomi is alive at the end of the movie in the MST3K cut. The un-MST'd version shows that she was killed, when Mick finds a human-shaped figure in her chair covered in worms.
 Squirm / int_863fa679
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1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
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hasFeature
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 Squirm / int_875615dd
type
Truth in Television
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comment
Truth in Television: The train transformer story Roger tells actually happened to the film's director Jeff Leiberman and inspired the movie.
 Squirm / int_875615dd
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_875615dd
 Squirm / int_8b68d9a7
type
Stalker with a Crush
 Squirm / int_8b68d9a7
comment
Stalker with a Crush: Roger, convincingly and disturbingly so.
 Squirm / int_8b68d9a7
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1.0
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 Squirm
hasFeature
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 Squirm / int_8f719646
type
Identification by Dental Records
 Squirm / int_8f719646
comment
Identification by Dental Records: Mick breaks into a dentist's office to determine if the skull that he is holding really is Mr. Beardsley's.
 Squirm / int_8f719646
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
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Squirm / int_8f719646
 Squirm / int_9600368d
type
Behind the Black
 Squirm / int_9600368d
comment
Behind the Black: Geri walks down a hallway and right into the arms of the worm-faced Roger, who was standing the middle of the hallway, but just offscreen.
 Squirm / int_9600368d
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1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
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Squirm / int_9600368d
 Squirm / int_99c36bb5
type
Ironic Nursery Tune
 Squirm / int_99c36bb5
comment
Ironic Nursery Tune: Song in the opening.
 Squirm / int_99c36bb5
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1.0
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 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_99c36bb5
 Squirm / int_a18fda9c
type
Dumb Muscle
 Squirm / int_a18fda9c
comment
Dumb Muscle: Roger is clearly lacking in mental faculties, but he's just as plainly capable of snapping Mick in two on his knee.
 Squirm / int_a18fda9c
featureApplicability
1.0
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1.0
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 Squirm / int_af696bef
type
Fish out of Water
 Squirm / int_af696bef
comment
Fish out of Water: Mick, a college boy from a big city visiting a Deep South town, which is mistrustful to strangers.
 Squirm / int_af696bef
featureApplicability
1.0
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1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_af696bef
 Squirm / int_b352279a
type
Attack of the Killer Whatever
 Squirm / int_b352279a
comment
Attack of the Killer Whatever: The squirming worms in question are called bloodworms, whose bite can be painful to humans. Their ranks also seem to include common earthworms as well.
 Squirm / int_b352279a
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
Squirm / int_b352279a
 Squirm / int_b4754f84
type
The Worm That Walks
 Squirm / int_b4754f84
comment
The Worm That Walks: Roger sort of becomes one as he gets more and more worms under his skin.
 Squirm / int_b4754f84
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Squirm
hasFeature
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 Squirm / int_b4ab58d0
type
Modern Minstrelsy
 Squirm / int_b4ab58d0
comment
Modern Minstrelsy: This film contains some of the most egregiously stereotyped Southern accents committed to film. Compare the Sheriff's noticeable but subdued accent to how most other "Southern" characters have an exaggeratedly twangy drawl that sounds like a banjo learned to speak English. The Sheriff's actor is actually from Georgia (the movie's setting), while the bulk of the cast are native New Yorkers (or, in R.A. Dow's case, from Massachusetts).
 Squirm / int_b4ab58d0
featureApplicability
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 Squirm
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 Squirm / int_b58b4e3c
type
Too Dumb to Live
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comment
Too Dumb to Live: When night comes and the worms invade the diner, a diner patron very blatantly grabs the girl next to him and hurls himself and her into the mass of worms.
 Squirm / int_b58b4e3c
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Squirm / int_c6dccfb7
type
Musical Spoiler
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comment
Musical Spoiler: The end credits song plays on the radio when Geri first gets home with Mick.
 Squirm / int_c6dccfb7
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 Squirm
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 Squirm / int_d0f0a80d
type
One-Word Title
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comment
One-Word Title
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 Squirm
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 Squirm / int_d848560f
type
Unusual Euphemism
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comment
Unusual Euphemism: "Now you're going to be the worm-face!"
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1.0
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 Squirm
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Squirm / int_d848560f
 Squirm / int_eeb4a5eb
type
Anti-Climax
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comment
Anti-Climax: The power lines were repaired so the worms just kind of go away.
 Squirm / int_eeb4a5eb
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1.0
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 Squirm
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Squirm / int_eeb4a5eb
 Squirm / int_f3d5d15f
type
Creepy Child
 Squirm / int_f3d5d15f
comment
Creepy Child: The song used for the opening credits is slow, with minimal music.
 Squirm / int_f3d5d15f
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1.0
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 Squirm
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Squirm / int_f3d5d15f
 Squirm / int_fedff81c
type
Suspiciously Stealthy Predator
 Squirm / int_fedff81c
comment
Suspiciously Stealthy Predator: Who would've thought that worms could be crafty enough to hide underground (despite it being electrified) any time the characters have a chance to burn or report them?
 Squirm / int_fedff81c
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 Squirm
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Squirm / int_fedff81c
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type
ItemName
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comment
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Squirm

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Squirm
hasFeature
Attack of the Killer Whatever / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
B-Movie / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
Behind the Black / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
Bug Works / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
Improvised Umbrella / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
Lightning Can Do Anything / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
Mutant Media / int_997d4f27
 SSTDeathFlight
seeAlso
Squirm
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hasFeature
Sci-Fi Horror / int_997d4f27
 Squirm
hasFeature
The Swarm / int_997d4f27