Customer Reviews

Day of the Animals

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As far as "when animals attack"-type movies go, this one's actually pretty good. If "Grizzly" was William Girdler's "Jaws", this is probably his "The Birds". There are probably more shots of staring owls and vultures and other birds of prey in this film than any other in memory. But wait, there's more: a generous serving of tarantulas, snakes, big cats, bears, wild dogs, rats ... basically this film is Dr Doolittle's worst nightmare.

The plot (animals driven crazy by cosmic rays attack hikers) may sound simplistic, but at least Girdler cross-cuts between the different disaster-movie-type characters and their various subplots to maintain interest. (There's even a Shelley Winters clone.) He even manages to give a SLIGHTLY post-apocalyptic scope to the film, which is quite cool, with scenes of an abandoned town a la "The Andromeda Strain" and a deserted campsite whose occupants have obviously become lunch.

Media Blasters have done a very nice job with this DVD. While it lacks a commentary, it does at least offer a "making of" doco featuring interviews with surviving cast members (including Susan Backlinie, who became fish food at the start of "Jaws"), an original trailer, and TWO versions of the same film, one a 1.85:1 television master, and the other a 2.35:1 theatrical reissue under the title "Something Is Out There." The latter version is a fairly beaten-up print, but there's a kind of grindhouse beauty to its dust, scratches and splotches, and the aspect ratio is my personal pick over the cleaner, yet cropped 1.85:1 version. Which version you choose to watch comes down to whether you prefer a cleaner print or the proper OAR. However, the 2.35:1 version is missing some snippets of dialogue in which Leslie Nielsen's character insults a Native American character, one of which seems to have been edited out with a chainsaw, so jarring is the jump cut.

William Girdler's composition and widescreen camerawork are excellent, and the editing's pretty good, too, especially in the frenzied animal attack scenes. The wilderness scenery is beautiful, too. Girdler could have gone on to become a solid genre director like Peter Hyams if he'd lived past 30. We can only imagine what he could have done with modern filmmaking equipment and visual effects, but alas, his career was snuffed out just as he was starting to hit his straps.

The acting is adequate for a film like this and while the dialogue is not exactly William Goldman, it's serviceable.

* Spoilers *

There are some pretty wild scenes in this film that you probably wouldn't see if a similar film was made today. Without giving too much away, expect leaping rats, Leslie Nielsen going "Lord of the Flies" and turning into a homicidal rapist/bear wrestler (an UNFORGETTABLE scene), and a scene in which several characters are being attacked by savage German Shepherds WHILST ON A RAFT FLOATING DOWN WHITEWATER RAPIDS. I watched that sequence wondering how on earth they filmed it. One poor character is attacked by wild dogs AND rattlesnakes SIMULTANEOUSLY. When you see stuff like that, you can't quite believe what you're seeing, but it's very entertaining nonetheless.

Gore-wise, this film is nowhere near Eli Roth-level, but it does have some claret splashed around here and there. Young kids probably wouldn't cope with it too well, but anyone over about 13 should be fine.

Overall, a good effort, and a movie worthy of sharing shelf space with other '70s/'80s creature features like "Squirm", "Piranha", "Alligator" and so on.

I notice a lot of people complaining about the transfer. Aopparently they have not taken a look at the old DVD from Nutech, the transfer is more than likely considerably worse! Anyway, the movie is pretty good, not as good as Gridler's previous movie Grizzly but stuill good.

William Girdler's follow-up to GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS (aka: SOMETHING IS OUT THERE) features pack-hunting mountain lions, bone-crushing grizzlies, ravenous wolves, hellish hawks, flesh-plucking buzzards, sinister rattlesnakes, and rats that can leap 10 feet! However, the true star of DOTAs is Leslie Nielson as the odious hiker gone feral! He intimidates, threatens, beats up others, kills a guy, and attempts to rape a gal hiker! You see, the ozone layer's been depleated to such an extent as to cause the animals (including Nielson's character) to attack and kill all humans! Watch this one as part of your next "nature's revenge" film fest!...

If the ozone layer vanished,many scientists have theories about how this would effect life on Earth. I guarantee that none of these theories comes close to the one put forth by this movie. Turns out that when the ozone goes, all the animals on the planet go ICKY-BINGO and band together to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. It's not really dynamic but it is fun watching cougars running through Denver's suburbs scaring crossing guards, mailmen and dogs out of 10 years growth. The best part though, is when crazed hiker Leslie Neilsen goes kamikazee against a murderous grizzly bear. He actually tries to bite the beasts ear off! Needless to say this is a very short,but entertaining scene. There is also an attempt at drama and inter-personal tension, but luckily the creators never try too hard with that part of the film.

The intro to this film says that this is a scenario that COULD happen if we continue to mess with the ozone layer. I'm no man of science, but I seriously doubt this scenario would actually happen regardless of how much we junk the ozone layer. That's not the point though, the point is to make a scare film. A group of hikers in the mountains have to fight to survive against the ozone crazed wildlife. This time it's not just one species of animal that's pissed off(Frogs, The Swarm, Squirm, etc.), all the animals are pissed off! Disney's Animal Kingdom's got nothing on this mountain for the true hardcore animal experience, though to it's credit, Disney does have gorillas and the Dinosaur ride. Unlike most films that feature a cast of annoying folks you'd love to see eaten by animals, there are actually a few characters here you grow to like. Alot of them are familiar faces. Richard Jaeckel from the Dirty Dozen, and of course, The Green Slime, Christopher George(who keeps his brains inside his head this time), Andrew Davis(the guy who's always screwing around with Shannon Tweed in those Night Eyes movies), and Leslie Nielsen. What's cool is that the director gets live animals in the shot with the actors for the attack scenes instead of the old trick of animal stock footage intercut with an actor screaming. One of the highlights is Nielsen. This guy's been typecast since 1988, and it's nearly impossible to picture him as anything but a zany klutz. The man can act when he wants to though. It's a trip to see him as a psychopath and all around jerk. He's actually convincing. Of course anyone who's seen Creepshow knows that Leslie can be serious as a heart attack when he wants to. I actually liked this movie more than I probably should have, so my high rating of the film might be a bit exaggerated. I did find it rather fun, plus I've always had a soft spot for the whole "nature strikes back" thing. If that's also your thing, it wouldn't hurt to check this out.

If the ozone layer vanished,many scientists have theories about how this would effect life on Earth. I guarantee that none of these theories comes close to the one put forth by this movie. Turns out that when the ozone goes, all the animals on the planet go ICKY-BINGO and band together to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. It's not really dynamic but it is fun watching cougars running through Denver's suburbs scaring crossing guards, mailmen and dogs out of 10 years growth. Pity the poor hikers trapped in the woods when all this goes down.The best part though, is when crazed hiker Leslie Neilsen goes kamikazee against a murderous grizzly bear. He actually tries to bite the beasts ear off! Needless to say this is a very short,but entertaining scene. There is also an attempt at drama and inter-personal tension, but luckily the creators never try too hard with that part of the film. Enjoy the low-budget but earnest goofiness of movies like this one, because Hollywood really doesn't make'em like this anymore.

Leslie "Airplane!" Neilson plays forest ranger Steve Buckner, who winds up in a world of trouble in the mountains of the Sierras after a tear in the ozone layer starts messing with the minds of animals who live in high altitudes. Wolves, bears, dogs (every dog has his day!), and even an addled owl pose terrible (and unintentionally comical) threats.

Staci Layne Wilson

I gotta tell ya, the reason I purchased this dvd is because I love movies where animals attack people. If you don't enjoy these kinds of movies, this one's not for you. The extras were pretty entertaining, but during the commentary, everyone seemed to talk about everything other than the movie. You would probably get just as much out of the movie itself watching it on one of the cable channels that have commercials since there's hardly anything that would be cut out. The actors, actresses, and animal trainers did a marvelous job in the making of this film. You might get a kick out of Leslie Nielsen's character. I sure did.

The first time I saw this one I was 11 and "The Night Stalker" had just gone off on the C.B.S. late night movie and this was next. At the time, the movie was fresh and seemed like it could happen(the 70's were a very negative time when things like the future were brought up) and I really enjoyed this cheesy film.
Now almost 40(and proud to have made it past the atomic wars, bio-hazards, alien invasions,and the attack of the Bee Gees) I find that this little slice of environmental nightmare still holds a strange hold on me. Christopher George(the poor man's Charlton Heston) never looked tougher than he did here leading hikers down a mountain as the missing ozone(remember that) allowed cosmic rays to fry animals and human brains if you were to high up(talk about a rocky mountain high). Long before his rebirth as everyone's favorite goofy actor Leslie Nielsen gives us his turn as the jerk who wants to take over and becomes power mad(he even fights a bear)and it's so over the top that you can see why they cast him in "Airplane". The movie is like an old friend, it doesn't surprise you,it's not Shakespeare, it's drive-in movie making at it's glory(If you don't know about drive-in's then you have missed a prime piece of Americana). Not for all taste, but if you are over 35 you will feel a little tug at the old memory watching this one.

A well done movie with the technology of the 70's. This movie is full of action and suspense. Leslie Nielson is great as the bad guy in this picture.