User Reviews

Think about it...this movie is supposed to be about an outbreak of killer frogs. So is it any surprise that the movie is a laughably bad film? They weren't exactly trying to make a remake of Romeo and Juliet here! One of the biggest problems I initially saw (aside from the horrible over-acting of Ray Milland and the dumb plot) was that despite the title, the film has very few frogs. Most of the killer animals were actually toads, lizards, tarantulas, snakes, birds and alligators. Aside from gators and a few of the snakes, which were poisonous, it just seemed ludicrous seeing these totally harmless creatures supposedly on a mad killing spree--though none of them actually did a whole lot other than just hop scamper about--after all, they are just cute little critters.

Some of my favorite stupid deaths in the film was one where a guy seemed to be killed by Spanish moss and tarantulas. Aside from a few chigger bites, I can't see how Spanish moss could pose any health problem and a tarantula bite is about as bad as a bee sting! Another had a man killed by bottles of various poisons which cute little lizards pushed off the shelves in a nicely choreographed scene (though none of the reptiles were killed--they just scurried about the dead man's body). Another scene featured a man getting bitten and dying from a rattlesnake bite in less than 3 seconds. And my favorite was when the guy wrestled with a gator--and if you looked closely, you could see that the animal's jaws were taped shut!

From my description, you'd probably assume this was a terrible film--and it is. However, like many of the animals running amok films of the 50s, 60s and 70s, it is also strangely watchable because it is so silly. Many won't enjoy this campy a film, but bad film lovers will have a ball. If you like this wretched 70s film, also try EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (which is actually worse than FROGS) and NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (about killer bunnies). Don't say I didn't warn you!

FROGS (1972) is one of the quintessential animal attack movies of the 1970s and one I've had a hankering to see for a long time. As is often the case, the actual experience turns out to be rather disappointing, with the narrative rather stodgy and lacking in the kind of suspense you'd want to see generated by the premise, which involves a rich, polluting family being trapped on their estate by vengeful wildlife and other assorted critters.

I put the blame down to the TV director, who has no aptitude for the material, but the writing is also at fault here with a large cast of interchangeable characters you just don't give a damn about. The only stand-outs are a wheelchair-bound Ray Milland as the crotchety patriarch and a youthful Sam Elliott as the strapping hero. There are so many animal shots that this feels like a safari documentary at times, but the attack scenes are pitifully staged and only in the last twenty minutes do you start to feel the menace. I did like the ending, but the rest? Bog standard.

Frogs should be classified in that 'large' horror subgenre known as Environmentalist, Anti-Pollution Horror. It's the story of nature getting back at us humans for the pollution we've dumped. The story is set on an island owned by a very wealthy, poison-spraying anti-environmentalist, Jason Crockett (Ray Milland). His family has gathered for the traditional 4th of July celebration and birthday party. But, unbeknownst to the family, the animals are planning their revenge. The swamp creatures (apparently on orders from the frogs) take turns killing the family one at a time.

My first reaction: I found it to be a fun, entertaining movie if you DO NOT take it seriously. I usually hate the word 'cheesy' when used to describe a movie, but it's the best word I can think of to describe Frogs. Milland is great as the grumpy old rich man. He dominates every scene he's in. Sam Elliot and Joan Van Ark are the other two stars/heroes most would recognize. And they do their best to make believable the unbelievable horror facing them.

One of the fun parts of the movie is trying to guess which creature will get the next turn at a human victim. And, how they will actually be able to carry out the killings. Will it be the snakes, the spiders, the lizards, the alligators, or the turtles? Yes, even the turtles get a turn in one of the most contrived death scenes ever filmed. Of course, the creatures are helped by the members of the family who seem intent on going one at a time into the woods. Their impending deaths are telegraphed from a mile away.

I can't in all honesty and in good conscious give this one a very high rating. I'll say a 6/10 for that funky, cheese filled 70s feel that Frogs has.

Nature is on the rampage as various animals supposedly under the command of frogs (don't ask), attack and destroy Ray Milland and his family for polluting the environment. Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds. I saw it originally at a drive-in when I was 10 and loved it, but seeing it as an adult, I was bored and annoyed.

**PLOT SPOILERS** It's slow (at least 45 minutes go by until the first killing), has bad dialogue and all the deaths (with one exception) are bloodless. I'd LOVE to know how a huge snapping turtle kills one woman and wouldn't the animals have been killed by the poison in the greenhouse scene? Also WAY too many close-ups of croaking frogs. The acting varies--Ray Milland and a young Joan Van Ark are very good (especially considering the dialogue they have). Sam Elliott (so young and pumped up) is horrible--very wooden. On the plus side there is some nice nature photography, a really eerie electronic score worked and Elliott walking around in a VERY tight pair of jeans. Also the animated frog right after the closing credits is cool. But, all in all, it's just too dull and stupid to work. Good for laughs.

Almost a decade after seagulls and crows wreaked havoc on Tippi Hedren's coiffure in "The Birds" and just one year after "Willard" let his rats do the dirty work, this Nature vs. Man flick came along to continue the legacy (a legacy which would gain even more steam in the wake of "Jaws," with man thereafter having to fend off every beast and insect imaginable except for gnats!) Elliott plays a photojournalist, canoeing off an island owned by Milland, who is capsized by Milland's irresponsible grandson Roake. He is invited to Milland's mansion for a shower and some dry clothes just as an annual family celebration is taking place. The family is more commandeered to appear there by Milland rather than taking part out of pleasure, but they are present nonetheless. Before anyone can even cut the cake, a groundskeeper has been found dead from a snakebite and it isn't long before members of the family are being picked off, one by one, by snakes, spiders, iguanas, turtles(!) and pretty much everything EXCEPT frogs, which sort of watch and ribbit as the bodies pile up before staking their claim at the end. Top-billed Milland is wheelchair-bound here and barks his lines at the cast of lesser-knowns. He is appropriately steely, stubborn and unpleasant and not a little bit foolish! Elliott, near the start of his lengthy career, is hunky and appealing. His eye-poppingly revealing jeans belong in some sort of museum for erotic denim. Van Ark, also in one of her early roles, is fresh and pretty and compliments Elliott well, though her character is given precious little to do. Roarke, better known for playing tough bikers, lends a surprising and mystifying sense of homoerotica to his womanizing role. Borden plays his frustrated and complaining wife and is given one of the sillier scenes in the movie when she is "stuck" in some ankle-deep mud and gets assaulted by a giant turtle. Pace makes an impression as the model girlfriend of one of the grandsons. She's one of the few people who will give Milland what for. Irving is a memorably batty presence, traipsing off into the swamp after a rare butterfly. Others in the cast are basically on hand to croak at the opportune moment. There's an attempt here to suggest that Everglade animals finally had their fill of man's oppression and pollution and decided to retaliate. Elliott photographs endless debris over the opening credits to where one expects a teary Chief Dan George to drift by and bemoan the situation. This is rather briskly forgotten as the increasingly preposterous attacks and deaths begin to mount up. The situations of these encounters, paired with the amateurism in the acting, provide unintentional humor in ample quantities! Regardless of the fact that this is a rather shoddily-written and choppily-edited movie with some silly scenarios and, in some cases, really poor acting, it remains entertaining and compelling for most of its non-oppressive running time. Oddly, the trailer for the film shows many different takes than those which appear in the finished movie. One key scene in particular, involving quicksand/swamp water, only appears in the trailer and on the video case. The Nature vs. Man genre would continue to pop up throughout the 70's until Irwin Allen's massive bomb "The Swarm" slammed a temporary lid on the trend.

This movie has a pretty low score here, but I enjoy it for what it is, another, in a long line of man versus nature films. That being said it does have its differences and does feature Sam Elliot so I always enjoyed watching this one more than some of the other man versus nature films out there. The setting is good, the cast is pretty good and we get to see lots of reptiles and other creepy crawlies! I just showed it to my wife who had to look away during a few of the scenes with the snakes, spiders and frogs crawling on the people as she did not care for them as she does not like those critters anywhere near her!

The story has a guy photographing nature and a speed boat unintentionally capsizes his boat. They pick him up and offer to take him to their grandfather's house where he can get a shower and a change of clothes. Seems it is close to grandfather's birthday and he is determined to have it run like clockwork as it does every year; however, this year there seems to be a few more frogs than usual and soon people go missing as snakes, spiders and other various animals begin their attack as the frogs look on.

The story is one of those that suggests nature getting even with man, but no real answer as to why anything is happening is forthcoming. Though, the same thing happens in a lot of these films such as one of the more famous ones, "The Birds". The frogs apparently have subcontracted a lot of different wildlife to take their revenge as the only person they manage to kill is the grandfather by causing him to have a heart attack. Not sure why the score is so low here considering some of the most boring crap imaginable in the horror world is ranked higher, but I always can watch this one. It is not without its faults though as a couple of deaths are very unclear as to what exactly happened such as the one with the turtle and the guy who somehow got buried in the tangles in the trees.

So, it is not a masterpiece; however, that being said, it is also not a boring movie. It is cheesy fun done right as far as I am concerned as we get lots of victims and a charismatic lead in Sam Elliot as he is the first to realize that something is going on. Grandfather though was bound and determined to have that party though, even if it killed everyone!