One of the scariest movies from my childhood was Them. James Whitmore and James Arness fought giant ants living in the Los Angeles drainage system. I saw the same movie recently and the scariest thing was James Arness in an army helmet that was too small.

The ants grew to super size because of radiation. Movies from my youth featured all kinds of creatures that were either awakened from prehistoric slumber or went on a growth spurt because of radiation. Atom bombs, nuclear weapons, and radioactive fallout caused all kinds of movie havoc back then, and it seemed plausible because the threat was so real.

After the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, we needed a new reason for monsters to appear out of thin air to terrorize humans. Global warming is the latest go- to terrifying monster conjuring device.

I watched a movie on the Sci- Fi channel last week called Wyvern. I see a lot of made for Sci- Fi movies, usually for comic effect. This one was a little better than normal.

Wyvern seemed to

have a bit of Tremors,

which will hyp- mo- tize me anytime it appears onscreen and a healthy

dose of Northern

Exposure, the excellent show about small town Alaska that left TV way too soon.

Two former actors

from Northern Exposure

were featured prominently, along with many of the buildings and the whole quirky Alaska aura. The only thing missing was a hot babe governor to blame Obama for the calamity and blast the monster into oblivion.

A wyvern is a Norse mythological dragon- like creature. According to legend, the thing was banished to the icy north by a persuasive Viking leader. Global warming must have thawed him out. At least that was what Barry Corbin said. He was a strange old bird in

Wyvern, much like the

character he played in No

Country For Old Men.

Maybe they let him keep his wardrobe.

Just before his explanation, an old lady who talked to her dead sister claimed it was Revelations; the town was being punished for being bad. The other citizens scoffed at her explanation yet accepted the Norse legend with nary a whimper. Maybe because the creature showed up and started eating townspeople in plain sight about that time.

The hero was a quiet trucker waiting for an accident claim to run its course so he could get his new rig and move on down the line. He lived in the same travel trailer the Northern Exposure DJ lived in. I guess it was still on the set.

After failing to kill the creature any other way, Jake the Trucker used a GPS and the wyvern's egg as bait to lure the creature into a deadly trap. Just as she wrapped her wings around the semi to save her egg, the GPS device pointed out a cliff. Jake jumped out just in time. The wyvern, which could fly, fell to its death. I guess when two hours are up, you have to end the movie any way you can.

Hey, I didn't say it was

Citizen Kane, just better than what usually airs on Sci- Fi. At least it was scarier than Them.