Frogs (film)
| Frogs | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for Frogs | |
| Directed by | George McCowan |
| Produced by |
George Edwards Peter Thomas |
| Written by |
Robert Hutchison (story and screenplay) Robert Blees (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Ray Milland Sam Elliott Joan Van Ark Adam Roarke Judy Pace Lynn Borden Mae Mercer David Gilliam |
| Music by | Les Baxter |
| Cinematography | Mario Tosi |
| Edited by | Fred R. Feitshans Jr. |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
Frogs is a 1972 horror film directed by George McCowan.[1] The film falls into the "eco-horror" category, telling the story of an upper-class U.S. Southern family who are victimized by several different animal species, including snakes, birds and lizards, as well as the occasional butterfly. Nature, the movie suggests, may be justified in exacting revenge on this family because of its patriarch's abuse of the local ecology.[2] The film was theatrically released on March 10, 1972.
Plot
Wildlife photographer Pickett Smith (Sam Elliott) is taking photographs of the local flora and fauna as he canoes through a swamp surrounding an island containing the affluent mansion estate of the wealthy and influential Crockett family. Also evident throughout the swamp are numerous indicators of pollution, which Pickett believes are connected to the pesticides that the Crocketts use on their island plantation. After Clint (Adam Roarke) accidentally tips over Smith's canoe, he and his sister Karen (Joan Van Ark) escort Smith to the family mansion, where he meets the entire Crockett family. The grouchy, wheelchair-bound patriarch, Jason (Ray Milland), intends on spending the next day enjoying both the 4th of July and his own birthday celebrations uninterrupted. Due to the mutual dislike of the fauna around the mansion, Jason has sent a man named Grover to spray pesticide in order to get rid of the amphibians. Pickett later discovers Grover's corpse covered in snake bites in the swamp not far from the house. Despite this warning, Jason continues with his celebrations the next day.
Early the following morning, Michael Crockett (David Gilliam) sets out to check on a downed telephone line and discovers that the phone connection is dead. Before returning home, he attempts to scare off birds with gunfire, accidentally shooting himself in the leg, and rendered immobile beneath a tree which is almost completely covered with an strangely-colored, low-hanging moss. To Michael's horror, a horde of tarantulas descend from the branches and begin to swarm over him. With their fangs piercing his flesh, the strange moss seems to attack him also, binding him tightly as the spiders' paralyzing venom overwhelms his nervous system. From within the cocoon of webbing and moss, the tarantulas begin to feed.
Back on the estate, Jason's sister, Iris Martindale (Hollis Irving), sends her son, Kenneth (Nicholas Cortland), into the greenhouse to collect flowers for a centerpiece. As he gathers up the flowers, he fails to notice dozens of large black lizards entering behind him. The lizards swarm over the stacked shelves, knocking over numerous jars of powerful chemicals, startling Kenneth. In his panic, he falls into the shelves, sending further bottles of noxious compounds crashing to the ground. The pungent liquids quickly coalesce into a lethal gas, and Kenneth is asphyxiated by the toxic cloud.
Seeing the danger posed by the animals, Pickett suggests that everyone should leave the island, but Jason is adamant that nothing will ruin his day. Meanwhile, Iris is lured into the path of several frogs and snakes while chasing after a butterfly. Trying to escape, she falls into a small swamp of leeches which latch on to her until she manages to pull them off. Massively fatigued, she falls near a rattlesnake which promptly bites and kills her. Her husband Stuart (George Skaff) comes looking for her, only to meet a grisly end when he falls into the swamp and is eaten by an alligator.
On Pickett's advice, Charles (Lance Taylor, Sr.) and Maybelle (Mae Mercer), Jason's long-suffering butler and cook, decide to leave, along with Kenneth's fiancee, Bella Garrington (Judy Pace). Clint takes them across the lake in his speedboat. Clint stays behind and searches the nearby grocery store while the others walk on. A flock of birds appear and they run off behind a building. Their fate is left unknown (though a strewn-open suitcase seen later suggests they perished). Clint discovers his boat has been untethered and swims to reach it, but a water moccasin kills him in the water. His wife, Jenny (Lynn Borden), tries to rescue him but gets stuck in the lake mud and is killed by a large snapping turtle.
Karen and Pickett decide to leave with Clint and Jenny's children, leaving Jason behind as he refuses to join them. They cross the lake in Pickett's canoe, encountering alligators and more water snakes, which Pickett dispatches with the boat paddle and a shotgun. They eventually make it ashore and reach a road, where they hitch a ride with a woman (Carolyn Fitzsimmons) and her son (Robert Sanders). She tells them that she is heading to Jefferson City and has not seen a single person or car on the road all day, while the boy shows them a huge frog he took from summer camp.
Later that night, Jason, now alone in his mansion (save for his dog Colonel), witnesses hundreds of frogs breaking into the house and staring at him. Looking around the room at his stuffed animal trophies adds to his tension and he falls out of his wheelchair and collapses, apparently dead, the frogs croaking as they hop over his corpse. The final shot shows all the lights in the mansion flickering out for good, and a post-credits scene shows an animated frog swallowing a human hand before hopping off-screen.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Ray Milland | Jason Crockett |
| Sam Elliott | Pickett Smith |
| Joan Van Ark | Karen Crockett |
| Adam Roarke | Clint Crockett |
| Judy Pace | Bella Garrington |
| Lynn Borden | Jenny Crockett |
| Mae Mercer | Maybelle |
| David Gilliam | Michael Crockett |
| Nicholas Cortland | Kenneth Martindale |
| George Skaff | Stuart Martindale |
| Lance Taylor, Sr. | Charles |
| Hollis Irving | Iris Martindale |
| Dale Willingham | Tina Crockett |
| Hal Hodges | Jay Crockett |
| Carolyn Fitzsimmons | Lady in Car |
| Robert Sanders | Young Boy in Car |
Elliott has two "beefcake" scenes in which he removes his shirt; these scenes reportedly helped him earn the title role in the 1976 movie Lifeguard.
Production
The film was shot in Walton County, Florida, on the Emerald Coast in and around the Wesley House, an old southern mansion located in Eden Gardens State Park in the town of Point Washington, situated on Tucker Bayou off Choctawhatchee Bay.
Reception
Frogs received a score of 20% on Rotten Tomatoes.[3]
Rating
The film was given a "PG" rating by the MPAA.
References
External links
- Frogs at the Internet Movie Database
- Frogs at the TCM Movie Database
- Frogs at AllMovie
- Frogs at Rotten Tomatoes
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