Unlike most of the "giant bugs" sci-fi programmers of the 1950s, which are good for little more than a campy laugh today, Them! remains a compelling and entertaining thriller with an unusually intelligent script, strong performances from a fine cast, and tense, well-paced direction that knows how to play this material seriously. While the special effects technology is not especially impressive by today's standards, watch Them! after such anti-classics as {|Beginning of the End|} or {|Earth vs. the Spider|} and you'll realize how striking this film's giant ants must have looked in 1954. More important, Them! generates a palpable tension from the start, never overplaying its hand as it gradually develops the unreality of the mutated insects, well after establishing that a real and deadly menace is terrorizing the desert. {|James Arness|} and {|James Whitmore|} are capable and credible lawmen, {|Edmund Gwenn|} keeps his "lovable" eccentricities to a minimum as Dr. Medford, and the charming but all-business {|Joan Weldon|} lifts her character above the usual sci-fi token woman. {|Fess Parker|} and {|Dub Taylor|} make the most of their bit parts, and, if you keep an eye peeled, you'll notice {|Leonard Nimoy|} using the teletype machine. Them! blends the lean and efficient construction of a B-picture with the craft that studios usually reserved for more expensive efforts, and the result is one of the best sci-fi films of its era.