The Food of the Gods - Kino Cult

In the annals of B-movie schlock cinema, there are a lot of filmmakers who kept movie theaters going with their made-on-the-cheap fodder. Ranking among the likes of Roger Corman or Nathan Juran was Mr. BIG - Bert I. Gordon. Famous for big creatures and on-the-cheap DIY visual effects, Gordon’s films had an infectious energy - and more than one made for a great MST3k episode! He also had a knack for adapting H.G. Welles’ works. More specifically H.G. Welles’ The Food of the Gods! 

In his second round with Welles’ iconic story, Bert I. Gordon recruits Marjoe Gortner and Ida Lupino (with fun turns from Ralph Meeker and Jon Cypher) to bring this tall tale of gigantic man-eating rats and other deadly critters to the big screen. I already previously reviewed this one on Blu-ray in the way back of 2015, and I still stand by those words. Before I go and paste in my review I’ll say this movie is a hoot. Gordon was a pretty singular talent for schlocky B-movies and as his movies got bigger so did the critters!  

"Look lady, I already saw your chickens!"

Big-time pro football player Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) and his buddies are ordered by their coach to take a weekend off practice, head into the mountains, and live it up before the next big game. They rent some horses and have a great time riding around the mountains as they hunt some deer. That is of course until Morgan's buddy Davis (Chuck Courtney) runs into a nest of gigantic mutant wasps! After a few quick stings, Davis meets an untimely end and forces Morgan to seek out help. Finding a secluded piece of mountain property, Morgan meets Colonel Sander's worst nightmare - I gigantic six-foot-tall mutant chicken!

Local resident Mrs. Skinner (Ida Lupino) is the owner of these gigantic birds. She and her husband found this mysterious substance they call "the food of the Gods." It must be God's doing because with this mysterious food they give their animals, they will become overnight millionaires! They're ready to make a deal with a rich industrialist named Bensington (Ralph Meeker). 

The only problem is it isn't just the Skinner's livestock that has gotten into "The Food of the Gods," every other little critter, namely a colony of rats has taken a bite. As the gigantic rats multiply, Morgan must help get the locals off the island and to safety. But when there are rats burrowing underground and running all over the mountain unchecked - surviving will be harder than ever.

Burt I. Gordon was a special effects wizard in his heyday. The man could take the smallest grasshopper, tarantula, or even a man, put it in front of a stock photo background, and make them appear gigantic. For his second adaption of the H.G. Wells classic story, he used all of the photography tricks he could to bring 'The Food of the Gods' to glorious life. Granted this movie is a complete 'Night of the Lepus' ripoff, with stupid people making dumb decisions and being hunted down by gigantic versions of small animals - but that doesn't keep it from being a great time. If anything the ultra-cheap and cheesy special effects are what help bring this movie home.  When you see the late great Ida Lupino getting torn apart by a big stuffed animal or when Marjoe Gortner fights the giant chicken - you can't help but love this movie! 

Working in the film's favor is the assembled cast. Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Jon Cypher, Ida Lupino, and Ralph Meeker play this beast 100% straight and honest. They could have camped it up as much as they wanted, but by keeping things on the level - the movie feels that much more incredibly schlocky and fun. This isn't one of those movies that should ever be on the "good or bad" scale of things, it just is what it is. Burt I. Gordon's 'The Food of the Gods' is a great time that put a big smile on my face.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Bert I. Gordon’s The Food of the Gods takes a second bite out of Blu-ray with a new single disc release from Kino Cult. The 10th entry in Kino Cult’s lineup, the film is pressed on a Region A BD-50 disc and housed in a standard case with reversible insert art with a slipcover. The disc loads to a nice memorium for Lee Gambin before moving into a static image main menu with standard navigation options.

The Food of the Gods already dropped on Blu-ray almost ten years ago as a double feature disc from Scream Factory. Kino Cult looks to have recycled that 1080p master, however, it now doesn’t have to share disc space with Frogs. So while this is a similar-looking presentation, it’s a great-looking flick. Bitrates are greatly improved so fine details come in with greater clarity. Another enhancement is the image depth also is greatly improved, but that is limited to when there aren’t any VFX on screen. Gordon, as you may or may not know, did a lot of effects work on his own, usually shooting normal-sized animals on scale dioramas or in front of postcards. He’d then overlay that footage with a matched shot (or close to it) of the cast reacting and those sequences appear softer, flatter, and with the optical processing much noisier grain - but that’s par for the course for a B.I.G. movie. It might not be a 4K upgrade (I'd take one!) but it's a nice step up over the old Scream disc. 

On the audio side, we have what sounds to be the same DTS-HD MA 2.0 track return. The track is solid work with clean clear dialog, great sound effects, and a fun score from Elliot Kaplan. Like a lot of Gordon’s creature features, he plays up the animal sound effects well and these beasts make a lot of noise. When the action really gets going in the third act the 2.0 mix is lively fun. 

On the bonus features side, we get the bulk of the materials from the Scream Factory disc with a new commentary track to sweeten the deal. Anytime you get a Bert I. Gordon commentary it’s a good listen and he’s a lot of information and moderator Kevin Sean Michaels makes sure the conversation never slows down. But the new commentary with the late Lee Gambin and author John Harrison is a true treat. A Gambin commentary is always worth the time and this is no exception. After that, we’ve got the same Belinda Balaski interview and trailer from before. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Lee Gambin and John Harrison
• Audio Commentary featuring Bert I. Gordon moderated by Keven Sean Michaels. 
• Interview with Actress Belinda Balaski
• Theatrical Trailer 

Bert I. Gordon was a master of his craft. His craft just so happened to be schlocky B-movies with giant creatures! He made two dedicated versions of H.G. Welles’ story starting with the daffy nonsense of Village of the Giants but perfected his take with the giant rat epic The Food of the Gods. You could even argue his version of Empire of the Ants is actually another adaptation of The Food of the Gods than the original story. Marjoe Gortner does well as our lead giant rat hunter and the legendary Ida Lupino looks like she’s enjoying herself too. The film is daffy as all get out, but it’s wildly entertaining. The film gets a second run on Blu-ray thanks to Kino Cult and it’s another great disc with a clean A/V presentation and a nice assortment of new and archival extras to dig into. Recommended.