Monday, July 14, 2025

Bert I. Gordon's The Food of the Gods

Marjoe Gortner as Morgan.
Is it possible to feel nostalgic about a Bert I. Gordon movie?

Mr. B.I.G. was known for making movies about giant people (The Amazing Colossal Man), enormous insects (Beginning of the End), and large prehistoric creatures (King Dinosaur). He was not known making good movies. Thankfully, there is no correlation between a film's quality and its nostalgic value. Hence, I feel no guilt about enjoying a recent viewing of The Food of the Gods (1976), which I originally saw at a tiny cinema in my hometown of Winston-Salem, NC.

Very loosely based on H.G. Wells' 1904 novel, The Food of the Gods finds a professional football player named Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) taking friends on a hunting trip to a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. When one of the friends is killed by what appears to be a giant wasp, Morgan seeks help at a local farm. He discovers that the farmer and his wife (Ida Lupino) have been feeding a mysterious substance to their chickens--which has caused the animals to grow to gigantic proportions.

Pamela Franklin in a bad hat.
After burying his friend on the mainland, Morgan returns to the island and learns that the substance has also been consumed by wasps and rats...causing them to grow dangerously large as well. A businessman (Ralph Meeker), whom the farmer had approached, wants to buy the rights to the growth substance. He and his associate (Pamela Franklin) soon find themselves trapped on the farm with Morgan, the farmer's wife, and three others as the giant rats strategize how to surround and devour the humans.

The Food of the Gods was one of several Man vs. Nature films produced during the 1970s. Other similar-themed movies include Frogs (1972), Grizzly (1976), and Day of the Animals (1977). It's to Bert Gordon's credit that The Food of the Gods might actually be the best of this bunch. Yes, the characters are two-dimensional, the dialogue sometimes silly, and--let's be honest--acting expectations are low when your leading man is Marjoe Gortner and your chief villain is a white rat.

On the plus side, The Food of the Gods moves quickly, takes advantage of its atmospheric location (Bowen Island in British Columbia), and boasts passable special effects. Plus, it features Pamela Franklin (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Innocents) and I'd watch her in any movie. That said, it's hard to stomach the scenes where she flirts with Marjoe as they battle giant rodents.

Giant rats destroy an RV!
The Food of the Gods made $5 million at the box office, making it one of the forty highest-grossing films of the year. Bert Gordon followed it up with the wacky Empire of the Ants (1977), starring Joan Collins and Jacqueline Scott (one of our favorite interviewees). A belated sequel to Gods, titled Food of the Gods II or the slightly better Gnaw: Food of the Goods II, appeared in 1989. It bears no resemblance to the first film, other than a growth serum and giant rats.

Interestingly, Bert Gordon made an earlier, even looser adaptation of The Foods of the Gods in 1965. Called Village of the Giants, it stars a young Ron Howard as a boy genius who invents a "goo" that causes humans to grow to 30 feet in height. Several teenagers consume it and proceed to terrorize their town. It's sometimes listed as one of the worst films ever made--and I wouldn't argue with that. However, it's admittedly fun to watch because of the cast. In addition to Howard, it stars Beau Bridges, Tommy Kirk, Tisha Stirling, Johnny Crawford, Joy Harmon, and Ryan O'Neal's lookalike brother Kevin. The Beau Brummels are also on hand to perform a couple of songs.