I had always viewed this as a lame, gimmicky flick with corny tendencies. I remember watching this movie a lot on cable at my grandparents house. Hosted by Joe Bob Briggs on Monstervision or Gilbert and Rhonda on USA Up All Night. It always intrigued me but I wrote it off until now. Needless to say, I wasn't incredibly impressed.
Mother Nature starts getting her revenge on Old Man Crockett. A crotchety and angry guy with a knack for polluting the river he lives on. Sam Elliott shows up without his mustache as a photographer snooping for scoops on the island. It turns out Crockett had been poisoning his land for years killing all of the wildlife and critters. This is obviously leading to the wildlife having enough and fighting back. A social commentary, sure. But that's too obvious. It's more a hype film for the human race prevailing over that bitch Nature.
This is undeniably low-budget and it fulfills it's job in setting the scene. It works as a cohesive horror movie but unfortunately doesn't have the budget to keep it exciting or make it even more memorable. A movie like this would never be attempted in a climate like ours today. It's too controversial. What a shame.
I don't know why I had put this off. Maybe it escaped my memory. However, up on this viewing this movie was pretty decent. It's memorable. The gore in this movie is pretty graphic considering it had a PG rating. It was a different time then. You get a lot of scenes of animals being shot into a crimson mist but nothing too outlandish or hard-to-watch. PETA might have an issue with it. As I said before, this is a tame horror movie but it's still pretty graphic.
Frogs is definitely the type of movies that is scarier when your younger. I didn't find it frightening in the least bit. That doesn't necessarily disqualify it from being slightly entertaining. It's great for acting as THAT one movie that everyone kinda remembers. Just don't be THAT guy that babbles on and on about it. Don't be THAT guy. And clean up after yourselves for godsakes.
Director: George McCowan
Starring: Ray Milland, Sam Elliott, Joan Van Ark, and Adam Roarke
Style: Animal Horror Mysteries
Country: USA
Studio: AIP
Did ya know...
The mansion used for the Crockett family home is known as the Wesley House and is located in Point Washington, Florida.
This was the first of many "eco-horror" films of the '70s, inspired by the surprise box office success of 1971's Willard (1971).
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