Line #40 Film/TheFoodOfTheGods


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_food_of_the_gods_1976_poster.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Oh, dear. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint That branch can't support their combined weight for long]].]]
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4	''The Food of the Gods'' is a 1976 horror film directed by Creator/BertIGordon, so it naturally involves people fighting against (badly done) giant things. The cast includes Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Jon Cypher, and Creator/IdaLupino.
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6	Loosely based on a Creator/HGWells novel ''The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth'',[[note]]as was his earlier film ''Film/VillageOfTheGiants''[[/note]] the film follows pro football player Morgan (Gortner), who -- on a vacation trip with his friends to a remote island off British Columbia -- encounters giant wasps that kill one of the friends. He later discovers that the insects got huge due to a weird substance which is bubbling from the ground, and that any offspring of creatures that eat it will grow into giants. Unfortunately, rats have eaten the stuff and their litters are also growing into unusual sizes....
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8	In 1989 the film got an InNameOnly sequel, ''Film/FoodOfTheGods2''.
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10	----
11	!!Munch on these examples:
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13	* AmericanGothicCouple: A copy of the Wood painting can be seen on Mrs. Skinner's wall.
14	* AndStarring: "And Creator/IdaLupino as Mrs. Skinner"
15	* AssholeVictim: Bensington, even lampshaded halfway through the film by Mrs. Skinner.
16	* BehindTheBlack: Shown in one scene when Mr. Skinner encounters the rats in the dark.
17	* ClosedCircle: The island can only be reached by ferry, and has no means of lone-distance communication.
18	* DeathByMaterialism: Jack Bensington's fate. He tries to fetch jars of the substance even when he's surrounded by the rats.
19	* DontGoInTheWoods: When they are full of giant wasps and rats, it's definitely not a good idea.
20	* DramaticAmmoDepletion: Morgan finally runs out of ammo for his shotgun when the only giant rat that remains is the leader, so he kills the beast by bludgeoning its brains out with the butt of his shotgun.
21	* EatenAlive: The giant rats' victims go on screaming for an awfully long time while they're being chewed on. Mrs. Skinner's arm is chewed on by giant mealworms, although her injuries are superficial enough that she's able to bandage them herself and carry on.
22	* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler:Some of the Food is shown leaking into the water supply, where it is drunk by cows, whose milk is then given to schoolchildren..]]
23	* ForcedPerspective: Most of the rat effects.
24	* TheFundamentalist: Mrs. Skinner is a downplayed example. She saw the mutagen that makes animals huge and murderous ooze out from the ground in her backyard and she assumes that it's a gift from God for being so pious. The TitleDrop is set subtly enough that audiences can assume she told it to Bennington and he wrote it on the labels to humor her.
25	* FunWithAcronyms: The jars containing the size-altering substance are labeled as [[TitleDrop F.O.T.G.]]
26	* GaiasVengeance: Morgan mentions in the opening narration the time when his father warned him about this.
27	* HollywoodDarkness: Part of the plot has Morgan wander through tunnels dug by the giant rats. He brings along a flashlight, but it doesn't really looks like he'd need it.
28	* HuddlePower: Shown in the opening football game.
29	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: "H.G. Wells' ''Food Of The Gods''", although it's almost InNameOnly.
30	* KillItWithFire: Morgan destroys the wasps by setting their nest on fire. The fire somehow vaporizes the whole thing without leaving anything behind.
31	* KillItWithWater: A dam is blown up to drown the rats who, due to their size, are unable to swim. It is notable that the dam is next to the ocean and water level on the island rises above ''the sea level''.
32	* MolotovCocktail: Morgan makes a whole lot of them when the rats besiege the farmhouse.
33	* MonstrousCannibalism: Mrs. Skinner says that the chicks which grew into giant chickens ate all the adult chickens that'd stayed normal-sized.
34	* PistolWhipping: Morgan kills the leader rat by bashing its brains in with the butt of his shotgun.
35	* PlotHole: Bennington supposedly gathered every container Mrs. Skinner had on hand to collect the Food in, yet Morgan has no trouble finding lots of intact jars for his Molotov cocktails even after he's smashed Bennington's.
36	* PreClimaxClimax: Lorna approaches Morgan before the final battle, wanting at least one time with him incase they don't make it. Morgan turns her down, assuring her that once they've made it through, [[LetsWaitAWhile they can make love all they want.]]
37	* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Naturally. They are the [[AttackOfTheKillerWhatever killer whatever]] that hounds the humans for most of the film (after the giant wasps are blown up).
38	* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Morgan brings along a shotgun to take care of the giant monsters. Each time he shoots it's a OneHitKill.
39	* TheSwarm: Of [[RodentsOfUnusualSize giant rats]].
40	* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: The superimposed rats playing the giant monsters mostly stare around as if they're looking for a treat. Dubbed in wildcat noises may help.
41	* TooDumbToLive
42	** When our protagonists board up the house, they somehow forget ''the door''.
43	** When the farmers find a [[MutagenicGoo strange substance]] on the ground they don't know what it is...so they decide to feed it to their chickens, causing them to grow giant.
44	* TouchOfTheMonster: As seen above.
45	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Bennington drives past Mr. Skinner's car, which is half on, half off the road, has its windshield smashed, one door torn completely off, and what appears to be its owner's bloodstained clothing littering the immediate surroundings. Admittedly, Bennington is a huge JerkAss, but Lorna, who is with him and a much more sensible, levelheaded and compassionate person, ''also'' reacts to it as though it's simply an ordinary broken down car and not clearly the site of a grisly, violent death.
46	* WickedWasps: These "wasps" look more like mosquitos.
47	* TheXOfY: The film's title.
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Context Film / TheFoodOfTheGods