The British film TROG has mystified viewers since it's initial release back in 1970. The simple plot has a prehistoric ape creature discovered in a cave. The beast is taken under the care of university scientist Joan Crawford, much to the ire of Michael Gough, who thinks Trog a menace. There's something askew about the film that's hard to define, due largely to it's reserved presentation. After several screenings, I've finally figured the film out. It's a satire. Crawford's character continually brow-beats anyone who disagrees with her, remains smugly sure of her own genius, and conforms the facts to fit her theories rather than let her theories be guided by fact. In the end, Gough's character is proven absolutely right. A trail of death and destruction is squarely the fault of Crawford, who claims not a hint of responsibility. The movie is a parody of academia. The film remains noted for it's use of dinosaur stock footage lifted from the 1956 Irwin Allen documentary THE ANIMAL WORLD, a picture largely unseen since it's original release. For decades, TROG has really been the only way anyone could see the wonderful stop motion efforts of Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhousen's only color collaboration. (Well, there is that glorious Viewmaster set filled with shots of the same models. I wish I still had those...)
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