Video: It Came from the Desert, based on the Amiga game, is a movie about dumb motocross-racing teens getting attacked by giant ants and possibly fighting them off with bike tricks. I’ve never been sold on a movie so fast in my life.
Image: Roger! Pictures/Cinemaware
Created by director Marko Mäkilaakso (War of the Dead) and co-writers Hank Woon (Age of Dinosaurs) and Trent Haaga (68 Kill), It Came from the Desert is a knowingly ridiculous take on ’50s monster movies such as Them!, borrowing its ideas and title from an old computer game.
The original, released for the Amiga computer system in 1989, was a savvy adventure game that put players in the shoes of a geologist in Nevada forced to contend with an insurgency of ants turned giant from radiation. The movie adaptation, produced in concert with Cinemaware, the game’s original publisher, dials all the monster movie cliches to 11. You have your screaming teens! Your horny flirtations interrupted by terrifying monsters! Aliens are involved! Ahh, ants!
Seriously, this rules. You can watch the trailer below. It Came from the Desert presently doesn’t have a release date. You can also watch someone play through the original game here, if you’re so inclined. It’s pretty cool.