有個驚嚇過度的小女孩在沙漠游走，唯一吐出的只有一個字：怪物！任何50年代恐怖片迷都會馬上告訴你，她所指的”怪物”就是巨蟻，那是在當(dāng)?shù)睾俗釉嚤蟮母碑a(chǎn)品。這些巨蟻非常有組織，嗜肉且體型巨大，約有8到20呎，它們?nèi)壕墼诼迳即壍南滤老到y(tǒng)，彷若一個巨大的螞蟻園區(qū)，準(zhǔn)備好要接管這個世界。要和這些怪物對抗的人類精英是新墨西哥警署探員詹姆斯惠特摩，聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局代表詹姆斯亞尼斯，和一對由埃德蒙關(guān)恩和喬安妮威爾登所飾的父女檔昆蟲學(xué)家。

　　British Army radiation drills at a remote Scottish base attract a subterranean, radioactive entity of unknown nature that vanishes, leaving two severely radiation-burned soldiers... and a "bottomless" crack in the earth. Others who meet the thing in the night suffer likewise, and with increasing severity; it seems to be able to "absorb" radiation from any source, growing bigger and bigger. What is it?? How do you destroy a thing that "feeds" on energy?