The Food of the Gods

PG

Released Jun 18, 1976

1h 28m

Horror

Sci-Fi

List

18%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

26%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

When a strange edible substance appears on a remote island, local farmer Mr. Skinner (John McLiam) and his wife (Ida Lupino) deem it a blessing and feed it to their farm animals. Soon other wildlife such as rodents and insects have eaten the food, which makes anything that consumes it grow in size. These gigantic beasts start terrorizing the island, with an athlete named Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) among those who are fighting for their lives against the gargantuan creatures.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

What happens next is a cross between Night of the Living Dead, The Birds and a disaster movie, if you follow me.

Rated: 1/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

This adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel is one of the greats -- and by greats, I mean so unspeakably awful that it needs to be witnessed at least once in a lifetime.

Rated: 1/4

Feb 11, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The most memorable aspects of this fast-paced, mediocrely-acted, moderately-exciting endeavor are the 150-pound rats, amusingly portrayed every so often by colossal, fake heads and appendages.

Rated: 4/10

Aug 29, 2022

Full Review

Dustin Putman

TheBluFile.com

A flagrant disregard for animals' rights—all for the purposes of a schlocky B-movie—gives "The Food of the Gods" a nasty, unclean stench that steals away whatever fun there is to be had.

Rated: 1/4

May 21, 2015

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Back in her glory days at Warner Bros., Ida Lupino never could have imagined that a movie role would require her to wring her hands, bug her eyes and make this fervent prayer: 'I won't never sin again, never. Only don't let no rat eat us, please, God!'

Rated: 3/4

Feb 16, 2011

Full Review

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Schlocky, schlocky sci-fi/horror, circa 1976. And it stars Marjoe Gortner. Say more?

Rated: 2/5

Feb 17, 2008

Full Review

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Steve D

D-movie that alternates between making you laugh and causing you to sleep.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/10/23

Full Review

Robert R

Whenever I see a poor rating from Rotten Tomatoes I have to check it out. Cheesy special effects make this an A+ B movie. Marjoe is awesome in the lead. A great movie for a rainy day.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

dave s

The Food of the Gods has some things going for it, namely some pretty decent cinematography as well as SOME passable special effects. However, SOME of the special effects are worse than brutal, including the seemingly transparent wasps that swoop down like hawks on a field mouse and the giant chicken that pecks the hell out of Marjoe Gortner, prompting him to scream at the farmer's wife "where the hell did you get these god damned chickens?". The premise is simple: animals eat a substance that oozes from the earth and turn into giant, man-killing monsters. It's marginally better than some of the films of a similar ilk from the 70s, but remains nothing more than a corny and predictable B-picture.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

harri k

Not very convincing or frightening at any point but the editor seems to have worked overtime to at least try to make some magic happen. MARjoe Gortner is quite okay in the lead.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

delysid d

Giant rats, how ghastly! I enjoyed thinking about a guy trying his best to make this film. The rats change size and ferocity from time to time as you see them. often you can tell they are just cute little mice crawling over a plastic model of a trailer or a car. its not a masterpiece, but it was funny.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/09/17

Full Review

Audience Member

It has been said that H.G. Wells was not with the first film adaptation of his novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, which was a multilayer satire and rebrand it as a straight up horror movie. I can only imagine what he'd think of this movie had he lived long enough to see it. Not really Well's best work to begin with, but still it must have been a little bit better than being turned into a scifi monster movie of the week.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

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Bert I. Gordon

Director

Marjoe Gortner

Morgan

Pamela Franklin

Lorna

Ralph Meeker

Bensington

Ida Lupino

Mrs. Skinner

Jon Cypher

Brian

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Synopsis

When a strange edible substance appears on a remote island, local farmer Mr. Skinner (John McLiam) and his wife (Ida Lupino) deem it a blessing and feed it to their farm animals. Soon other wildlife such as rodents and insects have eaten the food, which makes anything that consumes it grow in size. These gigantic beasts start terrorizing the island, with an athlete named Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) among those who are fighting for their lives against the gargantuan creatures.

Director: Bert I. Gordon
Producer: Samuel Z. Arkoff
Screenwriter: Bert I. Gordon
Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP)
Rating: PG
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 18, 1976, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Runtime: 1h 28m

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