The 1970’s were loaded with forgotten films where nature struck back at man because of his mingling with pollution, poison or sheer carelessness (”Grizzly” - Jaws on Land, “Night of the Lepus” - giant killer rabbits), but “Frogs” stands out because it did not take itself too seriously and the cast which was headed by 50’s star Ray Milland seemed to enjoy themselves filming it. Ray Milland heads a large family in the south which is gathering to celebrate his birthday. But for some reason the ole homestead seems to be bombarded with frogs and other bayou wildlife, so Papa Milland attempts to destroy them through whatever means he can including poison. Big mistake, it seems the frogs are not too happy about this and along with their reptile friends, including some nasty alligators, pick off the family members one by one. Although at times more hilarious than thrilling, “Frogs” does have a few chills and if you are looking for one of those good old drive-in movie types, this will do the trick. The cast is mainly a mix of B list actors including the usually wooden Sam Elliot, who seemed to appear in almost every other 70’s flick. Judy Pace as a kooky clan member catching butterflies is hilarious. Rarely shown on television, (and then it is edited) pick up this nature versus man flick and enjoy.
I can’t believe it…I actually found proof that at some point in his life, actor Sam Elliot did not, I repeat, did not have gray hair…it appears his natural color was brown. I only mention this because it seems nearly every film I’ve seen him in, he’s got those thick, silvery locks. Directed by George McCowan (The Magnificent Seven Ride!), Frogs (1972) stars the aforementioned Elliot (Road House, Tombstone), Academy Award winner Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend), and primetime soap goddess Joan Van Ark (”Knots Landing”), in her feature film debut. Also appearing is Adam Roarke (The Stunt Man), Judy Pace (Brian’s Song), Lynn Borden (Black Mama, White Mama), David Gilliam (The Eagle Has Landed), George Skaff (Detroit 9000), and Holly Irving (Glass Houses).
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As the film begins we see a man (whom we later learn is named Pickett Smith, played by Elliot) in a canoe, floating around in a swampy area, taking photographs of the local wildlife. Soon afterwards he turns his camera’s eye towards all the pollution…damn mankind and his pollutin’ ways! We find out later Smith is some sort of freelance photojournalist doing a piece on pollution and the environment, perhaps with the idea of making a difference…which is fine, but I’m thinking if’n he really wanted to make a difference, he could start by actually picking up the trash instead of just taking pictures of it…oh well…anyway, Smith paddles his way out to opens waters where’s he promptly swamped by some a-hole and Joan Van Ark in a speedboat (the guy driving the boat was drinking a beer, and I kept expecting him to throw the empty over the side, you know, because man is so thoughtless with his waste, but, surprisingly, it didn’t happen). The couple, who happen to be brother and sister or something, take Smith to a posh, gothic southern mansion on a nearby island owned by a curmudgeonly, crotchety, wheelchair bound wealthy industrialist named Jason Crockett (Milland), who’s currently in the middle of an annual 4th of July celebration/birthday bash that none of his relatives want to be at, but they love his money so they feel obligated to show up out of fear that they may be neglected from the will…and there are quite a few of them, supplying quite the pool of future potential victims (when you’ve seen as many films as I have, this is how you tend to views things). It’s about this time when we learn of Jason’s contemptuous attitudes towards nature (I used one of his lines for the title of my review), including, but not limited to, heavy spraying and systematically poisoning of the area around his estate in order to keep the `pests’ in check (I’m sure all that won’t come back to bite him in the bum). I got news for you…it ain’t working as there’s about a bazillion reptilian and amphibious creatures crawling, hopping, slithering, sliming around the estate, their presence is becoming more and more intrusive…and then the deaths come as Mother Nature (metaphorically speaking) commands her creep crawly denizens to fight and take back what’s rightfully theirs…’Today the pond! Tomorrow the world!’
Okay, okay, this movie is pretty silly, but I was entertained specifically because I wasn’t expecting too much. By the time this film came out, the once powerful star status of Milland had been thoroughly (and sadly) subjugated into bloody submission, appearing in such cinematic fodder as The Premature Burial (1962), Panic in Year Zero! (1962), and Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)…and his torturous slide into B movie Hell didn’t end here, as he went on to appear in such classics like The Thing with Two Heads (1972), Terror in the Wax Museum (1973), and The Attic (1980). His role here is pretty much the same role he played throughout the latter part of his career, that of the controlling, stubborn, pain in the rear, jerkhole whom you just pretty much want to throttle within an inch of his life from the git go…and he’s the most interesting character in the film. Sam Elliot’s character is a snooze, basically acting as the soothsayer to Milland’s Julius Caesar, forewarning of the `Ides of March’ i.e. the impending invasion, that is when he’s not trying to use the phone which he knows to be dead because every damn time he picks it up it’s there’s never any connection. Another thing that annoyed me was there was one woman who did nothing but complain…perhaps she had a right, as her husband was a philandering, drunken a-hole, but still, it got old fairly quickly…and who dressed Miss Van Ark? That yellow one piece has to be one of the most unflattering outfits I’ve ever seen. All right, there weren’t a lot of likeable characters in this film, but that’s soon taken care of as the deaths come fast and furious (usually due more to a character’s own stupidity than anything else), by any number of various creepy crawlies, not just frogs. The simplistic story moves along okay, riddled with continuity errors and an over abundance of nature shots (it was pretty obvious the frogs were either prodded or tossed into reaction within numerous scenes), but then sort of fizzles out at the end…I think my favorite scene involve poor old Iris…she really got the full treatment, so to speak, during her climatic sequences…there were some good aspects about the film, like the overall atmosphere of the film, highlighted by Les Baxter’s spooky scoring.
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Provided on this MGM release is both the widescreen (1.85:1) version, enhanced for 16 X 9 TVs, along with the fullscreen, pan & scan formats. The picture quality is relatively good, but I did notice a few flaws, and a couple of scenes were a bit grainy. The Dolby Digital mono audio comes through pretty clearly. There really isn’t any special features, but there is a trailer, one that features one of the characters dying in a completely different manner than she did within the film…
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By the way, if I learned anything from this movie it’s that if you’re running through the woods with a shotgun, best make sure the safety is on lest you accidentally kneecap yourself (Doh!) and get ate up by spiders…
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