{"id":26255,"date":"2012-06-25T11:18:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T18:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26255"},"modified":"2021-01-18T23:01:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T06:01:10","slug":"frogs-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26255","title":{"rendered":"Frogs (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It seems like everyone in our family is hung up on frogs.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Poster-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-26256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Poster-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Poster.jpg 499w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn ecologically-minded photographer (Sam Elliott) working on an island is invited by a beautiful young woman (Joan Van Ark) to join in a celebration presided over by her wealthy uncle (Ray Milland) &#8212; but affairs quickly become deadly as her relatives are killed off by various animals and plants on the estate.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Horror<\/li>\n<li>Killer Animals<\/li>\n<li>Ray Milland Films<\/li>\n<li>Revenge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRoughly ten years after starring in Roger Corman&#8217;s under-rated sci-fi thriller <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15253\"><em>X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes<\/em> (1963)<\/a>, Ray Milland was cast as the aging baddie in this silly low-budget eco-horror flick:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-64414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-1536x852.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-487x270.png 487w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Milland-Elliott.png 1841w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; intended to subtly link his character&#8217;s indiscriminate use of fauna-killing poison with justifiable collective homicide by clans of vicious geckos, tarantulas, lizards, turtles, leeches, and &#8212; naturally &#8212; frogs. There&#8217;s a weak environmental &#8220;lesson&#8221; to be had in here somewhere, I suppose, but really it&#8217;s all just an excuse to kill off the unlikable, one-dimensional characters one by one until only a few worthy protagonists are left standing. The screenplay is punctuated by repetitious footage of &#8220;menacing&#8221; croaking frogs, who apparently are orchestrating the murders through some kind of telepathy (or perhaps are simply ominous portents of doom). Unfortunately, while there&#8217;s clearly potential for a storyline about &#8220;man versus nature&#8221; to go somewhere interesting and chilling (think <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10590\">Hitchcock&#8217;s <em>The Birds<\/em><\/a>), <em>Frogs<\/em>&#8216; low budget and overall lack of creativity relegate it to simply a forgettable side note in &#8217;70s horror. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>(Unintentionally?) humorous use of reptilian\/amphibian footage for &#8220;shock and thrills&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-1024x567.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"354\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-64412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-1024x567.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-768x425.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-1536x851.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-487x270.png 487w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Frog.png 1829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; you can feel free to skip this one unless you&#8217;re curious to see a young, buff Sam Elliott without his trademark bushy mustache.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"356\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-64411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-768x428.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-1536x855.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-485x270.png 485w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Frogs-Elliott.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068615\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1972\/07\/06\/archives\/screenin-frogs-the-animals-do-in-ray-milland.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=4337&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitallyobsessed.com\/displaylegacy.php?ID=475\">Digitally Obsessed Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/horror\/frogs.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/67104\/frogs.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It seems like everyone in our family is hung up on frogs.&#8221; Synopsis: An ecologically-minded photographer (Sam Elliott) working on an island is invited by a beautiful young woman (Joan Van Ark) to join in a celebration presided over by her wealthy uncle (Ray Milland) &#8212; but affairs quickly become deadly as her relatives are killed off by various animals and plants on the estate. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Horror Killer Animals Ray Milland Films Revenge Review: Roughly ten&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26255\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26255"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64415,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26255\/revisions\/64415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}