The African Armadillo Bug.
Dr. Ben Cahill (Thomas Calabro) is under a lot of stress. Marital problems, alcohol, work related issues. He needs to get away. What better place to sit back and unwind than Orr island off the coast of Maine? He and his ex have a small vacation home there.
Right away he gets off on the wrong foot with the locals. Especially since the house he bought was the family home of Jack Wald (John Savage), the only electrician on the island. And Jack thinks the house should have been his. The one bright spot among the locals is Nell Bartle (Kristen Dalton). She works at the local store.
Strange things start to happen on the island. A local man is found dead. Sheriff Hobbs (Dean Stockwell) asks Cahill for his opinion. With nothing to go on it’s chalked up to downing. Then Jack Wald dies under mysterious circumstances.
Cahill gets suspicious when he sees a giant cockroach where Jack was killed. It looks different than a normal cockroach. It has pincers. His research shows that it could be what is known as an African Armadillo Bug. They lay their eggs inside people. Jack calls an entomologist to try to get more information. They need a specimen before they can help. Wonderful.
In the meantime, Jack’s brother Eamon (Tom Mc Beath) is convinced that Cahill murdered his brother. He spends the rest of the movie riling up the town and taking the law into his own hands. His actions cause the death of the sheriff. Now there is no law on the island and an infestation of bugs that threatens the entire town.
“Creepy Crawlers” AKA “They Nest” was released in 2000 and was directed by Ellory Elkayem. It is a made for TV “B” horror movie. There’s some of the usual stuff you find in bug movies, but some added touches as well. Of course there is no such thing as an African Armadillo Bug, but that doesn’t matter. (They used Madagascar Cockroaches.) There’s humor, but it’s not really campy. For the most part the humor flows naturally. I thought it went a little overboard with the “you killed my brother” stuff but otherwise it was good. The acting was good. The special effects for the most part were also good. Some snappy dialogue here and there. And of course lots and lots of big ugly bugs. If you like creepy little bug movies, this is a good one.
I felt bad about Clementine, and the hamster.