Customer Reviews

Frogs [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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).

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.

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...

Cookieman108

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...

Okay, so having "frogs" as the major killing machine in a movie isn't all that terrifying. But in this very well-made B-movie, the film makers have added all kinds of dangers created by nature. Each of the main characters are destroyed by an avenging Mother Nature. A group of relatives and visitors gather at the isolated plantation estate of Pappy Ray Milland, a sourpuss and snarling SOB if ever there was one. It's great fun trying to predict how each of the shallow characters, except the hunky Sam Elliott will perish. By far the best death sequence is that with Lynn Borden, the older woman who likes to hunt for butterflies. Dressed in a beautiful pink and white summer frock, she's finally done in by snakes, quicksand, vines. She's shown in wonderfully bloody make-up, her hair all mussed, dying in the swamp. Black actress, Judy Pace, is also a hoot, in very 70s mod fashions. Sam Elliott gets to strip off his shirt in several scenes, giving us worshippers of male beauty a cheap thrill. The DVD edition doesn't have any extras but the picture quality is terrific, with all the moist, gleaming greenery of the swamp, dripping with danger, caught beautifully. Milland hams it up but you sense he really wasn't acting. Probably thinking of that Academy Award he received in the 40s for his performance in "the Lost Weekend"--and now performing in a low-budget American-International classic. Cheer up, Ray! "Frogs" is still being watched and enjoyed while "The Lost Weekend" is forgotten, except by old movie buffs and nostalgia addicts.

The plot is the usual one about a small group of people surrounded by an enemy force. (In this case a Southern mansion located on an island inside a swamp.) The people involved include Ray Milland and his spoiled, resentful family and the enemy consists of the local wildlife, most especially frogs. Neither group is interesting enough to carry the movie but it does have a sultry, summer-afternoon atmosphere which keeps you watching in anticipation of a pay-off which never quite seems to arrive.

The notable element here is Sam Elliott in the first role which won him any real attention. He plays the outsider who comes into the situation and tries to help the others deal with it. It isn't that much of a part but it allowed Elliott for the first time to project his distinctive personality and it also afforded him two opportunities to take off his shirt. (The story goes that the wife of Daniel Petrie recommended Sam Elliott for the lead role in her husband's "Lifeguard" movie after seeing his physique on display in "Frogs." There's a woman who knows a prime piece of "beefcake" when she sees it!)

Frogs is truly enjoyable, from Ray Milland's campy acting to the atmospheric scenery of the plantation (?). The film is rife with humor at all points. The Frogs don't really kill too many people but rather a combo of snakes, tarantulas and the like off the most individuals. The movie is also great because its set on July 4 which adds to the enjoyment. The grumpy wheelchairbound patriarch (Milland) will tickle your funny bone as karma kicks in and the frogs take revenge. Priceless entertainment!

"Frogs', one of the classic "B" movie titles from 1972 has always excited alot of heated debate about whether it's the worst "drive-in" type feature to come out of the 1970's, or whether in actual fact it was a bit ahead of it's time as a clever commentary on man's just deserts for wrecking the native environment with his pollution. I'm sure its envirnmental message was largely unintended but nevertheless I always find viewing this film a creepy experience with its abundance of creepy crawlies just waiting to strike.

Set in the beautiful wilds of the Florida keys, "Frogs", tells the story of aging Chemical Magnate Jason Crockett played by Hollywood veteran Ray Milland who lives on an isolated estate in the keys and who once a year on the 4th of July, which also happens to be his birthday, gathers together his assorted disfunctional family for a big birthday celebration. The entire action of the film takes place over this weekend when after a boating accident the family finds itself playing host to Pickett Smith (Sam Elliot in one of his most remembered macho roles). Pickett is a freelance photographer doing an article on pollution in the area for an ecology magazine and once arrived finds many strange things occuring on the estate where the assorted reptiles and native animals which include snakes of all kinds, lizards, crocodiles, and spiders begin to pick off one member of the group at a time in assorted grisly deaths until Pickett accompanied by granddaughter Karen Crockett (greatly underrated actress Joan Van Ark) sensibly decide to flee the estate reluctantly leaving Jason to a grisly fate at the hands of the rampaging Frogs who invade the house. The final shot of the film which sees all the lights go out in the estate mansion is an errie conclusion.

"Frogs", while viewed by many as a dumb story full of laughable situations, always succeeds in sending an uneasy chill down my spine. Having a lifelong fear of "creepy crawlies", and an absolute phobia about snakes this for me is an horrific story. The truly beautiful on location photography of the Florida wasteland gives the film a top class look while its sheer isolation adds tremendously to the horror element of the story having a group of people far from the outside world and at the mercy of the assorted animals bent on revenge. Indeed I agree with past reviewers that Frogs at first glance dont appear to be too frightening as the supposed creatures on the attack. The numerous shots of Frogs observing the action from various vantage points while other assorted reptiles do the actual killing, gives the film a good sinister touch and adds to the general creepiness. The film does benefit from some interesting casting choices. Veteran Hollywood legend Ray Milland plays the Patriarch of the clan with great authority and a cynical quality that goes well with the story of the creatures finally getting back at him for inflicting years of toxic sprays on their native environments in the area. Joan Van Ark an actress I've long admired and who is still best remembered for her long running role as Val on "Knots Landing", has the best fleshed out character as the grand daughter who falls for Pickett Smith during the horrifying weekend. She certainly is the most appealing character on the island and she and Sam Elliot make a most attractive couple who you do find yourself hoping will get away from the strange goings on at Jason Crockett's estate.

Certainly "Frogs", is no masterpiece but it's an enjoyable horror tale and still makes uneasy viewing if you are in anyway not confortable about most reptiles at close quarters. Indeed this film has earned immortality because of the incredibly vivid lobby card showing a Frog with a human hand coming out of its mouth....an unforgettable horror image. Happily this memorable image was chosen as the cover for the video when it was first released. I remember as an eleven year old boy in Melbourne seeing this card displayed outside the theatre where "Frogs", was playing and being scared to death by it! Needless to say my parents would never allow me to see "Frogs', back then even though I badly wanted to! Enjoy the assorted slimy, creepy crawlies out for revenge against careless man in the chilling "Frogs".

This movie can be classified in several genres. It is definitely a B science fiction movie. However, it can be categorized in a narrower subclass of movies that I like to call Ecological Horror. Movies like "Prophecy" and "Them" fit into this category. In ecological horror the central plot of the movie is man makes pollution, pollution makes monster, monster kills, maims, or eats man; sometimes all three.

At the beginning of the movie we meet Pickett Smith (Sam Elliott) taking pictures of the local wildlife in swamp. His camera soon captures pollution. Smith is doing freelance work in reporting how awful mankind treats nature. Unfortunately for Smith he soon encounters Karen Crockett (Joan Van Ark) and another guy who I believe was her brother. In typical southern hospitality the pair swamp Smith's boat and knock him into the water. Because they are nice people at heart, they take him to a lovely mansion (an 1890s mansion in Florida's Eden State Park) in the swamp owned by wealthy Jason Crockett (Ray Milland in a role far removed from his halcyon days as an Oscar Award winner). Jason is a perfect stereotype. He is wheelchair bound and seems to think that man was placed on the earth to turn it into mansions and garbage dumps.

Jason has managed to get all his immediate relatives into this mansion to celebrate the 4th of July and his birthday. Since all Jason's relatives love his money they are loath to decline an invitation from him, which is fortunate because this movie needs a lot of victims. After we meet all the various people we learn that Jason has made a hobby of spraying poison all about his island to keep the local critters in check. Of course, in a movie like this the local critters usually refuse to be kept in check, opting instead for biting, stinging, maiming and eating their victims, sometimes with the victim's assistance. As a side note, it appears that many characters in horror movies that include monsters really could use a lesson in gun safety.

The movie rolls along limply until the totally surprising ending, and then you wonder why you bothered to watch the movie in the first place. I will say that there is a final scene involving a frog that nearly made the movie worth watching.

This movie appears to have been made solely to cash in on the perceived gullibility of people to go watch stuff like this in drive-in theaters. The plot is weak and many of the scenes are weaker. Whoever put this movie together knew little or nothing about the animals they were filming. For example, those large, unlovely spiders do not live in hanging webs like those in the movie, and are actually solitary ground spiders which often attack each other. Many of the critters in the movie were giant South American toads, about 100 of them, and many of them managed to escape. I wonder what they did for the ecology. Many of the scenes involving animals were so silly that I laughed in several places, and rolled my eyes nearly as often.

If you have to have all the horror or science fiction movies about man screwing up the ecology, then go for it. In that narrow genre this movie is about average. However, keep your expectations low as the plot is weak, the animals are misrepresented, and there are numerous continuity and factual errors.

The film genre known as Horror is full of sub genres, most of which have remained staples of the larger whole changing, only slightly to embrace new generations of fans. You've got your "Classic" monsters in the shape of vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts and the houses they haunt. Then there are aliens and giant monsters such the Ymir from 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and our old buddy Godzilla. Science run amok and nuclear mutations have always been a popular theme too, and starting in the 1970s we got the first real Ecological-horror films--those in which Mother Earth and the creatures that inhabit her rise up against man and give him a major slap upside the head for polluting and poisoning and otherwise defiling the planet. One of the very first, if not THE first, Eco-horror flix was FROGS which was released in 1972 and starred Ray Milland as the crusty old Patriarch of a Wealthy Southern Family and Sam Elliott as a freelance photographer documenting the destruction of the habitat around Milland's extensive property for a magazine.

The film opens with Pickett Smith (Sam Elliott) taking nature shots from his canoe, shots that gradually reveal the damage that has been done to the lake and the wildlife that resides there. Suddenly Smith's canoe is swamped by a speedboat driven by a member of the Crockett family--Clint the Drunk and his sister Karen (Joan Van Ark) who has "Love Interest" written all over her face. Well, they pull him out of the water and take him back to Crockettland (an island in the middle of the lake) where they are in the midst of planning the big 4th of July bash celebrating Grandpa Crockett's (Ray Milland) birthday. Here we meet the rest of our cast which includes ditzy Aunt Iris who likes to chase butterflies, cousin Kenneth the playboy and his black model girlfriend Bella, Clint's wife Jenny and their 2 kids, and a couple other victims du jour. It doesn't take long before eveyone notices that there are an awful lot of very, very large, aggressive frogs hanging around the mansion these days, not to mention the fact that there are far more corn snakes dangling from the chandeliers than there used to be. One by one people start disappearing to be done in by clever lizards, sneaky snakes, large hungry turtles, and diabolical clumps of Spanish moss. The phone lines are dead, the boat drifts off, the frogs are advancing on the house, and night is falling. What ever will they do? How will they escape the island? And of course, which Crockett will croak next?

There aren't any truly frightening moments in the film unless you are scared of reptiles, amphibians, or 70s' fashion, but there is some fun to be had. For me the most enjoyable factor was knowing that FROGS was filmed in North Florida and that it was supposed to take place in July and yet folks were wandering around wearing long sleeves and sweaters! This would have resulted in heat prostration and probable death within 10 minutes in real life. The truth is that the movie was shot in the winter so the temperature was probably in the 60s which explains the whole thing. =) We needn't really discuss the technical aspects of the film or the acting because both are adequate--the cinematography is actually very nice with some beautiful shots of the local flora and fauna. There are no special effects pre se; actors fall on ground, PAs toss lizards on 'em from off camera. Done. Milland is Milland, all full of bluster and seemingly unembarrassed to be doing frog-horror--he's done much worse films that this one. Van Ark is cute and perky, Elliott is honing his taciturn schtick. And there is a surprising variety of critters to stalk our protagonists--very few of which are indigenous to Florida.

Stay through the end credits for a treat.

Recommended as a rental. 3.5 rounding up for fun.

This one is an early '70s environmental cult film, made at just about the time that "ecology" became a buzzword. It was an early film for Sam Elliott and a late one for Ray Milland but the pair play off one another like cookies and milk.

Here's the story:

Ray Milland plays a wheelchair bound, aristocratic old curmudgeon whose family estate is located on a southeastern U.S. Island... a big swampy place where the Spanish moss hangs everywhere. It's his birthday and his dubious offspring and their partners have arrived by boat at the estate to participate in the obligatory birthday party. Heavy drinking by most seems to be the order of the day. Sam Elliott plays an environmental photographer who gets his canoe swamped by a couple of Milland's intoxicated spawn who are out for a pleasure cruise in a speedboat -- he ends up at the birthday party to recompense him for his rude treatment.

At about this time, the frogs on the island seem to be congregating in huge numbers and it irritates Milland to the point that he's sent out his house man to spray poison here and there to eliminate them... but the frogs know exactly how to deal with such paltry assaults. They secure the help of their amphibian and reptile pals, snakes, hefty lizards, gators... all manner of creepy-crawlers to help them in their quest to take over the island and to eliminate its mostly-nefarious inhabitants.

Soon, Milland has to secure Elliott's help, seeing right away that Elliott is made of firmer stuff than his own spoiled offspring. And from there, life on the island quickly descends downhill. I'll stop here to avoid any spoilers.

This picture is shot in really great color, presented in letterbox format, and runs for 90 minutes. Yes, the acting isn't exactly the stuff of Academy Award material, Ray Milland excepted -- he plays his role brilliantly. But the film is a strange mixture of just being real enough, and just campy enough, to finish at the "magnificent" level of cult film rating.

A curiousity, one of Milland's (caucasian) sons is dating a black gal which, at the time, was a very unusual caveat for any film. Of course, this scenario was cast precisely for the purpose of lending interest to the film and, in my opinion, made this movie a bit of a groundbreaker.

Finally, this is a Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson film which, to us Drive-in movie and late night TV enthusiasts meant one thing: "quality horror". I have watched "Frogs" many times and will do so again.

Highly recommended for appropriate audiences.

This low budget AIP masterpiece was a staple of the channel 5 Sunday afternoon movies (remember those? This was pre-infomercials / Judge Judy, people). I must have seen it 6 times back then, and it made some type of strange impression on my 10 year old mind. I just watched it again last night.

This is not great cinema by any means. There are scenes where people magically change outfits from one shot to the other. There is unapologetic usage of stock nature footage that would make Ed Wood proud. Yes, there are endless shots of frogs (rather, big marine toads if you want to be specific), but what can I say? Refer to the title!

This relatively brisk movie, clocking in at 90 minutes, still has some things going for it.

The setting: If you have ever been in a deserted swampland camping or touring around in a boat, you know how the dense foliage can be oppressive and creepy; this flick makes good use of the historic, desolated manison and surrounding area in which it was filmed.

The music: the score for this movie leans heavily on synthesizer to create numerous haunting blip-blip-blips and screechy animal sounds which are a perfect fit. For me, somewhat reminiscent of Euro-horror flicks from around the same time period (early 70's).

The outfits: Yes, Joan Van Ark's yellow one-piece must be seen to be believed (she resembles a bananna). And why is everyone wearing turtleneck sweaters in Florida during a July 4th birthday celebration? Ask the frogs, I guess.

(Parts of) The story: for me, the insinuation that the critters were exacting vengance for ecological wrong doing was underdeveloped and not a big part of the impact of the film. I was more interested in the quasi-racist undertones of Ray Milland's limited interactions with his black servants and his grandson's black girlfriend; "I wouldn't expect YOU to understand anyway", he sneers to her at one point, when she wisely suggests they split after the 2nd death. I also enjoyed the idea of an island of civilization (the plantation), lorded over by this crotchety (and wealthy) wheelchair-bound man, who is determined to preserve a facade of normalcy in the face of impending doom. The slow invasion of unruly (and dangerous) nature into his civilized world is a fascinating undercurrent that lasts throughout the entire movie until the final scene, which I found to be quite effective, if not a little overwrought, but what do you expect?

I think I see this movie through slightly different eyes, probably due to my early (and repeated) viewings, but if you enjoy early 70's quasi-horror which makes more use of things like atmosphere and music than extensive special effects or star-power (again, think Italian cinema from the same era with less blood), you may want to check it out.