Frogs [DVD]

"Frogs" is a typical nature-gone-awry movie from the early 1970's, this time featuring frogs as the evil amphibian overlords of the south. Ray Milland (!) stars as Jason Crockett, the wheelchair-bound patriarch of a southern family and paper plant mogul. ("We are the ugly rich!") He is slowly revealed to be quite insane, although at first he appears to be merely incurably crotchety. He is planning his annual birthday celebration on his island plantation, and the main topic of conversation is how large the frogs there are and how they are so noisy that people can't sleep due to all the croaking.Speaking of croaking, the humans start doing just that, starting with Grover who went to spray pesticides on the frogs and apparently anything else living. Protagonist Pickett Smith (Sam Elliott, who turns in the best performance in the film) enters the plot after a minor boating mishap with annoying Milland offspring Clint (Adam Roarke, who reminded me of a proto-Uncle Rico from "Napoleon Dynamite.") Pickett is an ecological photographer and quickly grasps that the island is imperiled by wildlife seeking revenge from Crockett's poisons with the frogs as the leaders of the amphibian and reptilian forces. Before it's over every creepy life form imaginable in a swamp (spiders, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, etc.) turns on the humans making this a place Jim Stafford would definitely want to avoid.The animals coordinate their strategy to eliminate the humans and the cast gets thinned out quickly, leading to a conclusion in which Milland has to face his web-footed fate alone in his own library in drunken horror. The director, George McCowan, really had Milland ham up his final shot; I particularly like the cheesy and unnecessary but arty shots of Milland's trophy animal heads during this scene: talk about over the top.The DVD comes with widescreen on one side and standard format on the other, and includes the original trailer as an extra. The DVD also offers various language options, and for some reason defaulted to French subtitles on with no action on my part. I watched it with them on, which added to the humorous effect; some of the translations are quite amusing, even with my very rudimentary French capabilities. I liked the subtitles so much I even decided to honor them in my review title: "Grenouilles" is, of course, French for "Frogs." The film is a classic bad nature-gone-crazy movie with an early environmentalist bent. It is not conventionally good by any reasonable measure, but it provides lots of B-movie laughs for all the wrong reasons and is actually entertaining on its own terms, which is why it earns three stars. Fans of cinematic cheese will love this one.

Not bad for a b movie could have been better but worth seeing at least one time .

Super campy, pretty fun. Definitely a product of its time... I had read it was one of the inspirations behind Jaws, so of course I had to check it out. The sound is bad, like it's warped or something, but that kind of adds to the "scary movie" effect, I guess.SPOILER ALERT: Most of the frogs are cane toads, which was thoroughly disappointing, and if you're anything like me you'll spend most of the movie identifying sundry reptiles, amphibians, and other creatures non-indigenous to where this story takes place and wondering what they are doing there.Also, the "frogs" kill no one, so... That was a real bummer.

"Frogs" is one of my favorite entries in the "Nature Gone Wild" genre. It also belongs in the "Holiday Slasher" genre. I've seen it at least half a dozen times over the past thirty years, usually around the 4th of July. A wealthy, elderly man lives on a Florida island. He invites his beautiful family for his annual 4th of July birthday bash. One by one the family members die in gruesome ways. However, the culprit is not a psychotic killer but various creepy crawlers (lizards, alligators, snakes, tarantulas, and even a giant alligator snapping turtle). Nature is getting revenge on humans for polluting their environment. This movie boasts a high body count, and it is fun to see who will die next and how they will die. Sam Elliot and Joan Van Ark are among the cast of veteran actors from the seventies. The film is beautifully shot on location in a Florida park using live reptiles and amphibians. I recommend adding this gem to your "Nature Gone Wild" collection.Favorite Scene: When Michael shoots himself in the leg while running through the woods. He falls down beneath a tree from which Tarantulas descend and cover him with their sticky webs. He lays paralyzed from their venom while they dine on him. Gross!

Ha! I just forced the family to watch this with me for "Classic Movie Night"! I originally saw this as a kid when it regularly cycled through the afterschool B-movie channel, and still remembered specific scenes (tarantuala nest!). 40-something years after its original release, and we still got a kick out of this campy flick.Storyline flows the basic 1970s-ecology scare tactic: pollution and disrespect of the planet and its animals will get you in big trouble. In this particular case, the frogs on a Florida estate seem to be leading the animal revolution against human offenders. You'll likely be rooting for the reptiles to kill most of the cast, and you won't have to wait long---after a fairly brief introduction, the animals get right to settling the score.Bonus points: crazy 1970s fashion on both the guys and girls, shirtless Sam Elliott, croak-tastic soundtrack over the rolling credits (at least I hope it was a soundtrack...or are those frogs outside my window??!).

Ok ok, was dubious about getting this film with all the negative comments but thought hey £3 what the hell! It is actually enjoyable! The plot line is great - Nature versus man- and some good deaths! It is more a film about what could happen, like The Birds. True the frogs don't kill anyone but they seem to organise the others to committ the murders. Good cast and set on a great location. The woman in the swamp was terrifying. True a lot needed your imagination, but still... you never know!

Every year, Jason Crockett(Ray Milland) gathers his spoilt, decadent clan together at his island mansion, to celebrate the Fourth of July and his birthday. Crockett dominates his family, with a sharp tongue, even from the confines of his wheelchair. Into the mix comes Wildlife photographer Pickett Smith(Sam Elliot) whose been involved in a boating accident with Crockett's alcoholic son Clint(Adam Rourke)Crockett asks Smith to take a look around his island, and report back about the state of the local animal population. It seems that Crockett isnt averse to spraying a bit of insecticide here and there, and that the local fauna has taken exception to this, mobilising itself into a croaking, hissing, ribbiting army hell bent on revenge against mankind.Okay there are some flaws in this film. The low budget shows at times, the editing is sloppy and the pace flags as well. However, its all rather charming, retains a downbeat, grim atmosphere throughout, and the use of real animals rather than rubber ones is a nice idea. Add to this excellent performances from Milland as the curmudgeonly Crockett, and Elliot as the heroic Smith, and you have one of the more enjoyable 'revenge of nature' films from the 1970's, a decade where this genre was quite prevalent. Good fun. 4 out of 5

WATCH IT WHEN I WAS A KID BACK IN THE 70S,AND IT STILL BRINGS THE MEMORIES OF THAT ERA.

Bit disappointed in this film ....found it a bit boring turned it off halfway through...

My sister lovees this. A big thank you