本片根据德国表现主义电影大师弗列兹·郎1956年的同名电影改编而成。 电视记者希杰·尼古拉斯(杰西·麦特卡尔菲 Jesse Metcalfe 饰)和好友考利·芬雷(乔·摩尔 Joel Moore)一起供职于电视台的“调查报道”栏目。在对某凶杀案的报道过程中,希杰认识了地区检察官办公室的助理检察官艾拉(爱波·塔布琳 Amber Tamblyn 饰),并依据其提供的审讯录像资料怀疑她的上司,地区检察官马丁·汉特(迈克尔·道格拉斯 Michael Douglas 饰)靠伪造DNA物证来赢得检控,为竞选州长铺平道路。调查无门的希杰决定与考利一起执行一个天衣无缝的计划,故意采办各种物证指正自己是一起妓女凶杀案的最大嫌疑人。在审判过程中,考利本应出示二人拍摄的录像来证实希杰并非凶手,却在赶往法庭的路上死于车祸。被判处死刑的希杰走投无路,只能求助于艾拉,但她能证明希杰的清白吗?
Stuart Gordon, considered a master of the horror genre thanks to classics like Re-Animator and Dagon, decides to do a different move in this strange trip to human morals. "King of the Ants" is about a regular guy, Sean Crawley(newcomer Chris McKenna), a man without any aspiration who just live in his apartment doing the necessary job to live to the next day. In one of his jobs he meets Duke(Gearge Wendt), who introduces Sean to his boss, Ray Matthews(played by Daniel Baldwin). Ray hires Sean as a spy, and orders him to follow Eric Gatlin(Roy Livingstone), an accountant who has been investigating Ray's company. Problems start when Ray, while drunk, orders Sean to kill Eric. And he does it. Things go wrong when Ray decides to make Sean disappear destroying his mind with violent punishment and humiliation. From the point where Sean kills Eric, we go in the same boat with him, as he goes through a downward spiral of human degradation, traveling from guilt, to confusion and finally to his rebirth, in a state where humanity, morals and values are not important anymore. Chris McKenna acting is very important because he manages to be likable even when he is part of gruesome acts, both as victim and/or criminal. He has that look of innocence that hides a dark side and he manages to carry the film. The support cast also includes Kari Wuhrer, as Eric's widow who also becomes a central part of Sean's trip to hell. She gives a fine performance, although it's obvious that Sean is the main character. He is the most developed of all and McKenna's performance is up to the challenge. The film has very disturbing images of violence, and while it may not be as graphic as "Kill Bill" for example, the strength of the violence is in the lack of humanity that the character manifest. He is more than an ant in this world. He is the king. Stuart Gordon has managed to create a film that, while maybe it's not one of his best efforts; it's very well done, has a VERY interesting story to tell, and manages to capture the attention every second of it.