Stinky Lomax
If any film deserves the right to have its name in the dictionary under the definition of B-Movie, it's the 1972 horror epic 'Frogs'.The plot, of course, is of only cursory relevance. But for the sake of those who give a flying proverbial, it follows the story of disabled millionaire Jason Crockett, played by Oscar-winner(!) Ray Milland, and his be-flared family who live in a palatial mansion somewhere in the swamps of Okefenokee. They are partial to a bit of careless pollution. The titular Frogs take offence to this kind of behaviour. So they wage war upon the Crocketts, and all who associate with their frog-hating kind.But you don't really want to hear about that. What you want to hear about are the meticulous production values that mark out this film as a seminal example of the genre.Gasp in amazement as you see a man in a wheelchair pull a revolver on a snake which is hanging from a chandelier. I say 'hanging', but what I really mean is 'being held by a human hand'. I know this because I can see it. Watch through your fingers as another man stumbles into a greenhouse, closes the door behind him, then fails to notice as a score of lizards (somehow) follow him inside to loiter around menacingly amongst plant pots on shelves. See how they knock over open bottles vaguely labelled 'Poison'. Shudder as the man chokes to death on the fumes. Howl in terror as seagulls swoop down on a garden to scare some protagonists - not because breadcrumbs fly across the screen in an effort to lure them. No. Definitely not. Then scream for your life as another man wrestles an alligator which has had its mouth taped shut.And all the while, the Frogs look on; leering at the mayhem they have caused without having to take a single human life themselves, because the Frogs rain down their justice with the most chilling power of all: telekinesis.Frogs: you'll croak. To death.
Dan Franzen (dfranzen70)
Folks, I have been busily working on the site so that it's easier to find stuff. I'm doing this for you. Well, you and me. Okay, me. Mostly me.But last night I caught a movie I gotta tell you all about. It's called Frogs (1972), and it stars Ray Milland, Sam Elliott, and Joan Van Ark. Kind of an eclectic cast right there. And, as you may have surmised, it's about frogs. And a whole bunch of other critters, too.See, there's this remote island in the middle of a big lake. Jason Crockett is a mean, miserable, wheelchair-bound coot who rules his plantation-style home with an iron fist. He's surrounded by family and servants and all this dadblasted nature all over the place, with no other humans on the island. A freelance photographer named Pickett Smith, taking pictures in a canoe in the lake, finds himself capsized when a speedboat driven by Crockett's son Clint bum rushes him in the water. The soggy lensman is brought to the stately manor to dry, and Old Man Crockett takes a liking to him, somewhat begrudgingly.In a plot that has a passing resemblance to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (and countless other movies, come to think of it), people start dying in rather gruesome ways - strangulation by snake, spider bite, poisoning - and we're led to believe that it's the frogs, the ribbeting frogs, who are behind this nefarious plot. Mother Nature's fighting back, says Smith. And how! Milland, who was in such classics as Dial M for Murder, Lost Weekend, and The Uninvited, appears to have fallen on hard times - although he wouldn't be the only one. The early 1970s were a time when former stars resorted to low budget horror movies, like Joan Crawford in Trog or Veronica Lake in Flesh Feast. Milland is basically a Lionel Barrymore clone here. Smith is played by Sam Elliott in his starring debut (he'd appeared in a quick scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), and he's a lot like the Sam Elliott we all know and love - the quiet, soft-spoken type. This is Young Sam Elliott, so he's shirtless there and again. Clint, the bully-like son, is played by Adam Roarke, who so often turned up in biker movies of the late 1960s and early 1970s, often to tangle with Jack Nicholson in loud pants. He's wisely drunk most of this movie. Playing Clint's kindly and lascivious sister Karen is Joan Van Ark in her film debut. Van Ark and Elliott make a nice couple, too.The acting isn't terribly good, but neither is the story. Sentient frogs? Okay. What about sentient lizards who know to knock over large beakers helpfully labeled "poison" so that someone trapped inside with no ventilation will die? Or - and I swear I am not making this up - windy, willowy branches of one of those large swamp trees found in the Louisiana bayous that intentionally wrap themselves around an unsuspecting biped? Why, it won't matter if you have a boat, either - because iguanas will chew right through your tow line just to mess you up. They do not mess around, these fellas.There's even a scene of birds attacking, an homage to or ripoff of The Birds. But the film was so low budget that the birds were actually stock footage superimposed on the rest of the film. Looks so realistic.So, okay. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, this isn't. A waste of a decent cast, this is. This is one campy movie that probably needed more camp to make it worth your while. At least they tried to make the frogs look sinister.
Wuchak
There's not much to say about "Frogs." The story is simple: Frogs and a myriad other swamp creatures (snakes, alligators, lizards, etc.) are hopping mad about the toxic chemicals used to exterminate them. They vengefully attack a crotchety old man's Southern mansion in the swamp. One by one his family, employees and friends succumb to the various bog critters."Frogs" is from 1972, so it predates "Jaws" by a few years. The creators were obviously going for a swamp version of the basic "Birds" plot. The difference is that "The Birds" is a first-rate flick, whereas "Frogs" is strictly Grade B. That's not to say it isn't worth picking up; any fan of "nature-runs-amok" flicks will at least find "Frogs" a decent time-waster.WHAT WORKS: The film stars Ray Milland as the old grump, Sam Elliott and Joan Van Ark. The mustache-less Elliott is so young that I would have never recognized him if I didn't know going in that he was in the picture.The film gives you what you pay for: real swamp locations with real swamp creatures horrifyingly attacking and killing people.The best thing about "Frogs" is that the story is taken absolutely seriously. There's no camp to be seen anywhere (as in, say, "Lake Placid" or "Crocodile").WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The main problem with the flick is that there isn't any suspense. The overall tone of the movie is very lazy. Also, although it's enjoyable to see a very young Joan Van Ark, her and the other young female lead (I don't know her name) are so skinny that they aren't very appealing in their various skimpy outfits (this is only a negative point for men, of course; women will no doubt enjoy Elliott as he takes his shirt off and fights snakes and alligators).BOTTOM LINE: If you're a fan of "Creatures-on-the-loose" type films then you'll enjoy "Frogs." It has more originality than the many post-"Jaws" flicks of the same ilk and there are indeed quite a few horrifying parts to it. Just don't expect a Class A film like "The Birds" or any suspense and you won't be disappointed.GRADE: C+
