THE BIRDS heavily influenced the exploitation field, though the imitations really didn't start coming until a decade later. In the early 70's, pollution was the menace of the week and it created a whole genre of nature-strikes-back movies which basically took their cues from THE BIRDS and substituted various other menaces in revolt because man has been mistreating his planet. Though this may sound silly, the genre did sire a couple of legitimate classics like KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS, DOGS, and SOMETHING IS OUT THERE (more commonly known as DAY OF THE ANIMALS). FROGS was an AIP offering in which the animals of a deep south island begin to rebel against man's careless littering. Frogs spearhead a rebellion of spiders, snakes, and it seems even plant life. Photographer Sam Elliott begins to piece things together while the unexpected house-guest of Ray Milland, the patriarch of a wealthy family of spoiled brats. (For ladles of not-so-subtle subtext, the family name is Crockett and all have gathered to celebrate Ray's birthday on the 4th of July.) There are some intriguing ideas explored here in spite of the inherit goofiness, and the film is a slick enough production that it doesn't come off as silly as it otherwise might. The climax could be a little stronger, since the massing frogs seem more an irritation than a menace, but all in all a fine little drive-in picture. That poster image of a frog chewing on a human arm may be one of the most iconic images of the decade. The film saw plenty of TV play, and was one of the films released by MGM on disk. Said disk provided a gorgeous transfer.
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