It would be easy to see The Satan Bug as a dry run for The Andromeda Strain.
A lot of the same elements are here: a high tech lab, a complex set of security protocols, a deadly disease which could destroy the world.
But the lab is nowhere near as ultramodern as the Wildfire Lab, nor are the biohazard precautions quite as extreme (although there is a welcome emphasis on negative air pressure) and most of the security is there to keep unauthorized people out.
You’ve got to admit, though, that the Satan Bug itself makes Andromeda look like a bad case of the cold.
The similarities pretty much end there. Instead of being an intense man vs. nature film, The Satan Bug is basically a spy film.
Which shouldn’t be much of a surprise as it was based on a novel by Alistair MacLean under his Ian Stuart alias.
Scientists at a top secret government lab developed a new microorganism so deadly that it would destroy all life on Earth if it ever got loose.
Someone has stolen it and several vials of other bioweapons, so it is up to former Security Chief Lee Barrett to get them back.
This is the Sixties, so he’s a bit of a non-conformist who has trouble with the rules.
However, as this is the Sixties, he’s also working for a faceless government military intelligence agency. There’s a touch of James Bond in the mix, but the end result is more like one of the big police procedural films of the era. It’s all a bit dry, even with the General’s sexy daughter thrown in as an extra.
The big struggle at the climax also comes across as utterly reckless as dropping the glass vial of the Satan Bug could end the world.
Ooops.
Still, frequent Western director John Sturges makes it all look good, and the film has its share of thrills and excitement. It’s always interesting, and whether accurate or not, entirely plausible. It’s not bad as bioweapon films go.
It’s just a touch dry, that’s all…
rivets on the poster 
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