King of The Ants (2003) – Stuart Gordon.

Finally caught up with horror maestro Stuart Gordon's brutish, tantalizingly twisted crime flick. Naive, shiftless young drifter Sean (Chris McKenna), through apparent happenstance is tasked by heavy (Daniel Baldwin)to shadow city counsellor Eric (Ron Livingston), the gruesome events thereafter propel him deliriously towards a macabre, wholly unforeseen destiny. Gritty plot proved engaging, if a tad shop-worn, maestro Gordon's sharp film-making, compellingly lurid left-turns, tasty performances, and a grimly sardonic tone kept me gripped until to the bravura, Grand Guignol climax. King of the Ants certainly doesn't telegraph its singularly mean-spirited final act, and some of the surreal practical FX imbues it with an additional, phantasmagorically-inclined horror-noir edge. George Wendt is an exemplary actor who is consistently wonderful to watch, having an almost alchemical talent turning 'blah' scenes into pure gold! I'm not sure why it took me so long to get round to watching this, but I'm certainly glad I did, and one hopes others who missed King of The Ants, find themselves no less beguiled than I.