Espèce en voie de disparition

At the time of the 'Endangered Species' initial 1982 release there had been 10,000 recorded cases of cattle mutilation, small change when compared to McDonald's daily apocalypse, but perhaps the macabre singularity of these bizarre, apparently random bovine evisceration's would prove to be more of a film-worthy premise for Alan Rudolph's enjoyably black-hatted conspiracy thriller,'Endangered Species'. Featuring two of the more resolutely 80s-looking movie stars; tall, rugged housewives favourite, Robert Urich and America's winsome sweetheart JoBeth Williams as the frisson-creating, diametrically opposed picture perfect couple, both drawn inexorably together by the magnetic movie magic of 'hooray for Hollywood' screenwriting!

The curve-balling, faintly spooky tale unfolds with creditable alacrity after the initially esoteric mysteries concerning these ominously precise livestock mutilations bring the vexed town's higher echelon into vociferous ferment. With anxious, newly elected sheriff Harriet Perdue (JoBeth Williams), stalwart newspaperman (Paul Dooley), boorish, appropriately bovine patriot Ben (Hoyt Axton) and fleet-fisted wild card ex-city cop Reuben (Urich) all discovering that the rapidly moving lights in the night sky, the inexplicably undisturbed earth around the meticulously gored cattle's ruinous remains, and the confounding post-mortem anomalies, mysteriously suggest the reality of a deeply corrupting conspiracy, perhaps, far stranger than any of them could have previously imagined!

Director Alan Rudolph has always been a class act, and being so fruitfully blessed with such a solid, chaff-free script and a uniformly excellent cast, 'Endangered Species' winningly remains an exciting, thought provoking, proto-X-Files 80s feature that still provides fun, attention-grabbing entertainment for avid Sci-thriller fans young and old! Seen today, 'Endangered Species' has the added boon of giving contemporary, conspiracy-hungry audiences a neat-o submersion into warmly fuzzy 80s genre movie nostalgia, zestfully charged with the energizing, neon-hazed synthesizer score by composer, Gary Wright which is a pleasurably pulse-pounding, adrenaline-spiking, Paul Hertzog-sounding dream!

Ruben Castle (Robert Urich, "The Ice Pirates") is a recovering alcoholic and burnt-out former NYC cop who relocates to a small community in Colorado, with his bratty, rebellious daughter (Marin Kanter, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains") in tow. With the help of the local sheriff (JoBeth Williams, "Poltergeist") and his old pal, newspaperman Joe Hiatt (Paul Dooley, "Breaking Away"), Ruben gets caught up in a bizarre local story: cattle are repeatedly, mysteriously being mutilated by some shadowy force. Could it be the work of human, or alien, perpetrators?

While this is no classic waiting to be re-discovered, or the debacle some people may lead you to believe it is, I found it to be a reasonably engrossing conspiracy thriller, decently directed by cult favorite Alan Rudolph ("Choose Me", "Trouble in Mind"). It is true that it's not all that suspenseful, or surprising, but I did like the story, and the nefarious, ruthless nature of the antagonists. I also liked the fact that our heroes didn't have a definitive plan of action for a while, given that they weren't sure HOW to proceed. The lovely Williams is engaging right from the start, but it takes a long time (until the second half) to warm up to Urichs' Castle character; he's a surly jerk who doesn't try very hard to stay on the wagon.

But the two of them ARE very well supported by a solid cast of familiar faces: Peter Coyote ("Jagged Edge"), Hoyt Axton ("Gremlins"), Gailard Sartain ("Mississippi Burning"), Dan Hedaya ("Blood Simple"), Harry Carey Jr. ("The Searchers"), John Considine (a regular in Rudolphs' films), Patrick Houser ("Hot Dog...The Movie"), etc. Actor turned softcore auteur / executive producer of this film Zalman King ("Wild Orchid") has a cameo at the outset, Urichs' wife Heather Menzies ("Piranha") has the small role of Susan, and Bill Moseley ("The Devils' Rejects") made his film debut here as a cabbie.

With an amusing electronic score by Gary Wright (yeah, the Gary Wright who did the song "Dream Weaver"), this entertains sufficiently, working its way towards a decent, atmospheric finale - albeit one that may not completely satisfy some viewers. Location shooting in Wyoming and Colorado is a definite asset.

Seven out of 10.

Robert Urich is a retired cop from New York City on vacation with his daughter. While traveling on vacation, a flat tire enables him to get involved investigating a series of mysterious cattle mutilations. JoBeth Williams is the local sheriff having trouble convincing authorities of her ideas about the cause of the killings. Gailard Sartain plays an anxious mayor. Visuals are not so graphic, but the suspense keeps you interested. Providing fine support are: Hoyt Axton, Peter Coyote and Harry Carey, Jr.

It is a slow paced film, bordering on being a drag. Nothing really happens until the last 30 minutes where stuff actually happens the story finally moves forwards and concludes. The first hour of the film is rather wandering and aimless. Some pieces are slowly figured out as to the mystery at hand but ultimately just rather boring all throughout. One of those movies that needs a super cut and be a 45 minute short special in order to up the pace of the film. And not to mention there's nothing really special or memorable here either. It's just sub par on every level. Easily skipped and you won't be missing out. I mean there is an interesting story here but is in desperate need of a remake with a bigger budget and a tighter script.

I recall seeing Endangered Species on a late night movie channel when I was very young. Actually, it seemed to come on late night movie channels quite frequently from about 1985-1987. I remembered the film being mysterious, dark, and a little bit unsettling. I remembered strange parts of the film, especially the scene where germ warfare is put on a man's toothbrush, and the gruesome effects afterwards. Just recently I was remembering this film and could not recall the title. I asked numerous friends and co-workers and they offered no help. So, I spent about 2 hours, just for the sake of completion, trying to recall the name of this movie! I really had nothing to go on, because I could not remember any of the actors who were in it. Finally, thanks to the IMDB, I was able to do a complex search and eventually found the title to this elusive film. Of course I had to see it again. Trying to find this film to rent or buy was nearly impossible. I DID find a local video store who had an ancient copy. I rented it and was a little less than impressed. Still, Endangered Species seemed to retain its mysterious and disturbing effect on me. I think I over-hyped my expectations due to all the research I conducted. Anyway, The acting is sub-par, and the film quality is pretty bad. Robert Urich plays up his part pretty well, but comes off as a male chauvinist pig. Hey, this is the early 80's, they didn't give a S#*! about being "PC" then. Peter Coyote (from E.T. fame) is also in this movie. His plays a sneaky, sinister para-military type character. Endangered Species definitely conjures up some X-Files type conspiracy theories. The pacing is good, and it really does have a suspense ridden feel throughout. Supposedly Endangered Species is loosely based on real events. I kind of feel that I have wasted my time researching and re-watching this film. But like I said earlier, I just wanted to remember the title! I didn't think I would go so far as watching it again. Ah, well. At least now I can put it out of my head.