Richard Tarbell (Franc Luz) is the sheriff of North Port, a quiet little island town off the coast of New England. Richard wakes up one morning and begins his day as usual. He goes to the local diner where his girlfriend, Lillian (Nancy Morgan), works. Lillian is currently monitoring Homer (Stephen Davies), the owner of the local pest control company. Lillian is having a problem with cockroaches. Richard picks up his thermos of coffee and goes about his day.
The off-island seaplane arrives and drops off a passenger. Elizabeth Johnson (Lisa Langlois) arrives for her father’s birthday. Her father, Elias Johnson (Robert Lansing) is the town mayor. Elizabeth left North Port several years ago after the death of her mother. Since then her relationship with her father has been strained. Elizabeth and Richard had been involved before she moved to Los Angeles.
Lately there have been some strange things going on around town. Several dogs have gone missing. Mayor Johnson seems to know something about the unusual events but is closed-mouthed. He calls in Dr. Morgan Hubbard (Terri Treas) to investigate. Morgan is a researcher working on a project for Intec, an organization doing work on the island. Morgan’s job was to find a way to genetically alter cockroaches so that they eat each other. Instead the experiments resulted in cockroaches that are ravenous and will eat anything, including people. As they eat they mutate based on whatever they consume. In the process they become a hybrid creature that kills.
Johnson calls the owners of Intec requesting that the island be sprayed with a strong insecticide called rotenone. Since the poison affects humans, Johnson plans on evacuating the island first. Morgan does some further testing and finds out that the roaches have become immune to rotenone. It’s now a race to stop the poison from being spread before everyone on the island is either killed by poison or being eaten alive by hybrid mutant cockroaches.
“The Nest” was released in 1987 and was directed by Terence H. Winkless. It is an American science fiction horror film with body horror. The movie was based on the 1980 novel by Eli Cantor. The film was produced by Roger Corman.
The two large explosions that destroy a pickup truck and Homer the exterminator's house are stock footage reused from Roger Corman’s “Humanoids from the Deep” 1980.
Approximately, 2,000 flying cockroaches were used during filming. Some of the roaches managed to escape from the set. It took the studio years to clear them out of the studio. The studio, Quicksilver Studios in Venice, Los Angeles tried to have the humane society help with the cockroaches, but they are only available to help when specifically hired prior to shooting, as least when it comes to insects. Cockroaches are omnivores and will each almost anything, including non-organic things like soap, cardboard and glue.
There is a diner scene that is reminiscent of the scene in “Gremlins” where the mother is battling the gremlins in her kitchen that added some humor. There are a few spots where some comedy is interjected. The film in general is your basic insect on the rampage type movie. The story is typical, but the special effects make it fun.