Spineless on Screen Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ants

Based on a short story written in 1938, by Carl Stephenson, "The Naked Jungle" (1954) starred Charlton Heston as plantation owner Christopher Leiningen. He and his new wife, Joanna, played by Eleanor Parker, decide to stay and try to defend their home against a massive column of army ants which are headed right for them.
It was directed by Byron Haskin, who also directed the 1953 version of "War of the Worlds".

Answer: Irwin Allen

In spite of a very poor reception from critics, and a poor box office showing, "The Swarm" was nominated for an Oscar, for Best Costume Design.
Irwin Allen also directed disaster movie flop "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure", released in 1979.
The original novel upon which "The Swarm" was based was written by Arthur Herzog, who also wrote the cult sci-fi novel "IQ83", published in 1974 and 1978 respectively.

Answer: Maud Adams

Swedish born Maud Adams also appeared as a Bond girl in "The Man With the Golden Gun" in 1974.
The original Ian Fleming collection of short stories "Octopussy and the Living Daylights", first published in 1966, was used as a loose basis for the film version of "Octopussy", but the plots are significantly different.
Claudine Auger was the French actress who played Domino in the 1965 film "Thunderball".
Jane Seymour played Solitaire in "Live and Let Die" in 1973.
In the 1971 film "Diamonds are Forever", Jill St.John played Tiffany Case.

Answer: Andre Delambre and Seth Brundle

The 1958 version of "The Fly" also starred Vincent Price, and the screenplay was written by James Clavell, of "Shogun" (both the novel in 1975 and the TV miniseries in 1980) fame.
The 1986 version was both written and directed by David Cronenburg.
There are differences in the plot lines of the two films, but the essential storyline is the same; a scientist tries to make a teleportation device and ends up being 'mixed up' with a fly during testing it. Both films end with the death of the man/fly hybrid, at the hands of their wife or lover.
In 1958, Patricia Owens plays Helene Delambre, and she manoeuvres the man/fly into a machine press and crushes him.
In 1986, Geena Davis plays Veronica Quaife, the lover who eventually shoots the man/fly with a shotgun.

Answer: Along Came a Spider

"Along Came a Spider" (2001) was based on the first of the Alex Cross series of novels by James Patterson, published in 1993.
The film stars Morgan Freeman as detective Alex Cross, the officer tasked with the rescue of Senator's daughter Megan Rose, after she is kidnapped from school.
There are significant plot differences between the film and the novel.
Mika Boorem's other film roles include appearances in "Jack Frost" in 1998, and "The Patriot" in 2000.
"Spiderman 2" was released in 2004, and "Earth vs. the Spider" was released in 1958. "Horrors of Spider Island" was released in 1960.

Answer: Ants

"Them!" was filmed in black and white, and many fans consider it to be the first of the science-fiction "big bug" films, as well as one of the first films to use nuclear radiation as the cause of the monster insects' mutations.
It features an officer from the New Mexico State Police investigating the mysterious disappearance of a family travelling on a desert road. Eventually the killers are revealed as ants the size of cars, which have been transformed by being irradiated.

Answer: Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus

Debbie Gibson has also starred as Eponine in "Les Miserables" on Broadway, in 1992, and Sandy in "Grease" in London's West End in 1993.
Shawn Lawlor appeared in "Braveheart" alongside Mel Gibson, in 1995, playing Malcolm Wallace.
Lorenzo Lamas appeared during the 1980s as Lance in "Falcon Crest", and also as Hector Ramirez in "The Bold and the Beautiful" in the 1990s.
The mega shark and the giant octopus are released from hibernation in a glacier after a pod of maddened whales hurl themselves against the ice, and a helicopter crashes into it. The plot of the film follows the efforts of scientists and government agents as they try to find and destroy the creatures.
"Ice Spiders" was released in 2007.
"Leviathan" was released in 1989, and "The Lair of the White Worm" was released in 1988.

Answer: Graboids

The "Tremors" series continued with sequels "Tremors 2: Aftershocks" and "Tremors 3: Back to Perfection" in 1996 and 2001 respectively. There is also a prequel, "Tremors 4: The Legend Begins", released in 2004, which went straight to DVD.
The character of Heather Gummer in "Tremors" was played by singer Reba McEntire, who was nominated for a Saturn Award for her performance.
The Graboids in the films are based on the legendary "Mongolian Death Worm" or "olgoi-khorkhoi" which is reputed to vomit sulphuric acid and emerge from the sands of the Gobi desert to kill solitary herders and nomads before vanishing again.

Answer: In the Holland Tunnel

At one point, the mantis perches on top of the Washington Monument, and the US air force attacks it. It takes flight and ends up in New York, and hides in the Holland Tunnel, where the close quarters mean that the nerve gas is effective.
The film was made in black and white, and starred Craig Stevens, who is perhaps best remembered for his title role in the TV series "Peter Gunn" from 1958 to 1961.
It also starred William Hopper who also appeared in "The Maltese Falcon" in 1941, and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in 1942.

Answer: Aneta Corsaut

"The Blob" was Aneta's film debut too. She is perhaps best remembered for her role as Helen Crump, in "The Andy Griffith Show", on US television from 1960 - 1968.