Les Crapauds

Statistically, this movie was a hit. Made for $200k, it grossed over $2 mill in the US alone. This was the secret of success for American International Pictures. Keep the budgets low, and the base of horror fans will show up and you'll make a profit. 1972 was the year for horror. A large number of films catered to the horror fan, many were cheaply made. But they all made a profit. Frogs is an example of a movie poster created before the movie was filmed. Frogs don't kill anyone in the film, but they made a cool poster. So they were thrown into the mix of alligators, lizards, snapping turtles, snakes, spiders, etc. Since many of these creatures make people queazy, it must have seemed like a slam dunk to film- fearmakers. However, the animal performers are less than convincing. Especially the alligator, where producers sped up the film to make him look like he's moving quickly. The acting is as good as can be expected for this type of film. Joan Van Ark and Sam Elliot debut here (Van Ark had done a soap). Milland is good as the cranky old rich stereotype. If you're looking for a "tame" horror picture to keep the kids interested, this might be it. For adults, it's value is mainly nostalgic.

Ray Milland's career was tanking real fast when he agreed to do this one for American-International. The story behind Frogs is similar to the plot of the Elizabeth Taylor less than classic Elephant Walk. That's the one where Peter Finch's father built his mansion in Sri Lanka where the elephants used to trod. Eventually they trod there again.

In Frogs Ray Milland has a large old plantation estate on an island in the Everglades and he's been expanding it for years crowding out the swamp life. It's not just the frogs but all the swamp critters want their turf back.

And when do they pick to begin their war? On the 4th of July which coincidentally enough is Milland's birthday and he's thrown a party and he's got his kids and grandkids with him. And a stranger played by a young and beardless Sam Elliot.

The movie gets the title Frogs because they seem to be directing the battle. One by one Milland's family and help are picked off. Only a few manage to escape.

Frogs is done kind of tongue in cheek and Milland grumps and groans his way through the film like a man with a bad case of hemorrhoids. Maybe being confined to a wheelchair in the part gave him a case. He had to be wondering how his agent talked him into this.

The plot here is little more than: "Help! We're surrounded by hostile creatures!" Yet there's something about this movie that lodges in the memory and it's probably its heavy, humid atmosphere -- like a hot summer day where nothing's happening yet you know there must be a storm brewing just over the horizon. The eclectic cast is headed by Ray Milland but the star here is Sam Elliott who makes his first real impression in the movies. His let-me-strip-off-my-sweaty-shirt-and-display-my-hairy-chest scenes were SO impressive that they landed him the lead role in that piece of beefcake-nirvana called "Lifeguard."

(June 2009 update: Note how this movie finds echoes, seven years later, in another Sam Elliott movie: "The Legacy." In both movies Elliott plays a young man who, because of a transportation accident, winds up as a reluctant guest at a mansion located in an isolated spot in the country. The mansion is owned, in both cases, by a distinguished older gentleman who suffers from a physical disability. There are other guests at the mansion and during the course of Elliott's stay, these guests are killed off, one by one -- in a variety of bizarre fashions -- by a mysterious force. In both movies, Elliott performs "beefcake" scenes which have a gratuitous quality. In "Frogs," he appears twice without his shirt and in "The Legacy" he has a rear-view nude scene.)

The 1970s was the era of disco, blaxploitation, and eco-horror (aka nature's vengeance). George McCowan's "Frogs" is considered the first eco-horror flick. A young Sam Elliott (more recently known as the narrator in "The Big Lebowski") plays a photographer who visits a southern estate where the patriarch (Ray Milland) refuses to live in harmony with nature. The old man sprays chemicals all over the swamp with absolutely no regard for the plants or animals. So it only makes sense that the frogs -- in collaboration with the snakes, alligators, spiders, etc. -- are out to dispense some justice! On the plot's value alone, there's no reason to interpret "Frogs" as any kind of high-quality movie. We could interpret it as a warning about messing with the Earth (when you battle nature, you ALWAYS lose), or we could just view it as a plain old fun movie. Whatever the case, it's a pretty enjoyable flick, silly though it may be.

All in all, just be a little more respectful the next time that you meet any plant or animal, especially an amphibian of the order Anura.

Frogs (1972)

*** (out of 4)

Sam Elliott and Ray Milland star in this AIP cult-classic from the drive-in era where it was quite popular. The film starts off with Elliott taking pictures of the nature, which is being interrupted by people's pollution of the water and land. Soon Elliott finds himself staying with a family being led by the cranky Milland. Before the night is over one body is located and soon many more follow as the small creatures start to take their revenge. If you put too much thought into the subject matter then you're going to think yourself to death so turn the brain off, sit back and just enjoy. The killers in the movie aren't just frogs but we also have toads, lizards, alligators, birds, various snakes and spiders. Some of the death scenes aren't very believable but then there are those that are quite effective. Director McCowan does a very good job at building up the atmosphere of that deep Southern swamp nation. The entire look of the film is perfectly captured as there isn't a single frame where you don't feel as if you're right there in that swampy mess and action. The characters are pretty straight forward but the cast make them fun to watch with Elliott leading the way and delivering his ultra cool persona once again. The laid back style of the actor has always been fun to watch and it remains so here. Milland is over the top but in a fun way as the old man who refuses to spot the danger going on even as more bodies begin to pile up. FROGS isn't a masterpiece or something by Welles but it does throw on back to the drive-in era when this type of thing was being released.