Worm vs. Mole

Worm vs. Mole (Metzettan: 벌레 대 두더지) is a 1968 Metzettan film directed and written by Teoza Jin and starring Triello Carusso, Isanila Serri and Jadu Yeong. The film is set in a fictionalised version of Trossera, Aciria. Centered around an Acirian-Metzettan excavation that discovers large tunnels of unknown origin and their discovery of the source. The source has slumbered below Trossera for millennia, and the excavations into its tunnels woke it from its slumber, beginning to wreak havoc on the Acirian capital. The excavation team then begins investigations into how to stop the worm and save the Acirian capital.

While receiving mainly negative reviews from critics, the movie became instantly popular particularly with Acirian audiences. The film now has a cult-classic reputation in Aciria, with regular re-releases of the original film being well-received. In 2011, critic Vento Negrino has described the Acirian fascination with the film as a "mix of irony and nostalgia", citing that the older generations enjoy the movie for its nostalgic value while the later generations enjoy a level of comedy from the aged film effects. The popularity of the movie lead to the franchise of the same name, prompting regular reboots of the movie since the 1980s alongside various other adaptations of the setting. The first sequel, Worm vs. Mole II was released in 1972.

Since its release, some have said the movie contains Anti-Daxian undertones, claiming the Worm's attack on Trossera to be symbolic of the threat Daxian pose to Metzetta, a historical ally of Aciria. The director and writer, Teoza Jin, fervently denied these claims until his death in 2008.

Plot
Disgraced professor Consio Russetto (Carusso) had recently lost his job at the Imperial University of Trossera due to his fervent belief that the Mole people of mythology were real. In an attempt to clear his name, he formed a joint excavation of him and his closest friends and students, and experts on mythology from Metzetta. During this excavation, they discover massive tunnels below the mountains of Aciria of unknown origin; professor Yeong (Garam) warns against exploring further, but Russetto wanting to clear his name, enters the tunnels. It didn't take long for the excavation team to feel tremors, which Russetto's assistant Filocina Ruggieri (Serri) disregards as an earthquake. The team explores the caverns for a moment longer before returning back to Chegallari, where they witness reports of a monstrous worm wreaking havoc on the capital. Horrified, professor Yeong collapses to his knees and claims the creature is the Worm of the Deep from Daxian mythology, and that they were guilty of awakening it.

With a mythological creature's existence confirmed, Russetto's motivation grew further, now even more sure that the Mole people existed. He declared he would leave to the mountains with or without the excavation team; with some of the team leaving in terror, but eventually a few members of the excavation joining Russetto, declaring the "Mole Expedition". The expedition hurried back to the caverns they found prior, and the exploration of the caverns allowed them to discover the remains of a Worm of the Deep in what seemed to be an ancient battleground. While the expedition was studying the scene, they were quietly surrounded by the Mole people, who after initial conflict realize that the Worm of the Deep had returned from the tremors in the tunnels. The expedition joins the Mole army in their march through the caverns to the underground of Trossera, where they eventually emerge from and defeat the Worm of the Deep, retreating back into the caverns as suddenly as they had appeared, with Russetto's name cleared.

Conception
Writer and director Teoza Jin cited the original idea for the film to have come to him in a dream. While unable to remember the creatures in the dream, he quickly began studying mythology of various cultures in the world; eventually finding the Worm of the Deep of Daxia and the Mole people of Aciria to be fitting for the storyline that came to him in a dream. Jin also stated he had to adapt parts of the dream to make the Mole people suit the narrative better, but in the end turned out happier with the adapted version to the one in his dreams. Jin wished to one day create a faithful recreation of his dream version of the movie, but died during the initial screenwriting in 2008.

Pitching the idea to film studios, his idea was turned down by multiple studios until he reached out to Dolaji Pictures. They promised to fund the film if Jin changed the monsters of the film, which Jin agreed to in return for giving him the rights to control everything about the movie. The studio's grant to control the cast and crew lead to Jin eventually lying about changing the monsters, only ensuring that the board only learned that the monsters were never changed until the film was released.

Filming
As the film is set in Aciria, Jin wanted to film it in Aciria, however, due to budgetary constraints, the movie was entirely filmed in Metzetta, leading to some confusion in audiences when the nature seen in the film was not native to Aciria. The city used as the fictionalised version of Trossera also became infamous due to its incorrectly translated signs, creating the controversial Acirian term "Aciliano", used to refer to people of Alshari descent using Acirian incorrectly.

Themes
Critics and audiences alike have suggested the movie to have anti-Daxian sentiment, citing the use of Metzettan landscapes and cities being destroyed by a Daxian monster to symbolise a Daxian threat to Metzettans. Jin was aware of these claims, which he fervently denied, claiming that the movie was filmed in Metzetta only due to budgetary constraints, and on one occasion, called the interviewer inquiring him about it a "horse fucker".

Theatrical release
The theatrical release of the film was on May 28 1968 in Metzetta, followed by the Acirian release on May 30 1968. The box office sales were described as "disappointing" by a Dolaji Pictures representative, but regardless of the box office sales, the film's sequel was greenlit in 1970.

Home release
The film has released various home releases on various platforms since its initial release. Since the 1990s, re-releases have typically offered before unseen media of the film to encourage consumers to purchase the movie; mostn notably the 1992 re-release which included two alternative endings to the movie, which had only been described by starring actor Triello Carusso. One of the alternative endings were accompanied by an extended romantic storyline between Carusso's and Yeong's characters, which Jin said he scrapped due to the lack of relevance to the main plot.