Frogs (1972)

Yes folks, it’s time for a true classic of the “nature gone mad” genre and the mother of all killer frog flicks, (actually the only killer frog flick that I’m aware of) 1972’s Frogs. Things start off with an ecologically aware photographer named Pickett Smith snapping shots of a litter clad island, all under the observing eye of the local frog population. Here Picket is almost run over by a speedboat driven by one of the wealthy Crockett boys whose tycoon father happens to own the island. Attempting to apologize, Pickett is invited to stay on the island for a fresh change of clothes and a little food and drink. Arriving at the family’s mansion Pickett is introduced to the rest of the snobby family and it’s matriarch Jason Crockett. Crockett is a wealthy industrialist and cranky old bastard whose factories are polluting the world over, much to the dismay of; you guessed it, the local frog population. Seems the frogs along with alligators, turtles, birds, lizards, spiders, and snakes have had enough of man’s careless ways and decide to take their revenge all to the tune of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. Well...revenge yes, Twisted Sister no. Actually, the frogs are merely the overseers to “Operation Eat Man” as they don’t harm a single soul during the entire movie. They merely look on approvingly to all the carnage and give a threatening “hop hop” to demonstrate their power to any audience member who doubts them.

Dumb as it may seem, Frogs is actually a well-acted and filmed movie. Notice I didn’t say the movie itself was actually any good, merely the acting and look of it all. The actors portraying the Crockett family have the snobby rich thing down pat, almost to well. You’ll find yourself cheering the amphibious revolution, trust me. Sam Elliot does the hunky hero thing well and future Dynasty star Joan Van Ark looks good in short shorts. I dug the ominous croaking on the soundtrack and the shots of pissed off frogs hopping all about. The kill scenes are sparse in the gore department but are rather nicely edited, in particular the alligator and spider attacks. Other than that though, there really isn’t much more to it. Some of the actors act so stupidly that it seems they actually want to die and the pacing does drag at certain points. However, in a campy sort of way , Frogs could be fun if you got some quick-witted friends over and of course, plenty of suds. For a movie called Frogs, what the hell do you expect?