Empire of the Ants

Empire of the Ants is a 1977 science fiction horror film co-scripted and directed by Bert I. Gordon. The movie is  b ased very loosely on the short story Empire of the Ants by H. G. Wells. In Well's story, a Brazilian captain travels into the Amazon to fight ants that have evolved, developed tools and take organized actions against humans. The film involves a group of prospective land buyers led by a land developer who encounter and are pitted against giant, mutated ants as they travel by boat to view the land, which is essentially worthless.

Plot
The opening narration briefly introduces the viewer to the ant and its behavior. It takes note how ants use pheromones to communicate, and how they cause an obligatory response that must be obeyed. "But we (humans) don't have to worry about it..." As the opening credits roll, barrels of radioactive waste are being dumped off a boat into the ocean. Eventually, one of the barrels washes up on the shore and begins to leak a silvery goo attractive to local ants.

Meanwhile, shady land developer Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins) takes a bunch of new clients to view some 'beach-front property' on a nearby island. In reality, the land is worthless, but the trip is cut short by the group stumbling upon the lair of gigantic ants. The ants destroy their boat and chase the group through the woods. Fleeing for their lives through the wilderness and losing many of their party along the way, the remaining survivors eventually discover the local island town. But their safety is short-lived when they realize that not only are the giant ants feeding on the local sugar factory, but that they are doing so at the invitation of the humans. The queen ant, using pheromones, has the entire town completely under her control. However, the survivors manage to escape and burn the sugar factory, killing the giant ants, and leave the island by a speedboat.